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"We\'re back." He whispered.

"Yup." Ketis echoed.

"Meow..." Lucky echoed as the cat rested in her embrace.

As the swordmaster cradled the cat like a baby, she took note of the substantially increased traffic and activity within the star system.

"Is it me, or has Davute become at least three times busier than before?" She wondered. "We\'ve only been away for a couple of months, but the amount of traffic is much greater than before. The proportion of inbound traffic is also a lot higher than before!"

That meant a lot more starships were moving towards Davute VII than getting back out again.

This was highly unusual as a healthy trading hub normally matched its inbound traffic to outbound traffic.

Ves already knew what was going on due to the daily briefings he received. "The reason why so many people want to get inside is because the date of the founding ceremony is approaching."

The swordmaster raised her eyebrows. "You mean the powers that be who built Davute are finally prepared to found a colonial state?"

"Yep. It\'s all over the news. It\'s going to be a massive historical occasion. The bigger and grander the ceremony, the more momentum the state will gain in its early years."

"Do you know how they will name the state?"

Ves shrugged as he leisurely adjusted his posture on his observer\'s chair. "Beats me. The power bloc wants to keep it all a surprise in order to increase the hype for the ceremony. Everything will be revealed at that time. We don\'t even know what sort of political system and government structure they will adopt. All we can do is formulate guesses. Personally, I think the founding parties will permanently try to concentrate a decent amount of power on themselves. If the common citizens get any say, it will be minor at best. The new state needs to keep just enough appearances to avoid generating too much discontent among its large and mostly disunited population."

A contemptuous expression appeared on Ketis\' face. "That sounds like a feudal kingdom. Will Davute turn into a playground for royals and nobles who can take whatever they want from their subjects?"

"Meow.." Lucky hissed in a low tone as not even a cat approved of too much concentration of power!

"They probably won\'t go that far." Ves speculated as he tried to analyze Davute from the perspective of its original investors. "The colonial state will probably encompass at least hundreds of different colonies in the surrounding regions, but there is no doubt that this port system will play a central role. It is essential to ensure that it remains a free, open and inviting trading destination. If Davute becomes too unattractive, a lot of trade and revenue will flow to rival colonial states instead, which in this case means Karlach. The existence of a powerful direct competitor means that the rulers of Davute won\'t dare to go too far."

As far as property rights were concerned, most founders who invested a lot of capital and took a lot of risks to develop a successful colony wanted to treat it as if it was their personal possession.

This sometimes worked, but too much pushing would breed resentment among the vast number of commoners who served as the backbones of the state.

Tyranny became a lot more viable in a fairly closed society that was largely self-sufficient, but that didn\'t apply to the current situation.

Trade was a powerful engine of growth and had already been responsible for accelerating the development of the Davute System!

With neighboring rivals like Karlach nipping at its heels, Davute needed to surrender enough benefits to other stakeholders to expand its strength as quickly as possible!

Ves waved his hand at the projection showing all of the ships and fleets moving in the star system.

"Look at how many different pioneers and other people are eager to attend the founding ceremony. The colonial state will definitely become home to a lot of players and organizations. They believe in its future potential and are willing to commit to it in order to be a part of its founding generation. Everyone knows that the people who are involved in a state from the beginning will often become its new aristocrats, no matter whether they explicitly use this term or not. It\'s similar to what happened with all of the families who founded the Bright Republic."

Ketis nodded in understanding as she rocked Lucky in her arms. "So how does our clan fit into the picture? As far as I recall, we have set up a large branch in the Davute."

He frowned at this mention. "I have always maintained the stance that the Larkinson Clan must retain its sovereignty. We should never become beholden to any other state or organization."

"I don\'t think that will work for the people we left behind on Davute VII. Lots of side branch members have completely settled in the capital city of this planet and they completely love it over there. I think many of them have already developed a growing sense of belonging for the upcoming state."

"You don\'t need to remind me of that." Ves grumbled. "I am still trying to figure out what I should do about this. I can\'t dissolve the branch because that would cause us to lose our foundation here, but I don\'t want a large portion of my people to maintain double loyalties."

This was a serious risk and one that would definitely create a lot of tension within the clan!

"I may not be following the regional politics of the Krakatoa Middle Zone that closely, but even I have heard that Davute and Karlach are on a collision course. War is on the horizon and the founding of their respective states will bring that one step closer to reality."

"That\'s true." Ves nodded. "I received a report not too long ago that states that the LMC is already making a lot of preparations for an impending conflict. Our assets may come under attack, our suppliers may lose or suspend their shipments and the new colonial government may try to impose wartime rules and requirements onto our Davute Branch. The upside is that the demand for effective combat mechs will balloon so much that we stand to make a killing from this war!"

