The Mech Touch

sted an uncomfortable truth.

”You… ”

”It happens. ” Marcella casually replied.
”It ’s not your fault.
The galaxy is dangerous.
No place in human space is safe.
I used to be a soldier so I have always accepted my mortality.
So much fighting took place in the star sector that you have left that it was always possible for any of us to croak. ”

”I see. ” Ves nodded.
”Well… since we are obviously meant to talk to each other, let me ask you this.
Why did you sell me out to the authorities? ”

”Why wouldn ’t I? ” She retorted.
”I don ’t know if you have noticed, but I am, was, a citizen of the Bright Republic.
No matter whether the government or the Friday Coalition that is backing the suits wants to grab a hold of you, I obey the law and follow orders like a good citizen should. ”

”Don ’t you feel any remorse for betraying my trust? I thought we were friends, Marcella.
I thought you were the kind of person that would honor our relationship. ”

”We were business partners, Ves.
There is a difference. ” The older and much more muscular woman corrected him.
”Sure, I got along well with you, but I only invested in you because I recognized your potential to earn a lot of profit for me.
My hunch turned out to be right and I was happier for it, up until the situation changed.
Once you started making enemies that were way too powerful for us to handle, it was no longer worth it to maintain our previous relationship.
I don ’t like it any more than you do, but I am not so eager to abandon everything I ’ve built and run away like you have done. ”

”Was it worth it to sell yourself out to a state that was corrupt to the point where the founding families practically ran the Bright Republic as their own personal backyard and where the Friday Coalition could swoop in and override everything? ”

Marcella Bollinger stood as straight as a military serviceman.
”I was a soldier, Ves.
I served in the Mech Corps.
I pledged my loyalty to the Bright Republic and nothing could have changed that.
Even knowing that my state is full of warts and other ugly parts doesn ’t change anything as far as I am concerned.
Orders are orders.
No matter whether they are issued by a Senator of the Tovar Family or a faceless bureaucrat of the central government, it is all the same to me.
I have always been trained to obey. ”

”…I see. ”

”Are you upset, Ves? ”

”No. ” Ves shook his head.
”Too much time has passed for me to feel any resentment towards you.
To be honest, I can fully understand your own position.
It ’s too hard to refuse the whims of those who hold authority over you.
What you have done wasn ’t really all that bad now that I look back on it.
In the end, you taught me several lessons. ”

”What lessons, exactly? ”

”For one, I can never put my unreserved trust in my friends.
Their interests always weigh more than whatever sentiment they hold towards me.
They would screw me over in a heartbeat if this is the most rational course of action.
You have taught me to always watch out for this and make sure that I always remain useful to the parties that want a piece of me.
I think I have done quite well for myself ever since. ”

”What is the second lesson that you have learned from me? ” Marcella curiously asked.

”That it is best to never put myself in a position where I have to answer to a higher authority. ” Ves replied.
”All of the times I got screwed over by one government institution after another has driven me to remove myself entirely from their rule.
I painstakingly built up my Larkinson Clan as a sovereign fleet-bound state so that I would never put myself or my friends in a position as yours.
This has also worked out well for me.
Few people are able to get a hold on me anymore. ”

The specter of Marcella sighed in disappointment.
”I wouldn ’t have wanted you to learn those lessons from me.
Isn ’t it great to embrace service in all of its merits? It is not as if you would have ended up badly, Ves.
You showed value and people wanted that.
The Friday Coalition could have become your greatest backing.
Instead, you ended up consorting with Hexers of all people.
Don ’t you feel any guilt for providing material aid to a group of people that has embraced a horrible ideology? ”

”Nope.
If you think I feel any regret for getting turned away from the Friday Coalition, then you are wrong.
In hindsight, I think hooking up with the Hexers was the best that could happen to me at the time.
I have witnessed the ugly side of the Friday Coalition so many times that I would have never been able to trust the Fridaymen. ”

”They ’re not that bad, Ves.
You have met and befriended several Fridaymen. ”

”And I have met more Fridaymen who would have liked to do nothing more than to end my life. ” He snorted.
”Don ’t talk to me about the Fridaymen any further.
They are too consumed by their infighting to value their friendships.
The Hexers on the other hand may hold awful ideas, but they are much more honest and sincere.
The fact that they have honored their friendship with me time and time again has earned my respect. ”

”You also aided and abetted their aggression towards the Friday Coalition.
The Komodo War killed a lot more people because of the effectiveness of the Hexer mechs that you have designed. ”

Ves scowled.
”And I ’m supposed to feel guilty for that? The Fridaymen targeted me first.
I never wanted to antagonize them.
What I have done is justified revenge.
Besides, whether I helped the Hexers or not, I have always made sure to maintain my distance.
If I stayed chummy with the Fridaymen, then the Coalition would have assimilated me sooner or later, thereby limiting my potential.
The Hexers are much more abhorrent as you have said, which made it a lot easier for me to avoid them as much as possible.
I ended up better for it because the clan I have founded has grown into a formidable independent power that has much better growth potential than the Hex Federation.
That is a win in my book. ”

Marcella sighed.
”It is clear that we will never see eye to eye on this issue.
No matter.
It is fine as long as you are happy.
Anyway, I hope that you will remember everything good that I have done for you.
I truly did not want to turn my back on you and I tried my best not to surrender more than what was expected of me.

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