The Mech Touch

Ves had only met with Temple-Commander Oson Jackarie for less than an hour, and already he was beginning to scheme a silent takeover of the rapidly growing Temple of Destruction!

Somehow, the old opportunist managed to infect Ves with his ambition, thereby causing both to dream about taking control of a powerful religious institution!

As much as Ves wanted to take control of the Temple of Destruction right away, such maneuvers took time. The schism dividing the Pantheon of Modern Gods had not yet been resolved!

Ves needed to address his more immediate affairs first, so he eventually switched the topic back to the coalition of faiths.

"How can I ensure I can not only gain the cooperation of the majority of religions that have sent envoys to the meeting that I have organized, but also obtain a leading position in the coalition that I am trying to build?"

"Well, you have already made good progress by gaining the support of the Pantheon of Modern Gods." The templar-commander said. "It is not enough to rely on its backing to dominate the meeting. As dominant as we have been during the Age of Mechs, we have already made many enemies and rivals. The Age of Dawn has reset many rules and customs, and one of them is that other faiths may experience a resurgence, particularly the old ones. They will be most opposed to surrendering control to a third party."

"Please clarify."

"According to my current understanding, every form of organized religion can roughly be divided into three categories. The old faiths are the religions that originate from before the Age of Stars and have managed to survive humanity's expansion into the stars and more. Many old churches have become extinct, but the ones that have managed to persist for many millennia have deep foundations, extremely stable management and leaders who excel in long-term thinking. These are the groups that have waited for more years than you know to regain their eminent status in human society. They are actually well-prepared to evangelize their faith throughout every corner of human-occupied space. They only need a chance, which is why they have agreed to attend your meeting."

The Terrans who boasted of preserving the oldest traditions also retained the more religious ones as well. The believers of the old faiths had never really gone away. At most, they retreated into the background and developed quietly all of this time in order to preserve their beliefs and organizations.

Ves rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "I think I know what you mean by the old faiths. Whenever anyone thinks about the churches that can trace their origins to a time before the human race ascended to the stars, they think of the Diocese of New Rome, the Brothers and Sisters of the Cross, the Seekers of the Promised Land, the Neo-Crescent Faith and a few others. Each of them have very deep roots in all of the states, but most particularly in the Terran Alliance and other first-rate states."

Many citizens of the Rubarthan Pact tended to be highly materialistic, which meant that they had little demand for faith.

The Terrans who boasted of preserving the oldest traditions also retained the more religious ones as well. The believers of the old faiths had never really gone away. At most, they retreated into the background and developed quietly all of this time in order to preserve their beliefs and organizations.

There was no question that they were powerful and influential. Each of them were also militant. They were fully capable of fielding entire mech armies staffed by true believers who were willing to fight and die for their gods!

"It is good that you do not underestimate them." The temple-commander said. "The old faiths can become an excellent ally if they submit to your leadership on this matter. Their clout and influence alone are enormous. Many smaller faiths will follow their example. You will also be able to impose your own demands on the Interim Leadership Council with greater ease with at least two of the old faiths as your backers."

"That also implies that they can become my greatest hindrance if they stand in opposition to my goals." Ves noted.

"True. That is why winning them over is your greatest priority in your next meeting. Your ambitious plan to form a religious power base in the Red Collective that effectively answers to you cannot succeed unless you satisfy this condition."

That sounded hard. These old faiths did not believe in god pilots that could conveniently drop by and put in a good word for Ves. He would have to win them over the old-fashioned way.

"So how do I do that, Jackarie?"

"By building up a base of support among the other faiths. As long as there is enough momentum behind your initiative, one of the old faiths may feel sufficiently pressured to 'adapt to the changing times'. They will do so reluctantly, but they do not want to fall too far behind on historical trends. The old faiths have all developed enough dogmatism to retain their essence throughout the ages, but they have also built up just enough flexibility to bend and stretch whenever it is necessary. We need to play on the latter factor in order to win them over."

That sounded like a difficult but doable plan.

There was one problem, though.

"That forces me to win over a lot of other faiths, which can be just as difficult and troublesome."

"I believe you are underestimating this task, professor. Let us begin with the middle faiths. These are all of the organized churches that have been founded during the Age of Stars, the Age of Conquest and the Age of Mechs. The Pantheon of Modern Gods is the most prominent among them, but it is not the only to exist in this category. Their heritage and foundation may not be as great as the old gods, but they are also often regarded as more relevant and 'modern' for a given definition of this word. You have already secured the greatest concession by receiving the backing of the PMG in advance, but you can make your hold of the middle faiths stronger by gaining the support of other ones."

"Such as…?"

