Chapter 1185. Culpable (2/2)
Once a large amount of Protectors on foot poured into the main hall of the grand church, they swept up the remnants of the fanatics with overwhelming force.
It was too late. Many innocent Ylvainans died from the crossfire, stampede and crushing debris. Large holes poked through the high ceiling of the church, illuminating the blood and bodies that littered the interior of the church.
As the primary target of this attack, the Protectors of the Faith dispatched commandos to Ves' last known position. Lucky dropped his ECM field at their approach, allowing them to detect the survivors.
”Mr. Larkinson! Come with us!”
The commandos forcefully took Ves, Ketis and the injured men away.
Hours later, Ves returned back to the headquarters of the Office of Strategic Mech Management. Right now, the entire Kesseling System was on high alert, so the headquarters currently hosted four times as many guard mechs!
The Avatars of Myth, fresh out of one battle, only took a short rest before piloting their mechs again. None of them were willing to take the chance that the New Ylvaine Dynasty already exhausted all of their assets on Kessling VIII.
”So, Calabast.” Ves spoke as he sat in her office inside his dented armor. At this stage, he wasn't willing to relinquish his protection. ”I recall you said something about the True Believers.”
”I stand by my words, Ves.” She said. ”Just because the attackers talked like True Believers doesn't mean that they are actually the real thing. The attack came too abruptly.”
Ves raised his eyebrow. ”Are you trying to deny you're wrong?”
”Damnit, Ves! Don't be fooled by what took place on the surface! While the True Believers have never been the most rational terrorists, they would never be crazy enough to inflict death and destruction on this scale, especially to the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr!”
”What do you think actually took place, then?”
”I think another organization is responsible. It could be the traditionalists. It could be the Attendants of Ylvaine.” Calabast pinched her head. ”I'm pretty sure it's not the True Believers. It simply doesn't make sense.”
”Prophet Ylvaine never made much sense.”
Calabast frowned at Ves. ”Whatever you think about the New Ylvaine Dynasty, they can't afford to alienate their grassroots support. While they've never shield away from civilian casualties, they have never shown this much disregard for collateral damage. This terrorist attack will set back their support by a huge margin.”
They eventually moved on from this topic. Calabast seemed oddly adamant about sticking to her theories.
”What happens to me now?” Ves asked.
”I don't know. I will have to meet with the senior Curins to see what they have to say. They might want to pull the plug on your commission and send you back to the Bright Republic as fast as possible.”
Ves furrowed his brows. ”Won't that be giving in to the demands of the terrorists?”
”News of your involvement has already spread.” She said and threw out a data pad that contained some articles she collected from the local news portals. ”Even though you're a victim, the media has already begun to lay the blame on your feet!”
He skimmed through the headlines.
THE CAUSE OF THE ATTACK - VES LARKINSON IS A DANGER TO YLVAINAN SOCIETY
GO HOME VES! WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE!
TRUE BELIEVERS VOW TO CONTINUE THEIR ATTACKS UNTIL VES LARKINSON IS DEAD OR GONE!
”These are smear articles!”
”Many news portals published them soon after the first details of the attacks emerged.” Calabast said. ”The publications that acted the fastests are mostly aligned with the traditionalists and the Attendants of Ylvaine. Even though they state that the True Believers are the main culprits of the attack, the journalists are all trying to shift some of the blame on you. If you weren't in the Protectorate, the slaughter would have never taken place!”
Ves felt like puking blood. ”That's victim blaming!”
”It's working. A lot of Ylvainans are getting swayed by these articles. You have to know that the Ylvainans have always been predisposed against foreigners. Public opinion is turning against your presence. Even some of the supporters of the reform agenda are beginning to have second thoughts about your involvement.”
All of these revelations began to look suspicious to Ves. ”This smells like a plot, and a premeditated one at that.”
Whether the True Believers were actually involved or not, at least one element of Ylvainan Society wanted him gone. They knew that as long as Ves succeeded in impressing the locals with his mechs, he'd be able to do a lot more business in the Protectorate, thereby advancing the reform agenda.
”Right now, my staff and I are working as hard as we can to keep the deal between us going.” She said. ”I've even called in some favors from my old employers to exert some influence on the decisions of the higher-ups. I've spent an enormous amount of social capital, you know.”
”Am I supposed to be thankful? I don't even know who you worked for before you moved to the Protectorate!”
Right now, the situation seemed dire. Although Ves was glad he was able to retain his life and the lives of his comrades, his mood sank when he thought that all of his plans for the Ylvaine Protectorate were about to be ruined due to a targeted conspiracy against the reform agenda!
”Relax, Ves. The Curin Dynasty won't give up on us.” Calabast said. ”The only problem is that it will be difficult for us to proceed with our plans.”
”Why so?”
”The traditionalists are trying to use this incident to convince the public that it isn't worth it to get in bed with foreign mech designers. They don't add much strength to the mechs sold in the Protectorate. In fact, their presence will only serve as magnets for further destructive terrorist attacks!”
This was plainly giving in to intimidation. Yet even though this opinion was starting to get a lot of sway among the Ylvainans, Ves nonetheless saw a glimmer of hope in this awful situation.
Ves began to smile. ”I see. If that's the case, then the only way I can prove the traditionalists wrong is to design a great mech. As long as my mech strongly appeals to the Ylvainans, then the public will become convinced that it is more than worth it to work with a foreigner like me! My mech design will be my rebuttal!”
”Do you think it's easy to impress the skeptics among the Ylvainan population?” Calabast retorted. ”The bar is raised now. There's a lot at stake. With so much public scrutiny over your work, it's not enough for you to meet the high expectations we've set on this project. If you truly want to win back enough support, you have to surpass everyone's expectations!”
”Calabast, if there is one thing I am confident about, it is my ability to design mechs. Just wait. In a few months, I'll convert every skeptic with my hero mech design!”