Chapter 2001 Insiders vs Outsiders
"I have to say, boss, you're positively glowing." Gavin smirked at Ves as they started their daily briefing. "Did you finally graduate from a boy to a man?"
Ves, with half of his mind lingering on the unforgettable night, snapped back. "What are you talking about? I've always been a man!"
"Hehe.. I'm not so sure about that. I think you definitely 'leveled up' since yesterday, though. You look twice as confident as before!"
"Is it that obvious?" Ves groaned.
"The rumors are already spreading throughout the entire fleet! It doesn't help that Gloriana may have said some words that confirm some of the stories. Did your physical augmentations really allow you to…"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Ves slammed his palm against his desk, startling Lucky who was dozing off not far away! "Let's keep my private life separate from my professional life, okay?! I expect everyone to be PROFESSIONAL on the job, okay? You can say whatever you want within reason when you are off the clock, but no funny business during work hours, is that clear?"
Gavin awkwardly coughed. "About that. This policy is rather harder to enforce than you think. When your work and your home is in the same place, people tend to get rather.. cozy. People need to loosen up every now and then, especially when they can't go to a park or head downtown to have some fun. The situation in the fleet is rather steady so far, but the moment you try to instill military discipline among your ranks, I think the mood will quickly tank."
That was a very clever diversion. Ves worried about this problem as well. "How bad is the discipline problem?"
"It's under control. Right now, cohesion among your Larkinsons and workers is high, and morale is rising especially now that it looks like every worker in the fleet is about to get inducted in the Larkinson Clan!"
Gavin was positively grinning when he said those last words!
"Are you that eager to become a Larkinson?" Ves threw a suspicious glance at his assistant.
"I've been working for you since the start back when we were just starting off at Cloudy Curtain. I have been through almost all of your travels and adventures and while I'm not comfortable with how you attract so much danger, I have to say that I feel more fulfilled than I would have ever been if I worked for a regular company. Everyone who has stuck by you thinks the same! We really believe you are bigger than the Komodo Star Sector. All of us have made up our minds. The chance to be a part of your clan is something that we have all dreamt of but never dared to voice out loud!"
The assistant sounded like an advocate of Calabast's proposal.
"How popular is the proposal?"
"You can hardly find any Brighter, Ylvainan or other people who want to refuse this option! The Larkinson name is worth its weight in exotics. The reputation of the original Larkinson Family and the rising trajectory of your Larkinson Clan holds an immense attraction to those who don't share your last name. Of course, the opportunity to become an insider and receive the same generous treatment as a trueblood Larkinson is already immensely attractive."
"I'm told that this is not entirely the case. Wasn't there talk of instituting a class system?"
Gavin dropped his smirk a bit. "That's one of the most controversial topics that is still up in the air. A lot of the current Larkinson clansmen are very reluctant about expanding the clan. While the older and wiser among you see the necessity in expanding the clan, they're also the most stubborn about dividing the clan between trueblood Larkinsons and 'external' Larkinsons."
"You sound like you disapprove."
"It's not as much of an integration as we all hope for. It's hard not to feel disappointed if this comes into being. This kind of half-hearted solution is like paying lip service to the intention of including outsiders in the clan. Will the people who weren't born a Larkinson still be able to integrate in the clan when the trueblood clansmen constantly lord over their superiority?"
This sounded like an incredibly thorny problem. There were no perfect solutions at hand. Either the Larkinsons could embrace the outsiders as equals and risk losing control of the clan, or they could maintain an artificial class system that allowed the minority of trueblood Larkinsons to maintain primacy over the others.
Regardless of which solution the Larkinson Clan chose, at least one of the two groups would become dissatisfied. Ves worried that the discontent might become severe enough to tear his new and relatively fragile clan asunder!
"I have an appointment soon with Ovrin and Raymond, right? I'll discuss this issue with the two elders and see if we can keep the outrage to a minimum."
"Whatever you choose, I hope you will do justice for us little guys. We have contributed much if not more than your fellow Larkinsons to your efforts. Remember the days when you wanted nothing to do with the Larkinson Family?"
"Those days are long gone."
"Are they?" Gavin questioned. "Sure, you've attracted a large following of Larkinsons, but they mostly joined later on when you became a Journeyman and showed that you had great potential. Back when you were an Apprentice, your family demanded a fourth of the shares of the LMC for a relatively small sum of money considering your company's future potential."
"What's your point?"
"While I am not trying to say that some of your relatives such as Commander Melkor and Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson haven't been essential, the fact that you share the same blood as them is largely incidental. Their level of contributions don't match the assistance that many of your other relatives have provided. In fact, the fact that there are still a lot of clansmen who want to leave as soon as we reach the Sentinel Kingdom is a sign that many of your fellow Larkinsons aren't as loyal as some of us who have been with you for years!"
How could Ves not see what Gavin was doing? His executive assistant constantly tried to persuade him into accepting outsiders into the clan without treating them differently from any other Larkinson.
To be honest, Gavin made a very persuasive argument. Ves half-suspected that he didn't really come up with it to begin with. It sounded like something Calabast or James would come up with. The logic was hard to deny.
"Let's end this topic for now. I won't make up my mind until I talk to some of the Larkinson elders." Ves dismissively waved his hand. "What's next on the agenda?"
"Well, it's about our financial situation. You see, with our best-selling product line no longer being sold in Coalition-aligned space, our monthly income has dropped, but is still more than enough to pay for the upkeep of our sprawling fleet and company assets. Now that we took in the Penitent Sisters, that has changed."
Ves frowned. "How bad is it? Will we be running out of money quickly?"
"Don't get me wrong, boss. The Penitent Sisters, despite their ugly origins, have made us feel a lot safer. The problem is their strength comes at a considerable cost. Second-class outfits are completely different from third-class outfits. The cost to maintain our original lineup of ships and mechs is only a fraction of the cost to keep the highly-advanced hardware of the Penitent Sisters running! Their fuel is more expensive, the energy they consume is astronomically higher, the materials needed to build replacement parts is prohibitive, the salaries owed to the Sisters is enough to employ an army of third-class mech pilots and worst of all, the costs will only rise as time goes by. According to the Accounting Department, if the current trend persists, we'll run out of money in fifteen months!"
Fifteen months. That didn't sound so bad. "There's plenty of time to remedy this problem."
"This is a big problem!" Gavin threw up his hands. "Fifteen months may be a long time, but our margin of error is not as big as it seems! Even if your striker mech project ends up a commercial success, it's still a third-class mech! We will need to sell a huge amount of copies in order to cover all of the upkeep of the Penitent Sisters! If the sales of your next commercial product falls short of this high bar, then we'll still be drowning in a couple of years!"
"I'll just design another commercial mech, then." Ves shrugged. "Gloriana and I work faster and more productively ever since I got my new implant. If necessary, I'll design a commercial second-class mech in order to generate the revenue we need to pay for all of our expenses."
"I hope you keep this priority in mind. None of us want your endeavor to crash because you haven't been paying attention to our growing expenses. Don't forget that you will have to earn even more money in order to prepare your expeditionary fleet. I doubt we would be able to make it in the Red Ocean with our shabby light carriers."
"You've made your point." Ves said dryly. "When it comes down to it, I can still borrow money from somewhere. The Wodin Dynasty is probably flush with cash."
Gavin smiled sharply at Ves. "Do you want to owe more favors to the Hexers?"
"..Not really."
His debt to DIVA and the inclusion of the Penitent Sisters reminded Ves that he was getting way too involved with the Hegemony! Though he couldn't help it on account of his girlfriend, Ves couldn't wait to repay what he owed and leave the Komodo Star Sector as fast as possible!
They soon turned to the last topic on the agenda.
"You recently instructed us to explore the option of recruiting additional mech designers. While the conditions you've set are very harsh, interest in joining your design teams is still high! In fact, every time we present the option, a lot of mech designers, young and old, are very enthusiastic about working under a rising superstar in the mech industry!"
"I see. My fame has finally reached this level."
"Even though you're known as an eccentric and volatile Journeyman who gets into a lot of trouble, your design talent is undeniable. A lot of Novices, Apprentices and even your fellow Journeymen are interested in working for you. They all hope to learn some of the secrets of your success."
Ves crossed his arms. "Let me guess. They just want to stick with me for a decade or so before leaving to set up their own business with the lessons they learned from me? I already told you that I'm not interested in those who aren't committed to my ventures."
"While that is certainly the case for many mech designers, there are thousands of professionals in the Sentinel Kingdom who have shown a lot of willingness to abide by the restrictive contract you've insisted upon! Many of these mech designers are quite good!"
"That remains to be seen. Try and register all of the applicants. Filter out the ones who aren't suitable as much as possible. When we reach the Sentinel Kingdom, I'll interview the ones who are left on the list in person. I'm looking to double the number of design teams, so that means I want to come away with at least twelve more assistant mech designers."
"Got it, boss." Gavin made a note in his data pad. "Our men in Sentinel will make sure to give you plenty of choice without wasting your time with unqualified applicants. What priorities should they look out for in a potential new recruit?"
"Loyalty comes first. My mech designers must be trustworthy and reliable. It is best that they do not have any loyalties to any prior employers or other groups. Experience is not a necessity for that reason. Ideally, the mech designers should be young so I can get a lot of use out of them before they reach their expiration dates. Ideally, they should be talented or possess a lot of potential, but I don't want anyone greedy or arrogant. If they can't accept being subordinate to me, then they're applying for the wrong job."
His assistant nodded again and again. "That's a hefty set of priorities. I don't think there will be a lot of applicants left if you insist on all of these requirements."
"While I am in need of more assistants in the design lab, it's not too urgent. We can always recruit suitable mech designers elsewhere."
Trust was hard to come by. Ves did not believe that every applicant would be as committed to him as his current roster of mech designers.
That was okay. The galaxy was filled with mech designers. Ves just had to keep his doors open long enough to meet his growing design needs!
Chapter 2002 Upgrading People
"Hihihi! Do you think Ves…"
"Oh, that must have been dreadful! Can you imagine…"
"...Genetic modification has gone too far!"
The gossip in the design lab sounded anything but amusing to Ves. His girlfriend simply couldn't keep her mouth shut to the female members of their design teams. It was as if they were back in high school instead of a professional setting!
Ves glowered more and more as Gloriana jubilantly referenced the 'adventure' they went through last night!
"Meow?"
Lucky curiously floated in front of his face.
"Hey, at least I got some action, unless you!"
"Meow!"
Right now, Ves stood outside the hatch leading into the design lab and workshop compartment. The reason why he paused here was because he wanted to find out whether Gloriana and the others in the fleet were truly gossiping about last night's 'adventure'.
He didn't listen in on the conversation in the design lab by patching into the monitoring system.
Instead, he resorted to a more covert means and extended his spiritual ear through the bulkheads.
What he found out did not amuse him the slightest!
He could understand it if other people gossiped about his love life. With how much his life was being scrutinized by everyone, it was hard to keep everything secret.
Yet for Gloriana to release teasing hints about his 'performance' made him feel extremely embarrassed! Didn't she have any shame?!
"Probably not." He sardonically muttered.
The only consolation was that his girlfriend sounded very satisfied. At least he made a good accounting for himself, if Gloriana was to be believed!
The moment Ves entered the design lab, all conversation stopped. Gloriana smiled at his appearance while the rest of his assistants and students adopted odd expressions.
It was hard not to maintain his composure amidst all of this intense scrutiny. Ves really wanted to bonk Gloriana's head for being too loose with her mouth!
"Ahem." Ves coughed. "We have a lot of work to do. What are you standing around for? We have two mech designs that need fleshing out!"
The assistant mech designers gradually returned to work after Ves handed out their daily assignments. There was a lot more work to do now they started work on designing the Hexer mech.
With the striker mech design project well underway, everyone had to deal with the stress of juggling two very different mech designs at the same time!
The striker mech design project wasn't all that challenging, actually. Its relative simplicity was only marred by the fact that Ves and Gloriana had very few ways to solve its fundamental capacity problems.
Aside from this sore point, the pair could pretty much design the mech to completion on autopilot. At their level of knowledge and experience, designing mass-market third-class mechs posed no significant challenge to them anymore.
Of course, if they wanted to excel in third-class mech design, they needed to put in a lot of work to surpass the greatest names in this sector.
That required a high mastery in third-class mechs as well as centuries of experience in designing them! Such an extreme level of accumulation was not something that a young pair of Journeyman Mech Designers could pick up in a few years or decades!
Ves could only work towards that height step-by-step as he focused on his own progression. He had already decided to shift his focus towards designing second-class mechs, so it was unlikely that he would be able to match the true specialists who spent centuries to polish their ability to design cheap and extremely cost-effective mechs!
After Ves inspected the coursework of the male Larkinson seeds, he finally managed to catch his girlfriend by herself.
"Gloriana." Ves said with gritted teeth.
"Yes, honey?"
Her brilliant smile and her refreshing scent made it hard for him to remain angry with her. He still felt she violated his privacy, though.
"Could you please not make our lives a spectacle? Our relationship is not a public drama show!"
"Oh, Ves." She approached him and embraced him in a heartfelt hug. "You don't have to be so shy. You 'men' like to brag, do you not?"
"Not all men are the same! And why does it sound strange when you say that word?!"
"That's not important." She pulled back and adopted a lecturing tone. "Look Ves, you're a public figure now. You are the owner and lead designer of the LMC as well as the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan. Do you know what that means?"
"No." Ves cluelessly replied.
"You're starting a new lineage, Ves! I've studied the history of my own dynasty as well as the other dynasties of the Hegemony, and each of them came into power when a successful Hexer managed to translate her momentary fortune into enduring strength! Even when the original founders passed on, their legacy lives on through the dynasties they founded!"
"What does this have to do with our relationship?"
She sighed. "You're not getting it. Aren't you the kind of leader who makes a lot of long-term plans and likes to prepare measures early so that they will bear fruit decades from now? This is exactly what I'm doing right now! I'm reassuring your fellow clansmen and dependents that we are working towards our continuity!"
It took awhile for Ves to process the implications behind her words. Even with his Archimedes Rubal, he was still caught off-guard by her intentions!
"You are talking as if we're establishing our own dynasty!"
She nodded. "Isn't that natural? A lot of people are following you because you are talented and capable, but what happens when you get sick? What happens if one of your many adventures goes wrong? Many people in the fleet can't help but worry what will happen if you are indisposed for one reason or another. The month-long coma you've been under recently has caused a lot of fright among your subordinates."
"That doesn't mean we should adopt outdated feudal customs and work towards establishing our own dynasty!"
"You're mistaken if you think these measures are part of an outdated tradition. The founding families of the Bright Republic, the noble houses of the Vesia Kingdom and the matriarchal dynasties of my home state have all grown strong and enduring due to emphasizing continuity! If you want your legacy to last beyond the prime of our lives, then we should start our planning today!"
Ves was way too uncomfortable with this topic! "It's too soon!"
"Is it?" She threw a sly smile at him. "You weren't so reluctant last night. I must say, do you ever run out of energy? You could power an entire mech with your energy reserves!"
"OKAY, that's enough! Let's stay professional, shall we? You may be my girlfriend, but right now you are a co-worker, nothing more!"
"Hihihi! You're so cute!"
BONK!
"Okay, okay, I'll cut it out!" She whined.
Once she had her fun, they began to discuss their latest project. Now that Ves received the remnant of the Idol of the Superior Mother, they were able to proceed with designing their first Hexer mech.
"This mech will be different from the other mechs we've designed." He began and projected a rough draft of his revised vision. "I have a good idea on what I would like to design, but I'm not too certain about the execution. I've never designed a fully-fledged second-class mech before. Most notably, I'm not well-versed with the capabilities of intended users I'm not that familiar with all of the advanced Hexer components that we are allowed to incorporate in our mech design."
"I can make up for both." Gloriana confidently stated. "That said, it would help if you put some extra effort into catching up. Second-class mech design is an entirely different beast from third-class mech design. In fact, it is very hard to design a technically sound mech at this level that can match the quality of other products designed by established competitors. Most notably, our design team can't contribute as much to this project as they do in other projects. The components, materials, scientific principles are on a completely different level. Unless they learn how to design second-class mechs like you did, they can only be entrusted with the most basic tasks."