War had always been the time where good mech models soared in popularity and where bad mech models got brutally exposed.

Right now, the amount of bad mechs in circulation should not be much as conflict was all too common in the Red Ocean.

However, there were still a lot of differences between occasional skirmishes and brutal, months-long military campaigns!

Mechs that had largely been designed for the private sector often fell short in this area. Their fancy gimmicks, their overly complicated structures and their brittle internal architectures were more likely to break down when the machines were continually used without adhering to their recommended maintenance schedules!

Although the LMC\'s commercial products had not been optimized for total warfare, Ves believed that popular models such as the Buzzy Bee and the Ferocious Piranha Mark II would prove themselves adequate enough to keep up with high-intensity use and abuse.

Ves also had a lot of hope that less flashy products such as the second-class versions of the Desolate Soldier and the Crystal Lord would enjoy a renaissance in Davute!

The Desolate Soldier and especially the Crystal Lord had never caught fire in the new frontier. Their glows were nice but not particularly game changing in the current environment and their ability to turn around an entire battle was limited.

However, their relatively balanced, economical and solid constructions would definitely show their value as the war dragged on! The more mech pilots fell in love with the underappreciated strengths of these relatively \'boring\' mech models, the more orders the LMC would receive!

The company\'s Marketing Department already anticipated these scenarios. The Living Mech Corporation should quickly be able to adjust its operations to adapt to the rapidly changing market circumstances.

As Ves and Ketis talked about the consequences of a possible war, the swordmaster looked confused.

"You are putting a lot of weight on private mech forces." She said. "Shouldn\'t wars be fought by professional mech armies? They usually make use of mech models commissioned by the state."

Ves shook his head. "That is normally true, but that only applies to established states. The colonial state around Davute will need at least several generations to build up a fully-fledged professional mech military. Before that happens, Davute has no choice but to rely on private mech forces such as those owned by mercenary organizations and family organizations to do the bulk of the fighting. Do you see all of those ships heading towards Davute VII? At least a part of them belong to groups that are willing to fight for the colonial state in exchange for land, political access and more."

"Will we be joining that line?"

"No. Absolutely not." He declared. "I don\'t mind signing business deals, but anything that causes us to bear responsibilities on behalf of a state goes too far. I will stop anyone who tries to pull that off, no matter whether it applies to our clan as a whole or a single side branch. The clansmen who have chosen to reside in Davute VII must always keep in mind that they only serve a single \'state\', and that is the Larkinson Clan."

He definitely had a lot of work in store to ensure that remained the case. Ves had spent enough time with people to know that his stance towards sovereignty and states was not natural or popular.

Too many humans wanted to live on solid ground. Too many people saw no problem with pledging an oath to defend a large and impersonal state. Too many people didn\'t even consider the Larkinson Clan to be a sovereign entity in the first place!

He couldn\'t blame them. Pretty much every member of his clan grew up in a normal state and always assumed that there was no real alternative.

As Ves continued to chat with Ketis, he suddenly became interrupted by a communication request.

"Sir." Minister Shederin Purnesse greeted the patriarch. "I just came from a talk from a representative of the future colonial administration. Davute has officially invited you to attend the founding ceremony in a place of honor."

Ves grimaced in response. "You know my stances on this statehood stuff. I have no desire to associate myself with this pageantry. Did you politely decline the invitation as you should have?"

"I accepted." Shederin declared.

"You what?!"

"Let me explain, Ves." The old man quickly said. "Attending the founding ceremony is a harmless act. You will do nothing but confirm your existing association with Davute, because our branch and its growing economic activities in the star system have already done that first. Your absence will make people regard you as a volatile leader and the Larkinson Clan as an unreliable actor. It makes much more sense to attend the ceremony and improve the relations between the colonial administration and our Davute Branch. The government and the colonial state\'s many stakeholders will also become more encouraged to purchase the products sold by the LMC, as the company will be seen as a strong supporter of their side in an upcoming war."

"I don\'t care about that! The point about maintaining our distance is that we maintain our neutrality and avoid making too many unnecessary enemies!"

Shederin scoffed. "That ship has sailed in this regard, sir. Karlach already considers us an enemy and believes we are deeply in bed with Davute. There is no possible way that you can convince the Karlachers that our clan is impartial enough to do business with them. Since that is the case, we may as well make a cheap and easy show of support that may boost the sales of our mechs by as much as 10 or 20 percent."

As much as Ves wanted to reject this course of action, Shederin\'s arguments had strong logic.

There were more upsides than downsides in pretending to stand in solidarity with Davute, at least in the short and medium-term.