"My sources indicate that you share special bonds with the rapidly resurgent Gaia Coven and Humanity First."

Ves nodded. "That's true. I have… played a key role in making their gods more tangible and present. I do not have any past dealings with the Gaia Coven and Humanity First, but I am confident that I can gain their strong support."

It was rather interesting that the temple-commander allocated the GC and HF to the middle faiths.

They had indeed for a longer time, but it was only recently that they grew from small and obscure cults into full-blown religious movements!

Ves took that to mean that while they were both new to power, they possessed stronger foundations than most.

"That means that three fairly large and influential middle faiths are already on my side. No wait. There is one more. I think the Eternal Vulcan Faith also falls into this category. Do I need to secure the cooperation of another?"

"Yes, professor. The Gaia Coven has risen to become an influential middle faith in the Terran Alliance, but you do not have the support of a counterpart based in the Rubarthan Pact. It would be prudent of you to remedy this. There is one obvious group that satisfies our criteria."

It did not take much guessing for Ves to come up with a name.

"Are you talking about the Star Emperor Cult?"

"Correct. The Star Emperor Cult has lost influence after the Great Severing due to getting cut off from the New Rubarth Empire, but it will likely experience a resurgence after the Rubarthan princes in our dwarf galaxy have resolved the battle for the throne. Although the proportion of secularists in the Rubarthan Pact is high, there are still enough Rubarthans who have become members of the SEC and worship one of seven Star Emperors to exist. Once the Pact presents a legitimate successor, then the Star Emperor Cult will most definitely fall under the new ruler's sway."

That told him that the Star Emperor Cult would likely fall into lockstep with the secular leadership of the Rubarthan Pact.

The new Star Emperor or whatever replacement title the Rubarthans have chosen would effectively gain extensive control over the colonial superstate!

That meant that there was little chance for Ves to win over the SEC entirely. At most, he could forge a mutually-beneficial relationship with the Rubarthan cult and hope it would last long enough.

"I have contacts with several Rubarthan princes." Ves said. "I can reach out to them and see if they can wrangle the SEC into giving me support on this matter."

"That sounds good, but it is better if you can obtain unequivocal support of the leading candidates for the throne. The Smokestack Prince has been the leading candidate for a long time, but the Inferno Spear Prince has recently been gaining momentum since the start of the Red Tide Offensive."

That made sense. The Rubarthans would probably prefer to be led by a capable administrator who knew how to grow the economy under normal times.

If the war started to get too close to home, then the need to survive trumped every other priority. The Rubarthans would rather be led by a proven warrior and champion if that was the case!

"I am on good terms with the Inferno Spear Prince, but I can't say the same for the Smokestack Prince. I think that may be enough so long as the latter doesn't actively oppose my initiative."

That meant that there may be a chance for Ves to win over the Star Emperor Cult after all. Once he secured its tentative support, Ves should have a strong enough base of support from the middle faiths!

"After the middle faiths come the new faiths. These are all of the new religious organizations founded in the current age that are on the rise. Their foundations, membership figures and influence cannot be compared to the other faiths, but they may end up representing the future of our religious landscape. The Hunting Association is currently the only one that has gained enough momentum to be taken seriously. The others… are mostly too small to exert enough influence."

"That's a problem, because I have the backing of multiple faiths that don't quite measure up to the rest. There is the Flamekeeper Church that worships Furia, the Ylvainan Faith that worships Ylvaine, the Creation Association that worships the same god as the Eternal Vulcan Church and the Temple of Hexism that has come to deify the Superior Mother and the Daughter of Death. I am aware that none of them are large or powerful enough to match up to the big boys, but I wield a considerable amount of influence in each of them. In fact, I outright own the Creation Association. Does it help to bring them into the meeting?"

The temple-commander nodded. "It will help. It proves that you support the practice of religion through your actions, not just through your words. It will be much easier for you to present yourself as a sympathetic friend and ally. This credibility will play a helpful role in arguing that you should lead the coalition of faiths."

The two opportunists continued to talk and discuss Ves' plan for the upcoming days.

Ves truly valued the old temple-commander's analysis and recommendations. The insider possessed a much more thorough grasp of this previously underexplored part of human society.

Without his latest agent's valuable advice and warnings, Ves did not think it would be so easy to build a coalition of faiths!

At the very least, his chances of leading the coalition would have been much less due to the unified objections of the old faiths.

Now that Ves amended his original plan, he actually started to feel better about creating a power base from a lot of fractious and quarrelsome churches.

Sure, all of them were filled with crazies, but as long as Ves held enough leverage over them, he should at least be able to prevent them from blowing up in his face… hopefully.

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