That was a very serious problem. Hiring third-class mech designers was cheap and easy, but Ves basically got what he paid for! Miles Tovar, Oscar DiMartin, Mayer Torto and Merrill O'Brian were all third-class mech designers! Their exposure to the advanced technology and design principles of second-class mech designs was fairly modest!
If not for their ability to peruse the textbooks of Clarion University, they would have probably remained completely ignorant!
Hiring additional third-class mech designers didn't address this problem. Their quality was too low to be of any use in projects that had reached this level of complexity.
"We should hire some second-class mech designers." Gloriana suggested. "Let me reach out to my old alma mater."
Ves immediately shook his head. "No! Don't think about it! We are not hiring Hexers, especially for something as important as our design teams!"
"What's your problem, Ves?!"
"Will they listen to my orders or will they only listen to you instead?"
"Not every Hexer is the same! We can hire males instead of females if you are so insecure about maintaining your authority!"
"That's hardly any better!"
They eventually shelved this option.
"I don't want too many weirdos on my design teams." He declared. "While our design efforts are hampered by the lack of second-class mech designers, you shouldn't count out our current assistants. They're improving every day and we can encourage them to transition into second-class mech designers."
"That will take years! They don't have your implant or your cognitive augmentations! Time spent on learning how to design second-class mechs eats up valuable time they could use to progress their design philosophy. This is one of the biggest reasons why they are reluctant to promote. They will be older and further behind compared to those who have designed second-class mechs from the beginning."
That was true. Ves recognized the issues that this measure might bring.
"We'll just have to provide them with the opportunity to augment themselves." He said. "They won't need to waste as much time when their learning efficiency improves. I'll have to make sure they're committed to their jobs and in it for the long haul, though."
These days, Ves no longer handed out his Attribute Candies willy nilly.
In fact, aside from Ketis, his decision to feed his employees with candies seemed to have backfired! Two people he valued turned their backs on him despite showering them with a lavish gift in the form of improving their intellect!
That said, there were many other ways to augment someone's intelligence.
"Dr. Ranya should be available, right?" He asked.
Gloriana nodded. "Yes. Ever since she supervised your recovery, she turned her attention back to her own research."
"Well, I'm short of an exobiologist and medical advisor, so I suppose she has to fulfill this function now. Please tell her to form a plan to augment every member of our design teams. Our assistants could all use the extra assistance with all of the improvements they have to make in order to remain relevant."
"I'll do that, but it will take some time. I think there are plenty of geneticists in your employ that can upgrade their genes. My cousin can install cranial implants in their heads. Together, that should result in a very comprehensive boost to their cognitive functions."
"Don't make it too cheap. I want to invest in them. Ideally, the augmentations should be the same as the ones that Hexers are entitled to. Is that possible?"
His girlfriend furrowed her brows. "That's harder to do. We probably have to hire additional specialists, especially geneticists. They won't come cheap, and the advanced augmentations themselves will also cost a lot."
"We have to hire those people sooner than later, so we might as well do it now. A lot more people will require augmentation as well and it's best if we can perform the operations in-house rather than rely on others."
"Are you okay with hiring Hexer personnel?"
"NO!"
Chapter 2003 Design by Role
When Ves began to expand on the draft of the Hexer mech with Gloriana, they encountered a lot of initial difficulties.
Second-class mechs were more powerful than the mechs he was used to designing.
Even so, there were several tiers of second-class mechs, ranging from the cheapest economy models that were only modestly better than his Bright Warrior to the ultradvanced premier mechs that were within throwing distance to first-class mechs!
A vast spectrum existed between the two extremes. What a newcomer like Ves ought to do was to dip his toes into the water by entering the shallow pool first.
Instead, he dove head-first into the ocean by tackling a mech design that was meant to be on par with the military mechs of the Hex Army!
Having participated in the development and maintenance of the mechs of the Bright Republic's Mech Corps, Ves knew that there was a significant difference between private mechs and government-funded mechs.
Right now, this meant that Ves abruptly had to work with a category of mechs that was a bit too much for him to grasp!
The insane performance parameters of the components made available to them blew any third-class mech out of the water! With each component performing several times better than their third-class equivalents, Ves found it very difficult to estimate the overall performance of his draft in a real setting.
Additionally, many of the components that used to take up a lot of space were suddenly smaller and lighter. Sensor systems, mech engines, power reactors and more came in both bigger and smaller models, providing mech designers with a plethora of options to choose from! Ves soon became unable to see the forest from the trees as he was unable to determine which components he should include in his mech design in a miniaturized form or keep them at full size!
Gloriana placed her hand on his forearm. "Calm down, Ves. I know this catalog of components can be overwhelming to you, but that doesn't mean your old approach is wrong. You've always centered your design choices around your vision. This time should be no different. Ignore the flashy features of all of these components and just choose something by going down a list of priorities."
He sighed. "That's the problem, Gloriana. I initially conceived of my concept when I didn't have a clear picture of how a military mech ought to perform."
"You watched the battle footage of our mechs in action, did you not?"
"I did, but that was from an outsider's perspective. Now that I am exposed to the full might of second-class mechs, I am a bit less certain on what to go for with our Hexer mech."
A brief silence ensued as Ves massaged his forehead while Gloriana fell into thought.
"You have me, Ves. You don't have to shoulder all of the burden alone. In our past design projects, you've taken the lead all the time. Maybe you should relinquish some more decisions to me this time. I'm a lot more familiar with these advanced components than you, and I have a much better grasp on the level of performance that is expected of this kind of mech."
She was right, though Ves noted an issue. "Aren't you incapable of designing non-custom mechs?"
"I wouldn't say I'm incapable. I just don't prefer it. It's not a problem for me to take care of these general problems, but I still need you to help complete this design."
"Okay."
They began to go back to the drawing board in a sense and reviewed their current mech concept. The vision that Ves had come up with was fine, but the technical details needed some refinement.
"So you're still going with a landbound knight mech?"
"Yes." Ves nodded. "It's what I'm most familiar with and it's the simplest mech type by nature. I thought about designing a rifleman mech instead, but they are often spread out throughout the battlefield or placed in the rear. What I want is a mech that can support the female Hexer mech pilots up close."
"That is sound reasoning. I agree. What else?"
"I'm not sure whether to emphasize the defense or mobility of my mech. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and I'm not sure which one I should choose. Prioritizing defense is good if my support mech is deployed in defensive battles, while prioritizing mobility makes my mech a lot more useful in offensive actions."
The same applied to third-class mechs. His Blackbeak may not be the most ideal defensive mech, but its relative mobility was so good that it could keep up with offensive mechs when they went on the attack!
However, Ves confidently designed the Blackbeak because he was very familiar with the way that third-class battles were being fought. His father was a mech pilot and his entire family regaled him with many tales of mechs in action.
The same rules didn't apply to the higher classes of combat. Second-class mech battles were very different due to the higher levels of performance and added versatility of the main pieces.
A second-class knight mech was often not 'just' a knight mech. They often incorporated at least something extra to make them stand out from the competition. It was like the gimmicks that Ves used to add in his mech design in a much stronger form.
The question now was what kind of capabilities he could add to his Hexer mech.
"What kind of features do existing knight mechs in the Hex Army come with?" He asked.
"There are a lot of choices depending on the intended role of the mech. For example, defensive mechs often incorporate some self-repair functions to sustain its presence on the battlefield. They can also carry jamming arrays that can interfere with scans and targeting systems in order to prevent the enemy from targeting critical assets."
"What about offensive knight mechs?"
"Oh, sometimes they come with augmented flight or boosting capabilities in order to speed up their navigation or charges. They can also come with augmented shields or more specialized fields that can temporarily mitigate energy attacks within a small radius around the mech. There are also knight mechs that can carry support systems that can rapidly repair certain types of battle damage in the field, though those systems are usually found on dedicated support mechs or support vehicles."
Support mechs were machines that weren't explicitly designed to attack. Instead, they worked to support their own side by resupplying their spent reserves or fixing up some battle damage in the middle of an active engagement.
While they weren't as good as a bunch of mech technicians in a mech workshop, these support mechs were nonetheless vital in extending the operation time of a lot of mechs.
Because their functions weren't as critical as mechs designed for battle, some forces eschewed support mechs for support vehicles instead.
Piloted or crewed by norms, support vehicles essentially fulfilled the same functions just as well, though they were completely helpless if they were cornered by an enemy.
As could be imagined, the Hex Army only crewed these support options with boys!
Right now, Ves wasn't interested in designing a support mech or any kind of utility mech for that matter. He was still rooted in third-class mech design where every mech was expected to fight in one way or another.
To him, designing a support mech that couldn't even hurt a fly was not a good entry into second-class mechs. He didn't want his products to be interpreted as support machines, even though his design philosophy conveyed a lot of advantages in this aspect.
As a man, he wanted to design mechs that could demolish other mechs!
Unfortunately, the Hexer tradition of limiting the offensive options of male mechs posed a huge hindrance to this urge!
"You can't add secondary weapon systems to our current mech design." Gloriana warned him. "No missile launchers. No electrorods. No grenades. No integrated laser mounts. The extra functions either have to be defensive or supportive in nature. No exceptions."
Ves adopted a sour expression. "I really want to add some ranged options to our Hexer mech. One of my most persistent complaints about my Blackbeak and Aurora Titan designs is that they can't effectively retaliate against ranged mechs. I thought I could change that now that I'm working at a higher tech level."
"It's fine if you want to design a mech for a different audience, but the Hex Army absolutely forbids this. I think you don't quite get it, Ves. Male Hexer mechs aren't truly meant to defeat their opponents. Sure, a knight mech can defend itself when threatened and a ranged mech won't receive any blame if it scores a lucky hit, but female mechs must always be responsible for the majority of kills! Everything that male mechs can do must facilitate the actions of female mechs in some way. Hexers can't imagine a situation where it's the other way around!"
That sounded completely absurd to Ves! Yet so far, the Hexers didn't seem to find a problem with this artificial separation. They were doing decently enough in the Komodo War to suppress any voices that advocated for change.
He breathed deeply. He was not a social activist nor a politician. He was just a mech designer. It wasn't his job to advance certain causes or alter the arrangements of his client.
Perpetuating any perceived injustices, even if it offended his sensibilities, shouldn't even be a factor. As long as he accepted a commission, he had to do his best to advance the interests of his client, even if DIVA forced it down his throat this time!
"What would be a good supportive module to add to our knight mech?"
"Hmm…" Gloriana pressed her finger against her lips. "There are many options to choose from. I think we should first determine the role and sub-role of our mech. Offensive or defensive?"
"Offensive." Ves answered. "I think second-class offensive knights are already resilient enough. Defensive mechs at this level are completely excessive and over the top when it comes to their capacity to resist damage."
"You'd be surprised at what kind of firepower the Fridaymen can bring to bear against fortified positions. Many defensive mechs in the Hegemony are designed to withstand focused bombardment by artillery mechs, you know."
"Well, I don't want to design a turtle. I want a mech that moves!"
"Okay." Gloriana nodded and noted it down. "So right now we have a knight mech that possesses enough mobility to keep up with most offensive actions. What else?"
Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. He recalled the battle footage he had seen and tried to identify the most glaring difficulties the Hexers experienced when they resisted the Fridaymen.
"From what I can gather, Hexers are better in shock tactics while the Fridaymen are more proficient in attrition warfare, isn't that right?"
Gloriana immediately glowered. "We're not that incompetent! We can last in lengthy battles just fine!"
Ves ignored her objection. "I think our Hexer mech should be adapted to the rigors of attrition warfare. This also happens to be one of my strong points. Unlike almost every mech designer, I actually lived through several battles. Even if second-class mechs are fancier than the machines I'm used to working with, they are still subject to the same challenges. Am I right?"
She reluctantly nodded. "There are some differences."
"Whatever. Second-class mechs are energy-hungry machines, right? What if I base our Hexer mech around energy collection, storage and distribution?"
Gloriana shook her head. "A support mech can fulfill that function better."
"In the frontlines? At the tip of the spear? I bet that any support mech will get targeted by the enemy right away! Taking out the source of replenishment and resupply is always useful, especially when they aren't designed to take hit! Our mech will be different! Not only can it function as a source of rapid resupply, it can also make use of all of that energy to empower its own capabilities, all the while advancing to the thick of the fighting!"
This time, his argument took hold. Gloriana looked a lot more intrigued than before!
Chapter 2004 Good Boy
In the Hex Army, knight mechs played a supportive function. Aside from providing a mobile bulwark that provided some much-needed protection for offensive mechs piloted by women, they also offered an array of support services.
In line with the general Hexer preference for shock attacks, the knight mechs piloted by the boys accompanying the superior gender usually offered various defensive or utility benefits.
Direct defensive boosts entailed measures which directly improved the defense of surrounding mechs such as projecting a radial shield, emitting an anti-energy particle cloud or launching deployable cover.
Indirect defensive features comprised of features such as powerful directional scanning arrays that could defeat most ECM measures or putting up a stealth field.
One detail that Ves already knew was that the Hex Army actually didn't exhibit an endless variety of mech models. Unlike the Friday Coalition which adopted different doctrines and battle traditions for every partner, every mech division and every mech regiment, the Hex Army only used around less than a couple of hundred mech models for its entire lineup!
A hundred sounded a lot to a single mech force like the Living Sentinels, but the Hex Army comprised millions of mechs, each of which fought across a battleline stretching an innumerable amount of light-years!
For such a huge and critical mech military to exhibit so little diversity, especially considering that many mech models were merely variants of each other, was staggering to Ves! As someone who was used to the high degree of autonomy adopted by the mech regiments of the Mech Corps, he simply couldn't imagine what it would be like for the regimental commanders to lack the ability to choose their own mech models!
"The Hex Army adopts the same mechs throughout its entire lineup for good reasons, Ves." Gloriana told him. "We don't ascribe to the belief that we need a million different mech models to confuse our enemy or throw them off-guard. We believe in the might of our superiority! We press our attack with the only mechs that are necessary to break through enemy lines!"
The Hex Army's mech regiments mostly adopted the same set of mech models depending on their overall role. Assault regiments fielded one common pool of mech models while scout regiment fielded another common pool of mech models!
The advantages of this were obvious. Using the exact same mech models across thousands of different units meant that it was a lot easier for the Hex Army's logistical services to supply the same spare parts and replacement mechs. The economies of scale increased the efficiency of these efforts by a very significant margin over the Friday Coalition's own logistical operations!
From a design standpoint, Ves was aware that the mech models adopted by the Hex Army all represented the culmination of the best Hexer mech designers. The matriarchs only accepted the best, and the designs that met their approval were constantly being iterated and improved upon by dedicated teams of Masters and Seniors!
Instead of spreading the expertise of many Masters and Seniors across tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of different mech models, pouring all of their attention to less than five-hundred mechs resulted in highly-optimized mechs that performed admirably on the battlefield!
That said, the lack of variety also led to a number of disadvantages. The Fridaymen probably analyzed each and every mech model to death and figured all of their weak points.
Though it wasn't easy to exploit the weak points of highly-optimized mechs, the lack of surprises offered by the Hex Army really hampered some of its operations!
Ves realized the Hex Army was too predictable!
Of course, there were other organizations like DIVA who specialized in subterfuge and special operations, but the main Hexer force was a huge and powerful exobeast who only knew how to charge in one direction: forward!
In contrast, the various military organizations of the Friday Coalition were scattered because they were divided among the six partners. The Gauge Dynasty's Sundered Phalanx adopted a completely different set of mechs from the Carnegie Group's Fortune Legion.
Together with the fact that their mech regiments were highly individualized, the Friday Coalition often managed to surprise the rigid Hex Army with its new and unexpected mech models.
That said, the performance of those new mech models were inconsistent, and even the best Fridayman mechs couldn't compare to the Hexer mechs in terms of optimization.
Which approach was right and which approach was wrong?
Ves couldn't answer such a huge and profound question. As a mech designer, he vastly preferred the diversity model adopted by the Bright Republic and the Friday Coalition. These states offered many mech designers the opportunity to distinguish themselves by expressing their design abilities to the fullest extent. This was also the mainstream approach chosen by many states.
However, the Hex Army chose a different path, and it wasn't in his place to challenge this decision. All Ves could do was to accept this reality and figure out a way for his mech to best slot into this paradigm.
Right now, Ves noticed a clear need that the Hex Army's current lineup failed to address.
"The Hex Army already has an energy resupply mech, though." Gloriana said. She manipulated the projector with her mind, causing it to display a 'fat' support mech. "The Good Boy 77S is the predominant landbound energy resupply mech. It's a heavy mech, but doesn't feature a lot of armor for its weight class. While slow, vulnerable and defenseless, it carries a huge amount of high-density energy cells. It can supply an entire mech squad if necessary!"
"...'Good Boy'?"
Gloriana blinked. "What's wrong with that? It's called that way because every female Hexer pilot is appreciative of the energy resupply it offers. They always thank the mech by calling it a good boy, hence it adopted this name."
He truly didn't know how to respond to this story. Weird Hexer naming conventions aside, the so-called 'Good Boy' was indeed very good at its job.
Yet its holes were also glaringly obvious.
"Your Hex Army's so-called Good Boy might be lovable in the eyes of your Hexer mech pilots, but it's a slow, fat and juicy target for any Fridayman mech! It may exhibit the mass of a heavy mech, but it lacks the corresponding armor!"
"It's not meant to be fielded in the thick of battle." She said. "Most resupply mechs are like that. They are predominantly deployed in the rear lines or a reinforced forward position. They aren't designed to accompany the vanguard. Sure, they get taken out a lot whenever the Fridaymen sneak some mechs past our lines, but better for a Good Boy to go down than a more important female mech."
What? Ves couldn't help but be taken aback!
"Good Boys are deliberately designed to attract enemy fire?"
Gloriana nodded as if it completely made sense. "That's the other reason why they are called Good Boys. The Fridaymen consider it to be a strategic target because it provides a huge amount of support while boasting relatively inadequate protection. That always makes it the first target to be taken out. While it's a shame to lose a Good Boy, it is better for a male mech to go down first, because at least it gives female mechs time to respond and defend themselves against ambushes!"
What the hell?! Ves wanted to rub his ears in order to make sure he was hearing this right. This rationale sounded too ridiculous to his sensibilities!
"So the Hexers aren't just content to turn male mechs into cannon fodder, but also bait?"
"That's what Good Boys are for." Gloriana responded with a smile. "Don't worry, Ves. A lot of boys consider it a great honor to pilot such a crucial mech. Every mech pilot that falls while piloting a Good Boy receives posthumous honors. They genuinely deserve to be seen as good boys, and their families always receive generous pensions and other rewards as a result! Don't you think they're good boys for braving such risks?"
His face turned flat and expressionless. He tried his best to control his emotions. There was no point blowing up over this matter because it wasn't his girlfriend's fault the Hex Army treated their good boys like sacrificial lambs.
In fact, Ves became a lot more determined to promote his own vision for a Hexer mech! For the sake of all of those good boys, he had to show them what a real man could do with a sturdier mech at their disposal!
"These 'Good Boys' sound.. useful, but they can't take part in assaults, am I right? The female Hexer mechs always have to draw back from the front in order to resupply. That wastes valuable time and blunts the initial momentum of their opening moves. I think a mech that is designed to support Hexer assaults up close can be very useful."
"I think so as well." Gloriana nodded. "That's why I haven't rejected your initial suggestion. However, there are a few major issues hampering the practicality of your energy resupply mech. First, the capacity of the mech is limited. You want to design a medium offensive knight. Okay. That means that its armor won't be as thick as defensive knights in order to retain some mobility. However, now you want this mech to function as an energy supply mech as well, which means that much of its capacity has to be devoted to storing energy cells and energy transfer systems. Do you know how much space that takes? Good Boys are huge and fat for a reason!"
The same issue plaguing the striker mech also applied to his current mech concept.
Ves recognized the problem as much as Gloriana, but he possessed a different opinion on the viability of his latest idea.
"Gloriana, how much energy does a Good Boy carry?"
"A lot. Enough to give an entire mech company a second wind."
"Don't you think that's excessive?" Ves crossed his arms while adopting a skeptical expression. "Sure, the Good Boys are more convenient in many ways, but they are so fragile and vulnerable that they are often placed too far from the front. My mech concept is different in that it is designed to resupply friendly mechs while they are literally in the thick of the battle! Its role is different. Instead of giving friendly mechs an opportunity to replenish all of their spent energy cells, my mech will instead provide an immediate pick-up boost without requiring anyone to withdraw!"
This fell in line with the offensive doctrines adopted by the Hexers. They highly preferred to go on the attack and overwhelm the Fridaymen through brute force.
While this approach had its merits, the Fridaymen always tried to stall such attacks and force the Hexer mechs to waste their energy without yielding too many results.
Once the overenthusiastic Hexers lost steam, that was the time the Fridaymen counterattacked! The window of opportunity that opened up when Hexer mechs started to withdraw from the front in order to resupply was a very familiar pattern to the Fridaymen!
A lot of battles between the two sides turned against the Hexers because they were caught in an awkward situation where their mechs at the front were unable to resist a sudden counterattack!
Of course, the situation on the battlefield was often a lot more complex than the scenario that Ves had in mind, but there was no doubt that the lack of immediate resupply constrained the Hexer mechs to an extent.
"I'm not sure if it will work out the way you think it will." Gloriana eventually replied after considering his mech concept. "Your mech sounds useful, but the limited amount of energy reserves limits its utility. It won't be able to carry more than an eight or a tenth of the total energy capacity of a single Good Boy."
Ves smiled. "I'm already happy with that. My mech may not excel in any single area, but it provides numerous smaller advantages that combine into a very supportive package! Combining defense, mobility, energy resupply and an exceptional Hexer glow on top of that will result in the perfect accompaniment of assault mechs!"
The conventional benefits of his Hexer support mech already sounded pretty useful. Adding a glow based on the Idol of the Superior Mother would propel the value of his mech to another level!
He was sure that the Hex Army would not be able to resist such a useful package once his mech received an opportunity to prove itself in battle!
Chapter 2005 Energy Transmission Systems
Eventually, Gloriana approved of his mech concept. The idea that Ves came up with possessed a lot of potential, but that depended on whether they were able to meet all of the requirements.
"Don't think our mech will be embraced by the Hex Army at large." She warned him. "Our mech will likely be fielded by auxiliary forces in limited quantities on limited battlefields. Even if it performs decently, I doubt the matriarchs in charge of approving mech models will embrace our work. Adopting a mech with a male as its lead designer is simply a step too far. The most we can hope for is that DIVA appreciates our end result and tries to deploy it in as many battlefields as possible within its own power."
Ves nodded in understanding. "I am okay with that. I'm very much aware that a mech designed by just two Journeymen won't be able to offer the level of performance and optimization that is expected of a fully-vetted Hexer mech."
Unlike the other mech models of the Hex Army, no Masters or Seniors were involved in their project. While Journeymen were very capable in designing serviceable mechs, their efficiency, cost-effectiveness and optimization could not keep up with the efforts of more advanced mech designers.
Personally, Ves believed that the glow he intended for his Hexer mech would make a very huge difference. It might even be able to get those conservative Hexer matriarchs to reconsider their stance on rejecting mechs designed by male mech designers!
Both Ves and Gloriana became passionate about this project.
It had always been a dream for Gloriana to design a mech that would be fielded alongside the impressive mechs of the Hex Army. As a young Journeymen, the most she could hope for was to join a design team under a more experienced Senior or Master.
Now that she had the opportunity to design a mech with an equal partner, she wanted to make the most of it in order to prove she possessed the qualifications to enter an exclusive circle of Hexer mech designers who were able to contribute to the strength of her home state!
As for Ves, he had several reasons to feel enthused about the vision he came up with. For one, the sheer utility provided by his mech design truly possessed the potential to shift the direction of the war.
Though the mech's energy resupply function wasn't that impressive due to the limited reserves, it was worth its weight in exotics at critical times! Combined with the motherly glow coming from the mech, Ves hoped that his mech would function as a considerable force multiplier that enhanced both the mech and mech pilots fighting on behalf of the Hegemony!
"This is going to be my revenge against the Friday Coalition!" Ves deviously grinned.
His efforts would teach the Fridaymen and everyone else that he was not as passive and defenseless as everyone thought! Anyone who crossed him needed to fear his retaliation in the form of empowering their enemies! Only through developing this kind of reputation would he be able to deter any further opportunistic attacks!
The pair immediately went to work. They revised the draft design and tried to project how much capacity they needed to allocate towards defense, mobility and utility. It was extremely difficult to find a good balance between all of these aspects.
Nonetheless, after selecting a number of suitable components and accelerating their exploration efforts by engaging a virtual design session, they managed to come up with a decent draft design that looked quite adequate for their purposes.
"It's a bit slower than I like, but our mech doesn't necessarily need to sprint to the front either." Ves remarked as his implant tried to calculate the expected performance parameters if they fleshed out the draft design. "It can still keep up with general offensive maneuvers, which is already good. At least it can take a punch, especially with its shield."
As for the energy reserves of his Hexer mech, all he could say about it was that it was adequate. It provided a decent amount of energy to top up the spent energy of a single mech squad, but even then it quickly ran empty.
Due to its limited energy reserves, Ves tried to mitigate this problem by enhancing and increasing its energy transfer and siphoning process.
He expanded on this idea and tried to find some components that the Hexers made available to them. While the parts weren't the top-of-the-line, they were quite decent for Hexer midrange mechs, which matched the budget for their mech design.
Still, it was a huge challenge to integrate all of these components in a single package.
"There are several technical challenges we need to overcome." Gloriana pointed her finger at the energy transmission systems. "Aside from the ones we've discussed before, this is the biggest problem area of all. To make our mech's support function practical, it has to be able to transfer energy to friendly mechs quickly. The huge power flows puts an enormous stress on every system that is responsible for passing energy from one mech to another mech. Not only do we need to prevent the transmission systems from overloading, we also have to manage all of the heat that will doubtlessly emerge as a result of all of those transfers."
No process was completely efficient. Along the way of transferring energy from point A to point B, a miniscule amount of it is wasted in the form of heat and other forms.
Usually, this wasn't a big deal when devices ran at low levels. Yet when energy transfers started to increase in power, inefficiencies rapidly started building up! This was the price of running systems at higher power levels!
Energy transmission systems weren't exempted from this rule. In fact, they suffered more than most because they were expected to transfer a lot of energy in a very short amount of time!
If his Hexer mech took ten minutes to resupply the spent reserves of a friendly mech, then he might as well scrap its design!
While such a gentle energy transfer process resulted in very little waste and heat buildup, it took up way too much time in a fast-paced battle where every second counted!
Ves ideally wanted his Hexer to replenish a quarter of the total energy reserves of a friendly mech in about 30 seconds.
That sounded way too ambitious to Gloriana.
"I highly doubt we can accomplish this standard." She shook her head. "The stress to the energy transfer systems and the rest of the mech is too severe. I'm not sure if it's even doable in a minute. We'll have to explore our design further and see whether our implementation can withstand the rigors of rapid energy transfers. Whatever the case, the heat building will be intense. We need to make sure we add enough heat sinks and other heat management systems to avoid overheating problems."
All of these problems sounded concerning, but the mech held genuine promise!
"We can do it." Ves declared, his passion already firing. "With all of this second-class tech, our Hexer mech won't be as limited as our striker mech! We have a lot more options available to solve all the challenges!"
They continued to expand on their draft until they settled on something that contained all of the parts and other features they thought the mech would need to perform all of its functions.
Due to the need to accommodate a lot of additional hardware, they sacrificed several aspects of the mech.
First, its defense wasn't as good as Ves wanted to. While it was capable of lasting for a fair amount of time under enemy fire, the mech had to rely on cover or the protection of other mechs in order to remain alive for sustained periods of time.
Second, they reduced the mobility of the mech even further. To free up capacity, Ves had to select several miniaturized components that offered reduced performance but took up significantly less space.
The problem with miniaturized components was that they were much more expensive than their normal-sized versions, so the smaller mech engine and other systems ate up a significant portion of their budget!
Third, its offensive power was pretty bad. There was no way around the truth that the mech wouldn't be able to exert much strength or momentum in its sword attacks. Even though Ves wanted to give the male mech pilots of his Hexer mech a chance to prove their battle prowess on the battlefield, he ran out space to accommodate this need.
"It's okay." Gloriana assured him. "Male mechs aren't expected to do the heavy lifting in the first place. It's enough if our mech can stall an attacker. They are only expected to last until they are rescued by female mechs!"
Ves looked glum. In the end, his Hexer mech shared some disturbing similarities with the Good Boy 77S. Both male mechs essentially adopted the role of damsels in distress.
"Oh well." He sighed. "Even if my mech can't defeat another mech, it can at least absorb a lot of hits while evading some of the rest. I can't say the same for the Good Boy."
Making a mech that could last on the battlefield was his highest priority. This was why he didn't limit the energy transmission systems to a one-way flow.
What he really wanted to implement was a mech that could siphon energy as well as donate it whenever required!
He outlined his rationale to Gloriana. "We can't escape the fact that the total energy reserves of our Hexer mech is quite limited. In order to extend the operation time of our product, I want to turn it into an energy vampire!"
Gloriana frowned. "Where will it take its energy from?"
"There are many sources of energy if you think about it." He shrugged. "One readily-available source is fallen mechs. As long as their wrecks are reasonably intact, I'm sure that they carry a lot of energy cells that aren't expended. That's energy for the taking! As long as we can implement a method where our mech can steal all of that juice, our mech won't be forced to return to the rear in order to keep up its functions!"
"All of that energy transfer will generate even more heat, Ves. We'll have to bolster the heat management systems of our mech even more if we try to implement this function."
"Then let's do that! I think this is the key to increasing the utility of our mech! There are fallen mechs in every battle, Gloriana. Usually, the winners get to claim the salvage that is left behind, but they always have to wait until the battle ends before they can pick up the remains! This energy siphoning function can work faster and under more critical circumstances!"
This was truly a great idea, but Gloriana already foresaw a lot of problems trying to turn it into a practical implementation.
Still, she didn't shy away from these challenges. In fact, she embraced them as a test of her mettle!
After designing the Bright Warrior and becoming a masterwork mech designer, she improved substantially. The simple striker mech design they were working in parallel to their Hexer mech design wasn't challenging enough to push her to her new limits.
She wanted to see how much her increased mech affinity and all of the insights she gained from the Quint and Master Willix affected the quality of her work!
"This mech.. has the potential to be very powerful." She cautiously admitted. "Yet.. what stops others from stealing our design? What if the Fridaymen get their hands on the full design specifications and mass produces our own work? It happened before with some of the Hex Army's best mech models."
Ves grinned and laughed. "HAHAHAHA! Let them try! This is one of the problems I'm least worried about! My Holy Soldiers and Deliverers only exhibit their full potential when they are piloted by devout Ylvainans. Our new Hexer mech will be similar once I complete my next spiritual product!"
Any Fridaymen that attempted to pilot his Hexer mech would severely regret it, that was for sure!
Chapter 2006 Class System
After a long and exhausting day at work, Ves and Gloriana eventually wrapped up their design session. They ate supper with Dr. Ranya and the other important guests on the Scarlet Rose before retiring to their stateroom.
After spending an evening cuddling with each other while they watched some news programs, they got ready for bed.
As Gloriana cozily settled in their bed, Ves began to look hopeful at her as he laid on the other side.
He glanced at the bodyguards standing vigilantly at the sides. He also threw a look at Lucky and Clixie, who were perched together on a floating cat bed.
Though he felt a bit disturbed by the lack of privacy, his previous experience made him a lot less shy about his 'performance'.
He slowly scooted over until his body was right next to his dozing girlfriend.
"Gloriana?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Would you like to.."
She yawned. "I'm tired, Ves. We have a lot of design work in store tomorrow. Let's make sure we have a good night's rest so that our fully-refreshed brains can handle all of the strain we will put it under when we link up our implants again."
That sounded distinctly unromantic to Ves. His drive was already starting to stutter.
"Uhm.. don't you want to.. you know.."
He reached out with his hand to place it on the curve of the small of her back. Just as his hand reached its destination, Gloriana mercilessly swatted it away!
"Bad Ves! This isn't the time for fun!"
"But.. but.. Didn't you enjoy—"
"—That was then, this is now! You don't get to have a piece of me until I say so, is that clear?"
Ves looked dejected. "Yes.."
"Great! Now go to sleep. If I want to have some fun, I'll dismiss the guards, but until then you better keep your hands to yourself, is that clear?"
He nodded.
"Good night, Ves."
"Good night…"
Ves did not have a good night.
The next day, Gloriana was all smiles as she began to partake her breakfast while her cat was eating from a bowl placed right next to her plate.
"Miaow!"
"Hihihi! I love you too, Clixie!"
Lucky on the other hand curiously poked a morose-looking Ves as he listlessly shoveled his high-calorie food through his gullet.
"Meow?"
"It's not that simple, Lucky."
"Meow."
"Hahaha. No. Her bodyguards would crucify me. Humans aren't supposed to do that!"
"Meow." Lucky threw a contemptuous expression at Ves before floating away.
Even his own cat regarded him as a loser!
"At least I got some, unlike you!" Ves hissed after his departing pet!
"What are you talking about, Ves?" Gloriana looked up at him from the other side of the table.
"Ah, nothing, hahaha!" Ves awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I won't be joining you at the design lab in the morning. The fleet is just about to exit FTL, which means I'll be meeting with the Larkinson elders."
"Is it about letting outsiders into the clan?"
He nodded.
"You know my stance on the matter. I think you should really consider accepting Calabast's proposal. Though I don't like the woman, I think she is right in this case. The Larkinson Clan can be something more as long as you can navigate all of the challenges."
"It's not up to me." He shrugged. "This is such a sensitive matter that only the support of the Larkinson Assembly can legitimize this measure."
His girlfriend shook her head. "I think you're wrong. Your influence among your fellow clansman is very high. You're the Devil Tongue, right? If you really want to, you can always put your persuasive talents to use in this instance."
"Calabast already suggested something similar." Ves frowned. "I rejected her, because you know why? My so-called Devil Tongue should only be directed towards my enemies. I would never unleash it against friendlies, let alone my own relatives!"
"Ves, Ves, Ves. Politics makes no distinction between friends and enemies. At the very least, the methods needed to handle both are the same. You may think that you need to hold back against your own side, but if you aren't careful, you may find them turning their backs on you at the most inconvenient times!"
He stubbornly shook his head. "I won't do it. I won't subject my own family to my Devil Tongue. This is my principle!"
"What about all of those speeches you held in front of the Larkinson Clan? I've been watching you closely while you held your speeches, you know. You employed a nearly identical approach to the one you used against your enemies."
Ves awkwardly shifted on his seat. "That's different. I didn't excoriate my relatives. I simply tried to be as persuasive as possible without crossing any lines."
"Manipulation is manipulation no matter what kind of coat you choose to dress it up. Holding back can be a deadly mistake sometimes. Just think about it, Ves. You don't have to abide by the decision of your clan if you don't agree with the consensus your relatives have reached."
With that, hey ended their breakfast and went their separate ways.
Ves took Lucky to his office compartment and went through his daily briefing before the fleet exited from FTL.
With no enemies in the abandoned star system, a series of shuttles began to depart from the ships.
A couple of them headed to the Scarlet Rose. Soon enough, their passengers arrived at his office.
"Raymond, Ovrin, Clinton, please take a seat."
They seated themselves on the comfortable chairs that appeared from the ceiling and floated down.
The three Larkinson elders each represented the Executive Council, the Larkinson Assembly and the Larkinson Court respectfully. While they didn't speak for their entire body, they still wielded an immense amount of influence.
"Let's start with the rationale to allow outsiders into the clan. What made you accept this proposal?"
All three old men looked at each other.
Eventually, Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson spoke up first.
"The Larkinson Clan can't do everything alone. Not right now and no right away. While I share your vision of a strong clan that consists entirely of our trueblood descendants, it's not realistic given the pace in which we move."
"We could move slower." Ves retorted. "We don't have to absorb thousands of outsiders at the same time."
"That's not good enough." Raymond shook his head. "Out of all of us, I'm in touch with outsiders the most, so I can tell you that a lot of our workers and followers are quite devoted to you and our clan. After extensive contact with people who don't bear our name, I gradually realized that our relationship with people like Gavin and Calsie transcend the normal employee-employer relationship. Ever since we left our fixed homes and adopted a nomadic existence, our ships have turned into both our homes and our ships."
Clinton gruffly nodded. "It's not that easy for them to quit their jobs anymore. For all intents and purposes, they are already vassals of ours."
"Is there a problem keeping our relationship with outsiders this way?" Ves raised an eyebrow.
"In the short term, yes. In the long term, maybe." Ovrin Larkinson replied. "From a governance standpoint, maintaining a division between a minority of Larkinson clansmen and a majority of outsiders is very precarious. Who crews our ships? The Ylvainans. Who pilots most of our mechs? Dispossessed Brighters and Ylvainans. These are just the few groups of outsiders who fulfill critical roles. The responsibility and power they hold is quite considerate. Don't you think that sounds dangerous?"
That did sound concerning to Ves. Right now, this didn't present a problem, but if the relationship between the Larkinson Clan and the outsiders ever soured…
"There is something permanent about becoming inducted in our clan." Raymond continued. "Those who are able to become a Larkinson will cherish their status and become more committed to our endeavors than ever. Their loyalty will not only skyrocket, but remain enduring throughout their lifetimes!"
Ves responded with a rueful smile. "That's only when we turn them into true Larkinsons. If we turn them into second-class Larkinsons, I don't think they'll be as happy."
This was the biggest controversy raging within the Larkinson Clan! The faces of the three Larkinson elders immediately shifted. None of them looked as assured as before!
"I don't have an opinion on this." Clinton said. "I accept any outcome the clan adopts as long as it strengthens us. I've perused the history of several other family organizations and I've seen outcomes where it worked and where it went horribly wrong. There are considerable risks associated with either options, and that makes it difficult to settle on a clear answer."
"Most of the Assembly is in favor of adopting outsiders in our clan, but a significant majority objects to elevating them to the same status as trueblood Larkinsons." Ovrin revealed to Ves. "We value our Larkinson heritage and blood way too much to risk losing both when we transform too many outsiders into 'Larkinsons'. They may bear the name, but they don't bear our blood. What stops them from abusing the power of their majority to their advantage to steer our Larkinson Clan away from our core values?"
Raymond slightly disagreed. "This is a possibility, but not a strong one. The outsiders are more similar to us than the assembly members realize. They are making a mountain out of a molehill. I think if we give the outsiders a chance to truly feel as if they belong to the Larkinson Clan, they will become ardent supporters and followers of our Larkinson way!"
The discussion continued along this vein for a while. Ves heard various arguments and predictions that supported both solutions.
Ves felt very pressured by this dilemma. Neither option were risk-free, and a lot could go wrong if they chose wrong or fumbled in its implementation.
"Alright, I've heard enough." He clapped in order to silence the old fogeys. "Right now, the Assembly is in favor of instituting a class division in the clan, is that right?"
Ovrin nodded. "A majority of our entire clan is in support of this solution. As much as we appreciate the outsiders, most of us still wish to retain our special identity. It sounds selfish, but that is the reality of the situation."
Adding outsiders to the clan meant diluting the power and influence of the insiders. That did not sit well with many current Larkinsons who thought they were above everyone else. It was no mystery why most of them subsequently wanted to form a division within the clan.
This was not an ideal solution to Ves. "If we turn outsiders into second-class Larkinsons, that will in effect perpetuate the current division between clansmen and outsiders. Sure, the distance between them has gotten a little closer, but there is still a gulf between a trueblood Larkinson and an adopted Larkinson. Many of the same worries we currently have about entrusting so many essential responsibilities to outsiders still exist."
"I think we can handle this problem, Ves. As long as we learn from other examples and apply best practices, we can turn second-class clan membership into something that is still valuable."
Though that sounded good, Ves grew increasingly more uncomfortable with the idea. He liked it if his clan was one big happy family. Forming a class system which rigidly separated one group from another group went against his original vision for his clan!
So far, it seemed like the decision-making organs of the clan were slowly drawing towards a consensus that would expand the clan at the same time as dividing it into two. If Ves did nothing, the class system within the Larkinson Clan would become a reality.
Was this the Larkinson Clan he wanted to lead?
Was this the Larkinson Clan that could survive the challenges of the future?
Was this what Ves truly wanted?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt uncomfortable about it. While he was sure it would work okay as long as the Larkinsons managed the transition correctly, a part of him felt as if the other solution held more potential.
To survive in the Red Ocean, his Larkinson Clan needed to be a strong and united collective. It could not afford to exhibit any fault lines that his enemies could exploit!
Chapter 2007 Unrecognized
The discussion with the three Larkinson elders hardly resolved his doubts and uncertainty surrounding the imminent adoption of outsiders into the clan.
On one hand, Ves gladly welcomed the expansion of the clan as long as the original Larkinsons remained in control.
On the other hand, Ves did not want the clan to become too stratified and locked in class tension.
He knew from observing other family organizations that dividing family members into a group of core members and outer members happened very frequently.
Many families, clans, noble houses, dynasties and etcetera often faced a similar situation as the Larkinson Clan. Expanding their group often had to be done for one reason or another, but the persistent question remained. How much power did they need to give up to accept the outsiders into the clan?
When it came to these kinds of matters, self-interest often trumped fairness. Even if the outsiders had contributed far more to the group than the so-called insiders, they were still deprived of the rewards and recognition they deserved in order to preserve the interests of the latter!
This could become a very major fault line later on. A lot of families and clans went down because of the infighting and intrigue such divisions provoked.
Ves did not want to turn his clan into a group where one Larkinson wasn't able to trust another Larkinson. This kind of future was something unthinkable for the old Larkinson Family and he wasn't about to let his clan descend so easily!
After a lengthy and illuminating discussion with elders, Raymond said one last piece before departing from the Scarlet Rose.
"Whatever road we take, we best make our decision after considering all of the angles. The outcome of this serious question will determine what it truly means to be a Larkinson. Think carefully before you make your own choice, young Ves. Are Larkinsons only confined to those who possess the blood? Or is it possible that there are already a lot more Larkinsons among us, just waiting to be recognized?"
Obviously, Raymond still preferred to take the riskier but more rewarding choice of treating outsiders as equal.
When the three old fogeys left, Ves lingered in his office. He tapped his fingers against his desk as Lucky playfully swiped them with his paw.
"Meow."
"Are you feeling lonely?"
"Meow!"
"Is Clixie not enough for you?"
"Meow meow!"
"You want to become in charge of an entire posse? I don't know about that. I don't want to turn the Scarlet Rose into a cat zoo!"
"Meeeeooow."
"Hmm, maybe you have a point. There's not enough life on this ship."
As the former mobile supply frigate of the CRC, the ship wasn't all that big to begin with. Due to his paranoia, he only stationed his most loyal Avatars and Battle Criers as her crew. While they were very dedicated to their jobs, they were always serious on duty and off duty.
The design teams and Larkinson seeds residing on his ship possessed a lot more personality, but as current and future mech designers, they always recognized the vast gap between their employer and themselves.
"I'm a bit too isolated here." He muttered. "I'm cut-off from the rest of my fleet. I don't even know how others are doing."
He supposed he could patch into the monitoring system feeds to observe what was happening on the other ships, but that sounded a bit too lazy and detached for him. Since the fleet required half a day to cycle the FTL drives of its slower ships, why not take advantage of this window of opportunity to tour his sprawling organization.
After he made his decision, he broke the news to Gavin, who blinked at the sudden initiative.
"That's rather unexpected of you, boss." He replied, though he made sure to tap into his data pad to ready a shuttle and accompanying escorts. "You have two big mech design projects in the pipeline. Is this really the time to go on a tour?"
"It'll only be half a day. I've never really taken stock of my people after we fled Kesseling VIII. We've been running from the Fridaymen for so long that it was as if they were right on our heels. Now that we have the Penitent Sisters to guard us, the crisis isn't so severe anymore."
His personnel quickly readied an armored shuttle for departure. After sending a note to Gloriana that he wouldn't be attending today's design session, he took Lucky and Nitaa and started his short tour.
Surprisingly, Ves didn't opt to drop by the Redfeather or any other ship in his possession.
Instead, his first stop was the Serendipity. Venerable Brutus Wodin perplexingly welcomed his arrival at the hangar bay of light frigate.
"Welcome to my personal ship, Mr. Larkinson." The expert pilot said with reserve. "I have some very nice bottles of authentic Hexer vintages waiting to be opened up. Would you like to peruse my collection?"
Ves waved his hand. "No thanks. I'd like to take a look at your Star Dancer instead. I've never seen a second-class expert mech up close."
"My mech is right ahead. Please be mindful that we can't allow you to peek too much. The mech is built using some of the best technology the Hegemony has mastered. While Gloriana is permitted to know the technical details, you are not on the list."
"Understandable. I just want to take a look to appreciate the craftsmanship of your mech."
They walked a few bays over until they reached the Star Dancer. Just as he expected, the expert mech was fully ready to deploy if needed.
"Impressive." Ves sighed in admiration. "This is perhaps the most powerful ranged mech that I have ever personally laid eyes upon. Its craftsmanship is exquisite."
The expert mech was everything he expected and more. Though he had reviewed the battle footage of the Star Dancer in action against the CRC's Screaming Blade, seeing the mech up close was an entirely different experience.
Though dormant, the mech carried the spiritual flavor of its mech pilot. Even now, Brutus' strange protective field merged seamlessly with the mech, making it appear as if they were connected despite the latter's dormancy.
The blue-and-black mech looked a bit different from the last time he had seen it. Ves noted keenly that it exhibited a bit less armor and a few more modules that looked like boosters and other mobility-related enhancements.
"Looks like you've prepared your mech for a rematch against the Screaming Blade."
The expert pilot crossed his arms as he stood next to Ves. "Dueling a light mech is not something that I enjoy. I fight best when I can take my enemies out before they reach my position, but that isn't always possible. Mobility is one of my mech's strong suits, but against the Screaming Blade, I was barely hanging on in the last battle. If that mech ever shows up again, My Star Dancer has to be even faster because my enemy will certainly have prepared for me as well."
This sounded like an interesting dynamic to Ves. Instances where enemy expert pilots frequently clashed against each other happened all the time in the Bright-Vesia Wars. Just like the mech games, the mech pilots constantly tried to adjust their mechs and battle tactics to counter their enemy and avoid being countered in the next clash.
"Before you became an expert pilot, did you follow the trajectory of other male mech pilots in the Hegemony?"
Brutus shook his head. "I'm a Wodin. With my impeccable training and excellent results, my dynasty has always set higher expectations upon me. Don't mistake me as the other boys who serve in our armed forces."
"You're a boy yourself, you know." Ves pointed out.
"I am."
"Doesn't that bother you? I've seen how boys are treated in the Hex Army. The women who are in charge never allow boys like you explore their full potential."
"Control is necessary, Ves." Brutus replied without emotion. "There are good reasons to impose these conditions on boys."
"They don't seem to apply to you anymore."
"That's because I'm an expert pilot."
"Does that make a difference? You're still a boy."
He shook his head. "Becoming an expert pilot in the Hegemony is a blessing, not a curse. To become a demigod as certain people call expert pilots is a blessing. My state has no cause to doubt that I am anything but a loyal Hexer! It is because of this trust that I am allowed to pilot the powerful and dangerous Star Dancer!"
The Hegemony would be fools if it didn't thoroughly vet Brutus before allowing him to pilot an expert mech. His loyal outlook and his Wodin upbringing probably reassured the female Hexers that he wouldn't abuse his power.
"What about the other boys who aren't lucky to advance to expert pilot? Are you okay with how they are being treated?"
"We follow the natural order, Ves." The expert pilot sternly replied. "Just because I haven't said anything about how your Avatars of Myth and other mech forces treat boys the same as women doesn't mean I think they are fine. They are not. Everytime I am confronted by such ignorance, I feel uncomfortable."
"They haven't exhibited any problems!"
"So far."
"I think my Avatars, Sentinels and Battle Criers will surprise you. What you fear will not take place, because you know why? Just like every other mech force in the galaxy, the gender of their officers and commanders is not a factor!"
Neither of them were able to sway the other's opinion. Ves felt frustrated by Brutus' idiotic adherence to the fallacies of Hexer ideology, but the expert pilot had grown up with it for his entire life. It was a bit too much to ask a Hexer, an expert pilot no less, to alter his entire mindset!
After a bit of chatting, Ves finally broached the last subject.
"I don't know if you haven't heard, but it is possible that my Larkinson Clan will welcome a lot of new additions. Do you have any opinions you'd like to voice?"
"We Wodins won't be a part of your clan." He immediately said. "At the very least, Ranya and I will still hang on to our Wodin names. As for Gloriana…"
"She's already a part of the clan. She's in our member rolls."
Brutus shook his head. "The Hegemony and the Wodin Dynasty doesn't recognize your laws. As far as my mother is concerned, your clan's laws and customs don't have any weight."
That sounded swell. Ves frowned at the obvious disregard to his clan.
"I hope that will change one day." He responded in a diplomatic fashion. "Our Larkinson Clan may not seem like much to you Wodins, but I hope that Gloriana and I can work to change your impression."
"I don't mean to disparage your efforts, Ves. My sister is quite enthused about the future prospects of your clan. The point I'm trying to make is that your clan is not really significant on its own. The only reason to take note of it at all is because of you. Without your presence, your Larkinson Clan wouldn't even register in my mother's mind!"
That was very much true. Though Brutus didn't mince any words, Ves recognized the implicit warning in his tone. Right now, the Larkinson Clan was hardly a player, let alone a recognized entity!
Anyone could start a clan. However, it took genuine effort to earn everyone's recognition. Right now, his Larkinson Clan lacked too many achievements. Its fame was virtually nil and even its victory against the CRC wasn't enough to skyrocket its reputation.
Ves realized that the Larkinson Clan shouldn't keep looking inwards. Just like himself, the clan needed to build up its reputation in order to earn society's recognition! Only through becoming a known entity would his clan gain true legitimacy!
"Thank you for your opinions. I've gained a lot from our talk."
"You're welcome, Ves." Brutus nodded. "Don't get me wrong. Your Larkinsons and your people are a fine bunch. I truly admire the soldier tradition of your old family. I hope you can perpetuate this focus on service. Discipline and control is the foundation of a well-run organization!"
Ves chuckled. "You're only saying that because you want to steer my clan closer to how Hexers run their organizations."
"It's irresponsible to let boys run wild. If you don't want to shackle them completely, then at least attach some cuffs to them. We Wodins will feel much more reassured if your clan is bound by rules."
"We Larkinsons will run our clan in our own fashion, thank you very much." Ves dryly replied.
Ves would never make a decision to alter his clan just to earn the approval of Hexers!
Chapter 2008 Nascent Brotherhood
After departing from the Serendipity, he visited the Redfeather next. While the nominal Avatar flagship failed to demonstrate the splendor of his elite mech force, it wasn't as if Ves possessed anything better.
The Scarlet Rose and the Barracuda were the only two ships that were a class above the rest, but their paltry capacity and different roles made them unsuitable to serve as the mobile headquarters of the Avatars.
"I'll get you something better when I'm ready to form my expeditionary fleet." Ves promised Commander Melkor when they met at the ship's mech bay. "For now, this is not a good time to buy a ship. The entire starship market in the Komodo Star Sector is still clogged with orders."
"I know." His cousin answered. "I don't expect you to address this issue immediately, but it would be good to have a plan in place. We can't keep entrusting the safety of our mechs, mech pilots and support personnel with a ship as flimsy as an economy mech. Light carriers are like eggs. It only takes a small crack to spill out all of the insides!"
Obviously, this issue was bothering Melkor and everyone else a lot more than Ves. This was not a surprise considering that Ves usually resided aboard the Scarlet Rose. Even if she wasn't designed for frontline combat, the ship's excellent armor allowed her to withstand a decent amount of attacks from second-class mechs, which provided Ves with a lot more reassurance than others!
"Seriously, Ves. Please get us better ships." Melkor pleaded. "They don't have to be as good as the ones operated by the Penitent Sisters, but at least give us a chance."
"I know, I know. I didn't come and visit the Redfeather to hear these familiar complaints. Please show me around. Let me take a look at your mechs first."
"Right. There are Bright Warriors all around us. We have taken good care of them. While they are a bit more complicated than the mechs our crews used to service, I think we have all gotten a good handle over them in the last month."
The Bright Warriors were unmistakable presences in the mech bays and other areas of the ship. Ves was very familiar with their glows considering they originated from the Golden Cat.
What he found interesting was that the X-Factor of the individual Bright Warrior mechs were already starting to form their own individual identities.
Though it was imperceptable to everyone else, Ves keenly noted that they were becoming more unique due to the history they accrued, the influence of their mech pilots and the role they adopted the most.
Originally, the Bright Warrior was supposed to be a modular mech platform, but cost and resource constraints limited each copy to a single configuration.
The Illuminating Warrior, Shining Warrior, Nova Warrior and Solar Warrior were all developing their own distinct sub-identities.
Ves wondered how far their evolution would go and if the mechs were able to retain their distinctiveness if the Avatars ever changed their configuration.
"The mech technicians have taken good care of them. I hardly recognize any problems when it comes to their maintenance."
"That's mostly thanks to you. You've provided us with extensive documentation in the form of manuals, warnings, advice and breakdowns to us. Reportedly, our chief technicians are very thankful for all of the information you've given out. It has made their lives much easier."
Ves smiled. "I understand the difficulties of servicing complicated mechs. I've been in their shoes before, so I know exactly what they need to do their jobs better."
Personally, he refused to tolerate any sloppiness when it came to the care and maintenance of his mechs. This was not just because of his design philosophy, but also because it made too much sense.
Sure, it cost a lot of time, effort, money and resources to keep the mechs at their best conditions, but all of the preventative maintenance would pay off down the line when their parts began to show their age.
He didn't spend too much time to inspect every mech. While Ves was inordinately proud of his Bright Warrior design, he didn't start this tour to admire his own work.
"I've seen enough. Please introduce me to some of your people. I'm curious to see how they are faring in my fleet."
"Of course. Let's head to engineering first and the bridge afterwards."
The chief engineer and the captain were both Brighters, but they were exceptions rather than the rule.
"The Redfeather has more Brighters than any other ship because she's our flagship." Melkor explained during their tour. "Many of our other ships are predominantly crewed by Ylvainans because we don't have any other choice."
"Are there any problems with regards to their loyalty or culture?"
Melkor shook his head. "Nah. Even the Ylvainans on this ship are very well-behaved. They are still unsettling to us, if you know what I mean, but I can't ask for better subordinates. It's just..."
"They've become a lot more weirder now that they switched from worshipping Prophet Ylvaine to worshipping me, right?"
"You know how that looks to us Brighters."
"Let me reassure you that I have nothing to do with that. I don't even know what the cultists are doing either, to be honest. It's only because I have guaranteed their expression up to a certain limit that I haven't cracked down on the practice. As long as what they are doing is harmless, it's better to leave them to their own devices."
Though Melkor looked like he didn't entirely agree, he refrained from speaking any further. The Avatar Commander adjusted the visor on his head before leading him forward.
"You wanted to see some of our mech pilots, right? Let me bring you to our training hall."
They visited a compartment that was centered around simulator pods and theoretical mech piloting classes. Various veterans from the Larkinson Clan were diligently teaching or drilling the Avatar pilots.
Though the entry of Ves and the Avatar Commander elicited a lot of commotion, the officers and instructors quickly forced the mech pilots to return to their lessons or drills!
While it was unfortunate that his presence altered the routine of the Avatar pilots, Ves wanted to take a close and personal look at their lives.
For the first few minutes, he refrained from approaching any one of them. Instead, he idly chatted with Melkor while he leveraged his newest abilities. He formed a spiritual ear and started to extend it towards his men when they thought that Ves wasn't paying attention to their quiet banter.
"Ves Larkinson is here." A young Avatar hissed to her squadmate. "Just look at him! He's a lot more impressive in the flesh!"
Her squadmate frowned. "Pipe down. I don't want to get into trouble."
"We might all become Larkinsons soon. Don't you think that's exciting? We'll all be part of one big clan!"
"I'm not so sure about that. There's probably a catch somewhere. It sounds too good to be true."
As Ves kept eavesdropping on the conversations, he discovered that everyone was looking forward to the prospect of becoming a part of his clan! Hardly anyone thought differently, but that made sense since they were all Avatars.
As his most loyal and elite mech troop, the Avatars were some of his most ardent supporters!
After he had his fill with eavesdropping on his men, he decided to interact with them more directly. Melkor guided him to a group of Avatar who had just finished their latest class on spaceborn mech combat tactics.
"Sir!"
The Avatars all stood at attention while saluting Ves with military precision!
Ves noted that they weren't just saluting him because they were instructed to do so whenever he was present. He sensed a lot of energy and enthusiasm in their demeanors. They were genuinely glad to meet with their ultimate employer!
One Larkinson happened to be present in the group. "Chette Larkinson, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine, sir." Chette respectfully replied.
That didn't sound like much. Ves was aware that his presence was stifling the young Larkinsom mech pilot, but there wasn't much he could do about it aside from asking further questions.
"Have you achieved any results in your training?"
"I have been making substantial progress towards developing my proficiencies with second-class mechs, sir. We all have. The Bright Warriors that you've provided to us has helped immensely, though it's a pity that I'm not able to access the Selzer."
It was too difficult to arrange everyone suitable practice time with the four second-class mechs Ves had obtained when he captured the Scarlet Rose. Most of the time, the fleet was traveling in FTL, which made live practices impossible.
"You're a rifleman mech pilot, right? Have you received a lot of help from Venerable Brutus?"
Chette adopted an admiring expression. "While I haven't been able to receive a lot of help from him, the tips and insights he passed on to me has been very helpful in polishing my marksmanship! Every ranged mech pilot in the fleet is very happy to have him with us. Some of us have improved by leaps and bounds while the rest always gained at least something from his personalized lessons."
That sounded very promising. The presence of even a single expert pilot was enough to comprehensively elevate the skill level of an entire outfit!
"What do you think about inducting your fellow Avatars into the clan."
"I love it, sir. I trust my buddies with my life."
Chette truly meant it. Ves sensed no duplicity or calculation at all in his words. He simply stated his opinion in the most emphatic manner possible to convey his own feelings on the matter.
"Not every outsider is the same."
His cousin shrugged. "I think we can handle it. We're Larkinsons, right? I think we're strong enough to handle all of the newcomers. There are too many people among us who are like brothers and sisters."
As Ves asked the other Avatars to voice their opinions, they all seemed to be of the same mind. Melkor had managed to foster a strong bond of brotherhood among the soldiers. They all treated each other as closely as the Vandals used to treat each other.
In fact, there were even signs that the Avatars were moving closer to the level of the Swordmaidens in terms of cohesion! Right now, his elite mech force still had to flesh out its martial tradition in order to reach this enviable level, but the potential was definitely present!
Ves ended his tour on the Redfeather shortly afterwards. As much as he wanted to interact with the Avatars some more, he had to take a look at the other groups as well. The Avatars only represented a small slice of his total workforce.
Before he left, he made one last stop to the compartment where the Quint was stored. The masterwork mech looked as impressive as ever. Melkor had made sure to assign his best mech technicians to keep it in excellent condition.
Joshua King lingered very close to his mech. When Ves and Melkor approached, the young mech pilot immediately saluted.
"Sir!"
"Is the Quint up to your satisfaction?"
"It is more than I ever wish for! Piloting this mech is a delight!"
Ves asked the same questions he posed to other Avatars. Predictably, Joshua was a huge supporter of the initiative to expand the Larkinson Clan. In fact, he was a lot more outspoken than the other Avatars!
"Mr. Larkinson, I have admired your work and your family for years." Joshua said. "Being chosen to pilot your Quint was the best day of my life! I have made a promise to myself that I would serve you and your clan in any way possible."
"Are you that eager to join my clan?"
"It is an immense honor to become a part of your clan. I am willing to sign any contract imaginable and swear as many oaths as needed to become a Larkinson!"
"What if you have to sign a contract that would make it very difficult for you to leave?"
"I've already made up my mind! Becoming a Larkinson is worth everything!"
Chapter 2009 Lost Kin
Ves visited multiple ships and groups after he departed from the Redfeather.
He visited a civilian ship which housed many of the Larkinsons and their families.
He dropped by a vessel which had been converted into company ships by the LMC.
He even took the time to travel to the Jaded Sword in order to speak with Commander Dise and learn how the Swordmaidens were faring these days.
Ves recalled the immense contribution the Swordmaidens had made during the Battle of Kesseling VIII. Without their crucial assistance in taking down the CRC knight mechs, the battle on the ground might have been lost!
The Swordmaidens paid a very heavy price for that, though. They lost around half of their landbound mechs and a slightly smaller proportion of mech pilots. The former pirates were still very depressed about the losses.
A grim-faced Commander Dise calmly greeted Ves. "Hello."
"Hello, commander."
The dark-skinned pirate commander looked more solemn and focused than he had last seen her. Due to the unusual way she became an expert candidate back on Aeon Corona VII, the vibe she exuded possessed a lot of familiaries to Qilanxo.
It was a mistake to think Dise was of the same mind as the sacred god. As Ves took the time to inspect her spiritual attributes, she still maintained a very offensive focus.
Still, Ves saw some encouraging signs that she was finally beginning to reconcile her own martial path with the strength bestowed by Qilanxo. It seemed that Dise was leveraging her responsibility as a leader and caretaker of the Swordmaidens as a way to find something in common with the protective beast.
Hopefully, this would be enough for Dise to surpass her final bottleneck and undergo apotheosis. After all of the ordeals the Swordmaidens had gone through, they certainly deserved some good news!
"Please don't mind our current condition. We are still adjusting to all of the changes."
"That's understandable."
The Swordmaidens didn't stare and gawk at him as much as he expected. Instead, there were plenty of Swordmaidens who were pretty happy with ignoring his existence entirely!
While it was a bit refreshing to be treated as a normal person, a part of Ves still felt a bit concerned about their lack of enthusiasm.
"You Swordmaidens don't seem very happy with my presence." He observed.
Commander Dise frowned. "Too many sisters died to save your hide. To many of us, this tradeoff isn't worth it. Much of those sisters have been with us for decades. It took an immense amount of effort to train them to the standard that we expect of our mech pilots. To have so many of them fall is almost as worse as losing all of the Swordmaidens on Aeon Corona VII. It doesn't help that these losses happened recently at the same time the Sand War broke out. So far, we still haven't been able to replenish our ranks."
"Are you having recruitment problems? Can I do anything to help?"
The Swordmaiden Commander shook her head. "No thanks. In the previous months, we already picked up a large batch of young women among the refugees. It takes a long time to train them up, though. It might take a decade or longer before we are back to our old level of strength."
That sounded way too long to Ves. While he understood that it was how the Swordmaidens always conducted their training, it might not be necessary to stick to their primitive training methods.
"We have plenty of training resources to accelerate the training of your Swordmaidens. You helped save my life, so the least we can do is to make up for your losses." Ves offered.
"No need, Mr. Larkinson. Calabast has already made arrangements for us. Don't think your mech pilots are the only ones who are looking to promote to second-class mech pilots."
Those arrangements soon became clear when Ves started his tour through the Jaded Sword. Amidst the rigid Swordmaidens practicing their swordsmanship, the younger prospects undergoing hellish training in order to raise them to the standard of the older women and the 'indentured' men performing most of the lesser work, he suddenly realized something very profound.
"Your Swordmaidens share a lot in common with the Hexers!" He gasped.
"Is that a surprise to you?" Commander Dise smirked at him. "To be honest, I never thought she shared so many similarities with the Hexers either. Back when we were confined to the frontier, we never thought about this relation. Civilized space was too alien to us, and a powerful second-rate state has no reason to get involved with a small pirate outfit like ours."
"Are the Hexers really uninvolved with the creation of your outfit?" Ves skeptically asked.
"You'd have to ask Commander Lydia." She shrugged in response and lowered her tone. "In truth, I'm not entirely clear about the circumstances behind the founding of the Swordmaidens. Ostensibly, Commander Lydia shaped the Swordmaidens by herself while relying on secret backing from the Reinald Republic."
"Who exactly was Commander Lydia? She shouldn't have come from nowhere. How was she able to form the Swordmaidens and grow it into an elite outfit in the most difficult circumstances imaginable?"
Commander Lydia started her outfit from scratch. Even though she received a lot of financial support, she started off with no organization, no reputation and few existing assets! She had to build up an entire organization in the frontier, a region where danger lurked in every corner and where potentates and mech pilots were not only rare, but also started off with awful foundations!
In hindsight, the emergence of the Swordmaidens as a force to be reckoned with in the frontier sounded very suspicious. If Commander Lydia was truly responsible for its successful rise, then she was anything but an average leader!
The resilience and leadership abilities shown by someone like her should be very unusual! It was impossible for her to be so competent if she came from the frontier!
"Do you think.. That the founder and former commander of your outfit was a Hexer?"
"Almost every Swordmaiden has bought into this theory." Commander Dise admitted. "There are too many coincidences to ignore this possibility. The fact that many of our customs are exactly in line with the Hegemony's traditions is too obvious, especially now that we have become more exposed to Hexers."
"What does Calabast think?"
"Even she agrees. She has taken a look at all of our surviving records, and while there isn't any hard evidence, she has made the same conclusion. According to her, Commander Lydia was likely a Hexer officer who fell victim to one of the intrigues that took place in the Hegemony. I can't imagine what drove her to flee all of the way to the frontier, but I'm thankful she did. A lot of our Swordmaidens would have led much worse lives if not for Commander Lydia's efforts."
Ves had very mixed feelings about this conclusion. It turned out that his visit to Centerpoint wasn't the start of his entanglement with Hexers. With everything the Swordmaidens had done so far, Ves respected them immensely. To find out that they were effective surrogate Hexers left a sour taste in his mouth.
Still, he refused to allow his biases to color his impression of the Swordmaidens. Regardless of their Hexer DNA, they had still fought valiantly during the crucial ground battle at Kesseling VIII. The inspiring sight of their swordsman mechs dragging down the floating knight mechs of the CRC was something that he would never forget!
As the tour proceeded, Ves asked a couple of perfunctory questions to which Commander Dise always answered in a perfunctory manner.
Ves had a feeling that Commander Dise respected Calabast a lot more than himself! She didn't consider Ves to be her boss or superior at all!
"Ever since we got rolled into the Black Cats, we are trying to find a new identity. We're no longer the daughters of the frontier. Perhaps we'll all be donning black uniforms soon."
"Do you object to the transition?"
"Don't get me wrong, Mr. Larkinson. We are not opposed to change. It's just that we are unsure which direction we should be developing towards. We want to preserve as much of our original Swordmaiden traditions as possible, but we don't want to remain weak and marginal. Since everyone is constantly growing stronger, we have to keep up as well or risk getting left in the dust."
That was very evident from the persistent training that took place aboard the Jaded Sword. Hardly any woman was idling around! If the Swordmaidens weren't on patrol, they were challenging themselves in virtual simulations. If they weren't training their mech piloting skills, they were training their swordsmanship.
Just like a genuine elite outfit, the Swordmaidens were truly dedicated towards their profession!
Ves noticed something very noteworthy though. As he toured some of the training venues, he suddenly halted.
"Are those.. Hexers?"
"Yes." Commander Dise grinned. "Calabast managed to secure some trainers to help us in our training. In particular, the Hexer mech instructors have been helping us learn the principles of piloting second-class mechs. Your people aren't the only ones who are looking forward to piloting higher-classed mechs!"
That didn't sound so strange. Calabast would be a fool to neglect the development of her Swordmaidens.
What truly shocked Ves was that the Hexer mech instructors didn't just wear the uniform of the Glory Battalion.
A couple of the trainers who attracted an immense amount of respect from the Swordmaidens happened to wear the uniform of the Penitent Sisters! The emblem on their chests were simply too glaring to ignore!
Commander Dise was perceptive enough to notice his stare. "The Penitent Sisters eagerly dispatched their own trainers to assist in the training of my Swordmaidens. The Hexers have been quite generous, actually. I think we are pretty much the only element in the fleet that meets their approval. The Sisters don't like the Glory Battalion very much."
"Oh?" That sounded strange to Ves! "What makes the Penitent Sisters so friendly towards your Swordmaidens?"
"I think they believe that Commander Lydia might have been one of theirs. Even if that isn't true, our former commander probably shared a lot in common with them. The Sisters pretty much treat us Maidens as their lost kin due to those suspicions."
That.. was a very unexpected development to Ves. He thought the Penitent Sisters had always been keeping to themselves when they joined the fleet, but it seems the Sisters were already starting to reach out to certain elements.
"Does Calabast know about this?" He worriedly asked.
"She facilitated this exchange." Commander Dise grinned.
That sounded exactly like something Calabast would do. Ves furrowed his brows. Didn t his strategic partner realize how crazy the Penitent Sisters were? What if they radicalized the Swordmaidens?!
Though Ves had to admit that the Swordmaidens were already similar to the Hexers in many ways, the Penitent Sisters were some of the worst the Hegemony had ever produced!
He groaned and palmed his face. "It looks like I need to have another talk with Calabast."
After finishing his tour aboard the Swordmaiden flagship, Ves headed back to the shuttle. Before he left, he asked one more question to Commander Dise.
"If the Swordmaidens received the option to join the Larkinson Clan, would you and your sisters accept this option?"
"Yes."
His heart sank at this answer. Though the Swordmaidens deserved to be rewarded for their contributions to the Larkinson Clan, he was very reluctant to turn these de-facto Hexers into Larkinsons!
"Is that because Calabast told you or is this what you Swordmaidens truly want?"
"This is our own choice." Commander Dise reiterated. Her spiritual potential flared! "For our entire lives, we worked hard to eke out an independent existence. Only later on did we slowly realize that it's too difficult to rely on ourselves. For better or worse, we need to shelter under an umbrella. As much as we don't share that much in common with your clan, you Larkinsons are quite nice. Unlike others, I feel I can trust you Larkinsons to respect my Swordmaidens as equals and fellow mech pilots. As long as we can maintain our own traditions, we have no objections to joining your clan!"
Though Ves appreciated the compliment, he was a lot less sure about the sentiment behind it! "Why don't you join the Hexers?"
"We're trash from the frontier, Ves. Do you truly think the elitist Hexers will accept us in our ranks? Just because we are like-minded women doesn't mean we all get along!"
"I see."
He didn't.
Chapter 2010 The Word of a Noble
Ves met with plenty more elements of his fleet after his visit to the Swordmaidens.
He spoke with familiar faces like the Ingvar siblings, who were still trying to unearth the potential of the Bright Warriors.
The Second Spaceborn Company of the Avatars of Myth only recently got to play with their new toys.
Due to various reasons, Commander Melkor opted to concentrate the best and bright mech pilots such as Joshua and Jannzi into the First Spaceborn Company. His goal was to create a pseudo-honor guard unit that the rest of his Avatars could look up to and aspire towards joining.
That said, the Second Spaceborn Company was no slouch. It was led by the young but capable Commander Casella Ingvar and fielded its own mech champion in the form of Imon Ingvar.
Though Imon was not as skilled or as fast of a learner as Joshua, his excellent pedigree and upbringing meant that his foundation was very solid. In fact, he was considerably more capable than any other ordinary Larkinson pilot of his generation!
Ves approved of Melkor's trust towards the Ingvar siblings. Both of them possessed remarkable spiritual potential that he hoped to exploit in the future.
So far though, their true potential hadn't been unearthed yet. Though they faced plenty of life-threatening situations during the Battle of Kesseling VIII, none of his mech pilots managed to achieve any breakthroughs, including his expert candidates.
"It's a lot easier to break through in a war than in an incidental battle." He muttered.
The odds of promotion were so low that it was like winning the jackpot. It took many battles for a mech pilot to roll the right dice and find an opportunity to advance to the next rank.
He shouldn't hold any unrealistic fantasies. Plenty of his own relatives joined the Mech Corps by the hundreds and fought more battles than he could count, yet only two to four managed to advance per generation!
"Not everyone can advance as easily as Jannzi, and even she encountered a bottleneck."
From what he knew, expert pilots were extraordinary because they based their entire creed on a specific goal or ideal. While they gained an unimaginable amount of strength after taking their first steps towards godhood, they had to let go some of their mortal aspects during their long journey towards ascension.
Ves believed that this was the most difficult aspect about breaking through. Plenty mech pilots were attached to their human traits. It was not so easy to let go of the identity the mech pilots acquired at birth!
When his shuttle arrived at the light carrier bearing the Second Spaceborn Company, Ves greeted the Ingvar siblings while at the same time inspecting their spiritual potential.
Though he believed that their spiritual potential had grown a bit since the last time he gauged their strength, it was difficult to ascertain any differences.
Though the observation disappointed him a bit, Ves did his best to maintain a positive demeanor.
"I've heard good things about your command ability, Captain Ingvar."
The nobleborn woman couldn't help but beam with pride. "Commander Cinnabar deserves a lot of credit for my performance. I learned many valuable lessons while I was aboard his Ion Tracker. The way he commands the Battle Criers is truly masterful. I am still in the process of developing my own leadership style."
Her words downplayed her own ability, but Ves spent too much time with manipulative people to understand her underlying intent. He hadn't forgotten how sad and bedraggled she looked when she was looking for a job in Kinner space.
In her first command position, her own crew mutinied against her and her former house! Though Ves probably wouldn't have managed to do any better in her position, her first command still represented a major blemish in her record!
Whereas many people would have given up command opportunities entirely after such a shameful outcome, Casella Ingvar was not one of them. She had studied and committed too much time and effort on her chosen vocation to give up after a single failure!
To her credit, she managed to earn Commander Melkor's trust, or else she would have been removed from her position by now. With the sheer amount of mech pilots the Avatars recruited, at least some of them were officer material.
As Ves walked around the mech hangar to inspect the Bright Warriors, he inquired how she was doing.
"The Battle of Kesseling VIII was the first major battle of the current incarnation of the Avatars of Myth, sir." She explained. "I'm aware that your Avatars fought some other battles, but they don't compare to our latest engagement in terms of scale and sophistication. Though we have prepared well, what truly took place was more than we could handle. If not for the timely introduction of the Bright Warrior, the battle in space would have likely ended in defeat!"
The CRC attack force planned their surprise assault on mistaken assumptions. The Fridaymen believed that the spaceborn contingent of the Avatars and Living Sentinels would consist entirely of third-class mechs.
The arrogant second-raters never imagined that Ves would add a bridge mech to his force lineup that could defeat their powerful mechs in open combat!
Sure, Joshua in the Quint may have been responsible for the majority of kills, but the Bright Warrior design had made all the difference in orbit!
As Ves studied the energy of the personnel around him, the Second Spaceborn Company was inordinately proud to be one of the first units to receive this exciting mech model.
The Larkinson vibes exuded by the mechs not only peppered up every Larkinson, but also every other soldier!
Ves didn't need to ask how committed they were towards his clan. The Bright Warriors had already done a great job at encouraging them to align themselves with the Larkinsons!
"Are there any practical problems hindering the progress of your mech company?" He asked.
"Hm, there are the usual issues, but they are not worth bringing up to your attention." Casella replied. "There are other mech companies that require much more attention. The Avatars still don't possess a full lineup of Bright Warriors. In fact, many of our mechs are still lastgen models."
"I'm aware. Right now, our financial outlook isn't optimistic enough to splurge on new mechs. While I am doing my best to remedy this situation and design some more mechs to fill up the holes in our mech lineup, it will take months to see a difference."
"Thank you for your concern, sir. Working for a mech designer like you is always better for mech pilots like us. You are much more prone to outfit us with the right mechs for the job."
That was a given. Successful mech designers usually possessed deep pockets and were very willing to invest in their own protection. If not for his immense responsibilities, his Avatars would have been fully kitted out with modern mechs and sturdy combat carriers by now!
Ves finally broached the subject he truly wanted to ask.
"I'm sure you have heard the latest rumors. If you have the choice to join the Larkinson Clan, will you accept the opportunity?"
Casella Ingvar knew this question was coming as well. She sighed. "This is a difficult matter. The question may not trouble most of my men who come from ordinary backgrounds, but my brother and I are different. We are one of the few surviving descendants of House Ingvar. When the Royal House of the Black Poppy turned against my house, my brother and I both wanted to take revenge."
"You won't be able to do that if you join the Larkinson Clan." Ves plainly said. "Our clan doesn't have any intersection with the Kingdom of the Three Flowers. As much as I sympathize with your plight, it's not our responsibility to avenge the fall of your house."
"I'm aware of that. I would never want to impose my private goals onto you. That is simply too unfair. It's just.."
"Just tell him the truth, Casella." Someone else piped up from the side.
"Brother!"
Imon Ingvar, as brash and impulsive as ever, interjected himself in the conversation. He left the side of his Nova Warrior to join his sister and nominal superior.
"I"m not sure if you are aware of this, Mr. Larkinson, but we nobles take our oaths quite seriously." The male Ingvar elaborated. "It is a great dishonor to break our word. In public, our fellow peers will ridicule us if we tarnished our credibility in such a fashion. In private, we would always feel ashamed for abandoning a promise we
"Imon!" Casella lost her cool and gritted her teeth. "Do you want to air all of our dirty laundry while you are at it? There is no reason to burden Mr. Larkinson with our personal dilemmas!"
"I don't want to dance around this subject any longer, sister. Let's settle this here and now in front of our boss."
Ves blinked. Evidently, this problem was a lot more serious than he thought. The Ingvar twins looked genuinely torn!
Captain Ingvar looked apologetic. "Sorry, Mr. Larkinson. We have been discussing our place in the Avatars and our purpose for a very long time."
"What choice are you inclined towards?"
"I.. favor looking forward." She spoke in a softer tone. "While I was born and raised an Ingvar, our noble house is effectively no more. The few remnants who survived will never be able to return to power. I think that joining your clan and taking up the Larkinson name is a good way to make a clean break from a forsaken past!"
Clearly, her brother didn't agree with that sentiment. Imon growled but did his best to restrain his conduct in front of someone important.
"We are some of the only remaining survivors of an honorable and prestigious house! Without it, we lose any right to call ourselves nobles!"
"Does that even matter, brother?!" Casella placed her hands on her hips. "We lost these privileges years ago! Ever since we turned into fugitives, no one else but us still thinks that we are nobles! It's time to face the truth and recognize that we are on the same level as everyone else in this fleet!"
A brief back-and-forth ensued. The rest of the Second Spaceborn Company seemed to be used to this spectacle. They quickly walked away and made themselves scarce.
"Okay, enough." Ves raised his hand, silencing the Ingvars in an instant. "I understand the gist of your dilemma. While I won't force you to make a specific choice, I just want to tell you that you need to commit to whatever decision you settle upon. If you choose to join the Larkinson Clan, then I expect you to forget about any noble attachments or commitments. I don't want any double loyalties in my clan."
Both Ingvars grimaced, but not too much. They already expected this answer.
Ves didn't leave it at that, though. He couldn't help but make a final suggestion before he left.
"Personally, I think you are going about this the wrong way. If you reject the opportunity to join the Larkinson Clan, what then? Will you eventually leave the Avatars and try to organize a rebellion against the Royal House of the Black Poppy? What can you do by yourselves with a couple of mechs, no army and a limited amount of funds at your disposal?"
"We'll figure something out. There are plenty or rebels in the Kingdom of the Three Flowers." Imon muttered.
"Heh. Most of these rebel movements are simply rabble. They can exist for centuries without ever coming close to meeting their goals!"
The contempt in the faces of Imon and Casella showed that they held the same contemptuous attitude towards rebel movements.
Ves smiled and spread his hands. "Instead of trying to do everything by yourself only to fail due to lack of resources, why not join my clan and stay? Once you become a Larkinson and distinguish yourself, you are entitled to a lot more rewards than now. As our clan achieves success and becomes richer, some of our newfound wealth will flow into the pockets of clan members such as you. What do you think you can do with a million hex credits? What if you receive a billion hex credits a century later? That is enough money to equip several mercenary outfits!"
Both of their eyes brightened as they realized the potential this approach held.
"As long as there are still survivors you can trust to put your money to good use, you can benefit your cause a lot better if you finance House Ingvar's rise instead of trying to do everything yourself!"
His persuasion had a powerful effect. Imon, the most stubborn one among the Ingvars, look convinced!
"With enough money, we can topple the House of the Black Poppy!" He exulted. "Who says we can't revive our fallen house? Mr. Larkinson is right! We don't have to be there in person to make everything right! We just have to provide the funds!"
Chapter 2011 Quality of Blood
Ves finished his tour shortly after he visited the Ingvar siblings.
Overall, he was very satisfied with what he had seen and heard. Touring a portion of his fleet not only allowed him to get a pulse on his subordinates, but also reaffirm his existence. Many of them hadn't seen Ves in person for a long time. In fact, a lot of Ylvainans and other people never even met him in person in the first place!
Even though his visit was a trivial matter to him, it mattered a lot to the people who professed their loyalty to him and the clan. Ves enjoyed a lot of regard among the workers. It was surprising how much of an effect a short personal appearance had made to his popularity.
When the shuttle flew back to the Scarlet Rose, Gavin approached and asked him a question.
"Have you learned what you set out to know?"
"I think so." Ves nodded while stroking Lucky's back. His cat comfortably perched on his lap. "Before I went on this tour, I didn't really possess a clear impression of what my non-Larkinson subordinates thought. Their loyalty, their dedication, their aspirations and their enthusiasm were a complete mystery to me. I could only guess at their commitment to the Larkinson Clan."
"What about now?"
"The results are better than I expected. My fears are unwarranted. While I'm aware that everyone behaves self-consciously in my presence, I am pleasantly surprised by how eager and willing even the most ordinary workers want to become a Larkinson."
"That shouldn't have come as a surprise, boss."
Ves sent a sharp look at his assistant. "I recognize that joining the Larkinson Clan is a huge step up for ordinary people. I'm not surprised that many people want to join my clan for that reason. What I was unsure about was the extent to which they are willing to mold themselves into Larkinson. What if they want to achieve the opposite and corrupt my clan from the inside? The Ylvainans are especially a matter of concern."
"The True Believers subverted your expectations though, right?"
"They're still cultists, don't get me wrong." Ves gruffed. "Even though they started worshipping me directly, their beliefs and traditions are still alien to secularists like us. However, I'm encouraged by their willingness to adapt to our customs. While it is too much to ask for them to drop their superstitions, at the very least they seem very deferential and respectful to the values of our clan."
Along the way, he encountered various groups of Ylvainans. Ves thought that the followers of the Living Prophet would be rabidly inflexible and touchy about their beliefs, but they proved to be pleasant if somewhat disturbing to be around.
Their friendly demeanor and extreme loyalty to him meant that they might just be able to fit in the Larkinson Clan!
Though they would definitely form their own clique if they joined, the Ylvainans also set a very great example in terms of loyalty and dedication. Ves would doubtlessly be able to count on their support for the times to come!
"The reason why I went on this tour was to make up my mind on how to integrate outsiders into the clan. Will I feel reassured letting outsiders become fully-fledged Larkinsons right away? What if I feel more relieved by instituting a class system that slows down the integration process? I've been dancing on the knife's edge all this while. Only now am I sure of my decision."
To be sure, Ves still held a lot of doubts, but that was nothing strange to him. Every risk he took came with dangers. At some point, he needed to pull the trigger and commit to a choice. No matter what might result in the event of failure, he would not regret the choice he made at the time!
Gavin gulped and watched Ves carefully. "What is your verdict?"
"I'm.. fully behind a complete integration." He declared. "While it isn't a mistake to institute a class system or some other way to favor trueblood Larkinsons over adopted Larkinsons, I don't think that is the direction we should be heading towards. Family matters. I think if we give outsiders the opportunity to become family, they won't disappoint us. Their dedication towards the Larkinson cause is quite strong!"
If that weren't so, Ves would never be in favor of this choice!
"Does that mean that I can become a relative of yours as well?" Gavin hopefully asked.
"Don't exaggerate." Ves replied flatly. "You may become a clansman, but don't think that every Larkinon shares a close relationship with other Larkinsons. I am not delusional enough to make such a demand. It is enough for every Larkinson to feel like they belong in a single group. I also think that this is necessary to form the strongest, most cohesive group of people that is ready to challenge the Red Ocean!"
Almost everything he was doing at this time was to further his grand expedition. Aware of some of the immense challenges he might face in the alien galaxy, Ves not only needed stronger ships and mechs, but also a loyal and dedicated workforce!
Once everyone became a Larkinson, it was much harder for third-parties to pry them apart! Ves wouldn't have to worry so much about internal schisms like the one that plagued the original Larkinson Family!
Of course, Ves happened to be the chief culprit behind that event, but that wasn't important.
Though Ves had made up his mind, that didn't mean he would get his way.
"A majority of other Larkinsons don't agree with your choice." Gavin remarked. "The Larkinson Assembly will likely go for a class system if the latest rumors are true."
"I'm aware. The other Larkinsons are entitled to their opinions. I don't begrudge them for trying to preserve what they think the Larkinson name stands for. To them, they are used to how we used to be back in the Bright Republic."
"Do you think that's wrong?"
"It isn't a matter of right or wrong. I can understand the attitude of treating our Larkinson name as something that should only belong to the truebloods. However, blood isn't everything. I've met too many outsiders today who embody the Larkinson ideals just as well as my relatives. Would it be fair to deprive them of the same status that is owed to Larkinsons who just happened to possess the right blood? I don't think so. People like Joshua deserve to become a Larkinson if he wants it so badly. He more than earned his right to be regarded as family in my eyes!"
Though Gavin looked happy at his change of heart, he still played the dutiful role of Devil's advocate.
Neither mentioned the irony of using this term to describe his current actions.
"I don't mean to rain on your parade, but you never prioritized fairness. Your fellow Larkinsons are no different. This argument won't be enough to convince your relatives to change their minds."
That was true. Ves was quite selfish, and while the Larkinsons always tried to maintain a good reputation, they weren't exactly known for their generosity.
Sure, they cared a lot about their fellow family members, but they never extended their intimacy towards others who didn't share the same name.
When it came down to it, Ves had to present an argument that appealed to their own interests instead of leaning to abstract ideals such as fairness.
The problem was that Ves couldn't come up with a compelling reason that met this condition.
He furrowed his brows. "Hmm. It will be very difficult to convince my fellow clansmen to support my choice when there is a very strong argument that complete integration will likely dilute their power and influence. They may even see it as the first step of the collapse of our clan!"
Certainly, their fears were legitimate. There was no way to tell if the clan would be able to last or retain its original values after absorbing so many outsiders without any barriers.
Perhaps Ves needed to come up with a compromise solution that lessened the objection.
He didn't want to, though. For something as important like this, half-measures would only exacerbate the tensions between the two groups. Holding back would just hamper the integration process.
At the end, he wanted the division between trueblood Larkinsons and adopted Larkinsons to disappear.
His new view was that everyone could become a Larkinson no matter what quality of blood they possessed! To Ves, it didn't matter anymore whether any clansman inherited the genes of the original Larkinson ancestor! There were plenty of bastards among the Larkinsons who possessed the same bloodline as him, so it wasn't the only determinant of someone's commitment to the clan!
"You'll be redefining what it means to be a Larkinson. Are you truly capable of selling this change to your skeptical relatives?"
"Hmm.." Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin in thought. "This is a very difficult matter. I have some ideas on how to approach this problem, but nothing too certain. I'll have to talk to Calabast and James and think over it. They're the most ardent proponents of this change. They should have a better idea on how to sell our views."
In the end, Ves threw in his support behind the two troublesome figures. He didn't particularly like either of them, but that didn't mean he would fall in line with them if it was in his best interest to do so. He would be shooting himself in the foot if he let his personal feelings get in the way of his interests!
"What am I thinking?" He suddenly frowned.
He felt as if he was becoming more and more like Senator Tovar and other so-called 'wise leaders'! Attitudes like this was exactly what led to the betrayals he suffered!
The leaders of the Bright Republic sold the Larkinsons out to the Friday Coalition. The leaders of the three dynasties of the Ylvaine Protectorate stabbed their own Bright Martyr in the back to preserve their state. Would Ves be following in their footsteps by taking up a decision that went against the interests of his relatives?
Ves felt more and more troubled by the implications. His principles, emotions and logic warred within him. He grew more uncertain on the correct course of action.
Too much was at stake for him to feel conflicted.
His thoughts remained turbulent by the time his shuttle reached the Scarlet Rose. As Ves exited the vehicle, he returned to his stateroom and tried to sort out his thoughts.
The Larkinson Assembly would be holding a vote in a matter of days. Ves not only needed to clear his doubts, but also present a strong argument that would sway the assembly members to his side!
"Why did I share so much power with the Larkinson Assembly?" He groaned. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so generous in splitting my authority."
As clan leader, he could still ram through his own edicts, but that was a very quick way to disillusion the original clansmen!
"Is Gloriana right?" He gradually wondered. "Will it be necessary for me to employ my Devil Tongue against my own relatives?"
His principles warred against this decision. He knew how much damage he could do when he combined his fiery words with his spiritual tricks.
"Enemies and allies, are they truly the same?"
Before he could muse any further, the hatch to the stateroom slid open.
"Ves! You're finally back!"
Gloriana walked over and swept him in a loving hug, cloistering him with her lavender scent! She rubbed his cheek against his own. "So soft! So smooth! Hihihi!"
"Ah, hello Gloriana. How was your day at the design lab?"
She withdrew from the hug. "It's not the same without you. I hope you can settle the matter of your Larkinson Clan quickly. Have you made up your mind?"
"I did."
"Then that's great! I hope you get your way, then. Let me explain what progress we made on the two projects."
She sat down next to him and enthusiastically showed off her progress.
Chapter 2012 Assembly Session
The fateful day had arrived. When the fleet arrived in the next star system, a large number of shuttles emerged from various ships. They all converged on the Redfeather, which had converted a portion of her mech hangar into an improvised semi-circular theater.
Originally, the Larkinson Assembly wasn't supposed to convene in person. Due to various reasons, it was safer and more convenient to hold this assembly session in a virtual assembly hall.
Ves disrupted that original plan. He pushed for an in-person session, arguing that a decision as important and impactful as this shouldn't be decided in a detached, virtual setting!
The questions of whether to integrate outsiders into the Larkinson Clan and how far this integration should go were too important to be decided with so much physical separation!
In truth, Ves did not particularly object to a virtual assembly session. He only wanted to drag every Larkinson assembly member in the same chamber because his persuasion worked best if he could spiritually influence his audience up close!
He still hadn't made up his mind whether he should make full use of his Devil Tongue during this assembly session. Many times, he felt tempted to fall back to a more benign form of persuasion, just like he did when he addressed the fall of Bentheim.
Whenever he thought back on that moment, he felt proud for dragging his relative out of their slump. Along with breaking the news that DIVA managed to rescue the Larkinsons captured by the Bright Republic, his clan quickly went back on track with hardly any dips in productivity!
"That was then. This is now." He whispered to himself.
The issue that Ves was contemplating not only hit much closer to home to many Larkinsons, but also touched on their most closely-held values!
To them, family was always confined to their own blood relatives! The only ones who were exempted from this rule were those who directly married into the family. There were no other exceptions!
"Honorary Larkinsons don't exist to my family."
This approach served the original Larkinson Family well back when it was based in the Bright Republic, but Ves believed it was outdated.
Now that the Larkinson Clan sought to find a future by roaming the stars, Ves wanted to redefine what it meant to be a Larkinson!
As he rode on his shuttle, Gloriana, their cats and Gavin kept him company.
All of them provided some useful input on what he should pay attention to when he held his speech.
"Emphasize that we are all in it together." Gloriana mentioned. "Everyone who joins your fleet shares all of its wealth and woes."
"Miaow."
"See? Even Clixie agrees!"
"That's not what she's saying. I think she needs a litter box."
"Oh."
When Clixie departed to the restroom of the shuttle, Gavin filled up the void.
"The Larkinson Assembly currently consists of fifty assemblymen. We've investigated their stances and determined that roughly thirty-nine of them are leaning against full integration."
"That much, Benny?"
"Of the eleven that remain, I don't think there are any of them that are strongly enthusiastic towards accepting outsiders as Larkinsons without any divisions."
"Great."
"It gets worse, boss. Of the thirty-nine naysayers, a few of them consist of Larkinsons who have already made up their minds to leave the clan to join the Larkinson Family instead."
"What?!" Ves sat upright in his chair! "Since they're already turning their backs on the clan, they should be kicked from the Larkinson Assembly!"
Gavin shrugged. "With how the rules of the Assembly are currently set up, that's not entirely possible."
"Maybe we should kick them right now!"
"I won't advise that, Ves. Regardless of how much you are annoyed at them, many Larkinsons still consider them family. They deserve to have a say in the time they are still in the clan."
"Do they really believe that?!"
"Hey, it's your family. You know your own folk best."
His assistant was right. This was exactly what he could foresee the Larkinsons doing!
The problem was that Ves was pretty sure the potential leavers all sided with the Larkinsons who wanted to maintain a fence between the truebloods and the adopted!
Even if they didn't want anything to do with the clan anymore, they were still invested in their Larkinson identities. Naturally, they would do everything in their power to make sure the Larkinson Clan did not dilute the identity of their common name!
While Ves grumbled at this setback, the shuttle soon arrived at its destination. A lot of shuttles tried to ferry their passengers over the Redfeather, but one of the perks of being the clan patriarch was that his ride possessed priority!
Once the shuttle landed, Ves and the rest had to exit quickly in order to make way for the next shuttle. They quickly strode forward and made their way to the middle where a large space in the mech hangar had been cleared for an imposing construction.
Modeled after a semicircular amphitheater, the mech technicians had done a good job at erecting a venue where his upcoming speech would have the greatest effect!
Though there were better places for the Larkinson Assembly to hold its pivotal session, Ves insisted on holding it in the mech hangar of the flagship of the Avatars of Myth.
In his previous tour, he was impressed by how strong and pervasive the glows of the Bright Warriors affected the entire surroundings.
Some of those mechs had been moved elsewhere to make room, but over a dozen Bright Warriors still remained in the vicinity to cast the entire compartment with an aura that was uniquely Larkinson.
All of this setup served a purpose. Ves had used all of his power to manipulate the environment in his favor.
Even now, Ves noticed many assembly members adopting a more solemn and reserved demeanor. In the presence of so many Bright Warriors, this was no time to joke around!
Ovrin Larkinson, in his guise as the speaker, approached Ves in a formal-looking robe. "This is a big day, today. The clan will change forever regardless of what transpires here. I hope that whatever we decide upon will make us stronger."
"Those are my hopes as well." Ves nodded, aware that Ovrin was one of the Larkinsons who was leaning against full integration. "At least some Larkinsons will depart from this ship with less-than-happy expressions. I just hope that they won't take their defeat too personally."
"When it comes to family, everything is personal, Ves. We can't separate sentiment from our decision-making. Not in this instance."
That was true. After a cordial chat with the brother of his grandfather, Ves moved on and approached Commander Melkor.
Though he was also a Larkinson and held an important position, Melkor wasn't a part of the assembly. He was merely milling around in order to chat with some of the Larkinsons who came in person.
"Melkor." Ves greeted. "How is the Redfeather?"
"Everything is as secure as possible. All of the mechs remaining in the hangar are active but locked down. There is a strong escort of Avatars patrolling around the ship. Everything is as safe as can be. My men are all on high alert."
"What do you think of the likely outcome of this session?"
Melkor's mouth curled into a frown. "With how the wind is blowing, my men deserve better. Almost all of them have risked their lives for us in some way. That is far more than what you can expect from mercenaries or regular employees. To me, they're already family."
"I don't disagree. Perhaps there will be a way to avoid this outcome."
Melkor immediately scanned Ves from top to bottom with his visor. Ves was aware of his cousin's action because his comm and his implant detected the scanning waves passing through his body, though they failed to penetrate the bits covered by Synthra Umbra.
"You're up to something again, aren't you? I know you too well, Ves. Whenever you say something like that, you always pull off some sort of stunt. Public speeches like the ones you are about to hold is one of your favorite moments to sway people's opinions!"
Ves held up his hands. "Hey, hey, I haven't done anything yet! Please withhold your judgement until this is over."
The Avatar Commander snorted. "I'll transfer some more Avatars over to the Redfeather in case we need the help."
What a wonderful vote of confidence.
Some time went by until every shuttle deposited an assembly member. The old and distinguished Larkinsons who obtained the honor of representing the clan all took their seats. Though the amphitheater-like construction was an unusual place to hold the session, it wasn't too different from the old steering committee meetings.
Everyone took their places. Ves and Gloriana sat at the throne-like seats elevated above the deck facing the half-circle. Ovrin sat a bit lower and to the front.
He struck the gavel. The amplified sound rang throughout the entire mech hangar, causing everyone to fall silent.
"I declare the commencement of the latest session of the Larkinson Assembly!" The old Larkinson announced with an officious tone. "Today, there is only one topic on the agenda."
While Ovrin went through all of the formalities, Ves tried to gauge the overall mood of the assembly members.
Though they all looked similar to the naked eye, Ves perceived a lot of variety in their emotions. It was easy to guess which Larkinsons wanted to carve out a special status for the truebloods.
Depressingly, the estimate that Gavin had given him wasn't too far from the truth.
The session proceeded until a Larkinson elder finally had the opportunity to address the Assembly.
"Fellow Larkinsons," Caratan Larkinson began. "We all know what the Larkinson Clan needs. Our numbers are low and allies are hard to find. The proposal to add new members to the clan is an understandable one in the circumstances."
Ves quietly snorted. Caratan Larkinson was one of the ringleaders of the clansmen who were planning to defect to Ark Larkinson. For someone who wanted to jump over to the Larkinson Family to talk as if he cared about the clan was a giant farce!
Still, as long as he hadn't actually left, he still possessed the right to attend the assembly session!
Caratan continued his speech. "However, in our enthusiasm to strengthen our clan, I would like to caution you all to please exercise restraint! While it is fine to change the definition of the clan to accommodate our changing circumstances, it is a mistake to go too far! Many family organizations have made a distinction between trueblood members and adopted members. In our star sector, the Gauge Dynasty is the most prominent example! Though it is huge in terms of membership, only a small percentage of them consists of those descended from the founders of the dynasty! Nonetheless, it has emerged as the most powerful partner of the Coalition!"
Ves frowned at the use of the Gauge Dynasty as an example. He held a personal animosity towards it due to Lady Curver's actions!
A lot of other Larkinsons reacted negatively to the example as well, but they couldn't help but admit that Caratan was right to refer to the Gauge Dynasty as a successful example!
"No matter what you think about the Gauge Dynasty, its success is undeniable. I think we should all draw upon its example and use its promotion system as a powerful way to manage our new clansmen!"
A lot of Larkinsons had already been inclined towards this solution. Their determination to vote in favor of this model only rose after Caratan had his say.
Several other assembly members got their turn as well. Various supporters of full integration had their say as well, but none of them were as convincing as Caratan Larkinson.
It was too difficult to assure the assembly members that everything would go right if they went for the more radical option.
Ves quietly groaned and palmed his face as he sank into his throne.
"Looks like it all rests on my shoulders."
Chapter 2013 A Greater Calling
A couple of ships emerged in a sand-scoured star system of the Reinald Republic. Different from Ves and the Larkinson Clan, the remnants of the Larkinson Family traveled aboard weaker vessels.
In its entire existence, the Larkinson Family never operated any starships at all until recently. Before the rise of Ves and the influx of excess cash, the family always depended on relying on commercial services or renting starships in order to move its larger assets.
That was in the past. Now that the Bright Republic turned against the old family, the stricken family members were forced to do everything possible to get their hands on some ships and mechs.
Fortunately, the family was not without friends nor resources. Though the government confiscated their domestic assets, the family still invested lots of excess money in a number of foreign accounts.
That may not be enough to buy ships and mechs, but that was where their stellar reputation came in. When the Larkinsons called for help, a surprising amount of sympathetic Brighters donated their aid!
There were many Brighters who were fed up with the current direction of the Bright Republic or thought it had no future anymore even before Bentheim succumbed to the sandmen.
A lot of veteran mech pilots turned mercenary and other folk still remembered what it was like to serve alongside a Larkinson. many former Havensworth division soldiers also looked up to their former commanding officer!
With Ark Larkinson taking charge, the Larkinson Family received aid from all corners. Though the contributions were fairly minor and sporadic, collectively they amounted to a considerable amount of help!
A fleet had formed around the old family. Though it wasn't too impressive, it was strong enough to defend itself.
Piloted by veteran Larkinsons as well as defectors and mercenaries that had joined the family in their escape from the Bright Republic, the mechs didn't look impressive but exhibited military coordination.
Even though the fleet was still vulnerable to determined raids and major attacks, not a single pirate group dared to test the Larkinson Family's patience!
Not only was there very little to be gained by attacking a fleet that carried no valuable cargo, a famed expert pilot also presided over it! No one was crazy enough to challenge an expert pilot except for other state actors!
The Gracious Indigo was the current flagship of the Larkinson Family's fleet. Though she was old and fairly worn, she was still quite serviceable, having served as the mobile headquarters of a mercenary corps before finally passing on to the Larkinsons through unclear means.
Inside an office compartment, Ark Larkinson sat behind his desk reviewing the balance sheet of the family.
Though the family wasn't in danger of running out of cash, the Bright Republic's appropriation of all of its domestic accounts caused a lot of disruption.
Most of the money it accumulated was gone! The family put too many eggs in one basket!
The evaporation of so much money was yet another reason for the old family to resent Ves Larkinson and his penchant for provoking the Friday Coalition.
If not for this wayward descendant, the Larkinson Family would have never been entangled in so much trouble!
Now that the Larkinson Family was suddenly left to fend by itself without the support of a state, Ark Larkinson tried his best to keep the pieces together.
He kept frowning as he studied the accounts. While there was enough money to eke out a stable existence, it was not enough to elevate the old family.
His terminal suddenly sounded a chime. Ark immediately accepted the request.
The projection of Benjamin Larkinson appeared. Though he looked old and exhausted, the current crisis ignited his willpower, causing his former expert pilot tendencies to reemerge!
"Son."
"Father."
"I'm sure you know what is taking place in the clan right now." Benjamin slowly spoke. "Ves and his band are contemplating yet another radical initiative."
"I understand the position of the clan. The decision to adopt external people into their clan is not as crazy as it sounds. These are new and unprecedented times. We may need to change as well if we want our family to remain intact."
"I understand. I already have a lot of ideas, but you have the final say. Everyone in the family trusts you, Ark. I have no doubt that you will exercise your authority wisely given your leadership of Havensworth, but I hope that you can steer us to a solution that will give most of us some peace of mind."
Ark grimaced. "That's easier said than done. For obvious reasons, the Komodo Star Sector is becoming increasingly less attractive to us. More and more, I am beginning to contemplate whether we should move to Vicious Mountain or Majestic Teal."
Neither star sectors were ideal. They had their own way of doing things that didn't entirely mesh with the noble ideals of the old family. It wasn't easy to find a state that was similar to the Bright Republic!
"Majestic Teal has fewer wars, but it is full of hypocrites." Benjamin dismissively shook his head. "The peace they enjoy is very false. Millions or billions of subjects die each year due to the machinations of their avaricious leaders. None of them possess any true honor. The only ones who do well in Majestic Teal are those who excel in plotting and intrigue. Let's face it. We do not excel in this area. Considering our inclinations, we would do much better in Vicious Mountain."
That said, neither Benjamin nor Ark held a good opinion about Vicious Mountain.
Though it honored mech pilots and especially high-ranked mech pilots to an extreme degree, putting glory hounds in charge of states came with its own problems!
Compared to Majestic Teal, Vicious Mountain and especially the Garlen Empire was refreshingly blunt and honest. Its leaders fought and started wars whenever it wanted to without bothering to come up with a plausible casus belli.
Though Ark predicted that the Larkinson Family could do well in Vicious Mountain, he feared the influence of its glory-obsessed martial culture!
"We may need to look further ahead." Ark said in resignation. "Luckily, human space has a lot of star sectors. There should be at least one place in the galaxy that meets our needs. We just have to spend enough time to find our new home."
"Will our funding be able to sustain so much travel?" Benjamin asked. "Crossing star sectors is an expensive endeavor and the distances are unimaginable to us. In fact, many of us have never even left the Bright Republic! This flight is the first time that many of us have left our familiar state, and that frightens us more than we would like to admit!"
As a leader who always tried to be in tune with his subordinates, Ark completely concurred with his father. "We are all out of our comfort zone. That is not in question. I believe we are capable enough to overcome our problems. We have gone through worse. We WILL find a home!"
He briefly exuded the willpower and determination of a potent expert pilot when he spoke those words. It was as if he was making a promise as well as a declaration!
Though Benjamin and Ark were on different fleets separated by light-years away, the older of the two was still sharp enough to notice something distinct about Ark's mannerisms.
His eyes widened. "My son.. you've changed. Am I mistaken, or are you…"
"It's strange." Ark ruefully smiled as he eased his shoulders. "I fought through two of the Bright-Vesia Wars. In my first time in battle, I had to fill the shoes of a leader because too many soldiers looked up to me due to the failings of our commanding officers. Back then, I didn't know why I earned so much respect among the men. Even though I lived through that harrowing war and broke through, I still didn't entirely understand the burden of leadership. I was merely acting according to my instincts and what you and many other Larkinsons instilled in me. That was enough for me to become a mech colonel, but no further."
"What has changed?"
"This." Ark waved his hand around his desk. The scattered data pads and other items made it clear that he had been working very hard the last few weeks! "Even though I spent years as a senior officer in the Mech Corps, I was always operating under the auspices of high command. If you disregard my rank, I was merely a cog in a machine. I may have been a very shiny and impressive-looking cog, but I had no control over my motions."
He lowered his head and looked at his hands. "It started with the Sand War. The exceptional circumstances and the dire threat of the sandmen to human life started to evoke something in me. Resisting the alien threat is very different from fighting rival humans from another state. There is no question which is the greater calling. Fending off sandman fleets, saving entire planets of humans from extermination and trying my best to keep all of my soldiers alive at the end of the day was very taxing, but also very rewarding."
"You still served at the whims of high command and the government." Benjamin noted.
"That is true. Though the Sand War is over now, I am thrust in a smaller but even more critical situation to me. I am tasked with steering the future of the Larkinson Family. Despite the smaller scale, I feel more burdened with responsibility than ever! Back when I was in the Mech Corps, I was surrounded by subordinates and superiors who were able to make up for my mistakes. While there are plenty of wise Larkinsons in my fleet, I seem to be the only one who possessed the strength and leadership acumen to lead our family."
"And that makes you afraid, am I correct?" Benjamin smiled through the projection. "Many people believe that expert pilots don't feel fear. They are wrong. An expert pilot's fear of failure is much greater than that of normal people! The greater your fear, the greater your drive to succeed!"
Ark nodded. "It's strange. In my decades-long service in the Mech Corps, I experienced numerous battles where my life hung on a thread. I navigated through constant engagements where I had to lead my soldiers through near-defeats. Yet even if I am no longer leading thousands of troops, I feel more burdened than ever because my own family is at stake. At the same time, I'm no longer weighed down by the politics and constraints of our former state. No one is there to dictate orders to me or take responsibility. The buck stops with me, and that is much more frightening than I realized."
The fate of so many people he cared about rested on his shoulders. Whereas others might have succumbed to the burden, Ark accepted this greater calling. His will to preserve and save his family stimulated him in a way he had never experienced in his long years of service!
Both father and son shared a meaningful look with each other. There was no need to voice what Ark was going through. As one former expert pilot to a current expert pilot, both of them were keenly aware what was happening with the latter.
Ark Larkinson was beginning to progress to a higher state!
Though it was far from sure whether Ark would be able to advance to ace pilot, once he did, the fortunes of the family would completely change! The value of an ace pilot was a lot different than that of an expert pilot! As long as his loyalties weren't tied to an existing power, many second-rate states would be willing to open their doors to a homeless ace pilot! The Larkinson Family would easily be able to find the home and stability it so desperately sought!
"Good luck, my son."
"It is not luck I need, but support." Ark steeled his eyes! "As long as my relatives continue to believe in me, I shall never let them down! That is my calling!"
Chapter 2014 A Good Leader
Aboard the Redfeather, The Larkinson Assembly had convened in person to make one of the most pivotal decisions of the Larkinson Clan!
Fifty elders who shared the same blood exchanged their views.
Ves was disappointed with the debate raging through the assembly theater. Though the assembly members sometimes raised their tones, there were remarkably few Larkinsons who supported extending greater rights to the soon-to-be-clansmen.
Instead, the overall discussion descended into nitpicking as various Larkinsons proposed various schemes and amendments to best integrate outsiders while keeping them at arm's length!
"Two tiers are not sufficient!" An old Larkinson shouted. "We need at least ten tiers! We have to provide incentives to the adopted Larkinsons in order to make sure they have something to work towards! We can't give them a dead end once they join our clan or else they'll sit back and mooch off our existing gains!"
"Ten?! Are you out of your mind? We might as well shout in front of their faces that we never intend to turn them into complete Larkinsons! This is not a game where we can expect our adopted kin to diligently work to promote themselves into higher-classed Larkinsons! Don't you have some decency!?"
"I disagree! I think this is an excellent idea! Granted, ten tiers sound excessive. How about five tiers? We need to give our new brethren some hope that they are able to reach our height within their lifetimes!"
Ves palmed his face as the Larkinson elders became completely consumed by the discussion on how to erect a means to put up more and more barriers between trueblood Larkinsons and adopted Larkinsons.
The greater the distance, the more Ves felt the clan was moving in a direction that wasn't to his liking!
Certainly, hierarchy was important. Any large organizations needed people at the top and bottom to function properly.
Even if Ves declined to intervene and let the current consensus go into law, the Larkinson Clan wouldn't instantly decline.
The supporters for limited integration weren't incompetent, nor ignorant. They had already rolled out several clever-sounding plans and frameworks to manage the clan's transition to a greater entity where the peripheral members served the core members in exchange for gaining benefits from the clan organization.
If everyone supported the consensus and tried their best to implement it properly, the Larkinson Clan could grow strong in the future.
Yet was such an organization truly what he sought?
No.
Ves wanted the clan to maintain its emphasis on fellowship. Every Larkinson had to be able to lean on another Larkinson. That had always been his ideal. Separating Larkinsons by their bloodline and their 'tier' didn't sound bad, but it was the underlying intent that troubled his sensibilities.
The trueblood Larkinsons were trying to do their best to deprive the adopted Larkinsons from getting their full due. Ves had a sense that if he didn't stop the current proceedings, his clan would forever be locked in an invisible struggle between trueblood and adopted Larkinsons!
This kind of internal tension displeased Ves immensely. While he valued his bloodline and heritage as much as any Larkinson, he increasingly accepted the notion that obsessing over blood purity was too insular of an approach!
The competition in the Red Ocean didn't care about the differences between trueblood Larkinsons and adopted Larkinsons. Ves anticipated that his Larkinson Clan would experience unimaginable challenges in this new region of space.
In light of the future, Ves wanted his clan to be as internally strong as possible! In his heart, he wanted to trust everyone who bore the Larkinson name regardless of their origins.
Right now, there were too few trueblood Larkinsons for Ves to depend upon. Instead, he was much more reliant on the loyalty and dedication of the Brighters, Ylvainans and other people that made up his current fleet!
Considering that Ves and the Larkinson Clan would not be able to attain any of their ambitious goals without the assistance of so many people, it made a lot more sense to secure their loyalty in the strongest fashion possible! The earlier, the better!
Unfortunately, no one else in the assembly thought so. They would all dismiss his opinion as a reckless extreme if he tried to explain himself.
As the debate was slowing down, Gloriana reached out her arm and grabbed his hand.
The two formed a hardline connection with their implants.
"It looks like the Larkinson Assembly won't support your vision." She began.
"I know."
"Why don't you step in, then? It will be too late to insert your voice if you delay any further."
"I.." He hesitated. "I have a plan, but.. I'm not sure whether it is the right thing to impose my views onto my clan. My relatives deserve to have their voices heard."
His girlfriend shifted her head in his direction. Her face exhibited mild contempt. "No offense, Ves, but you are much greater than the squabbling old men who have never run anything on the scale of your clan. Don't you see how limited their visions are compared to yours? If not for you, none of them would ever contemplate that they would be able to travel to the Red Ocean!"
"What's your point, Gloriana?"
"Take charge, Ves. You can't delegate your way out of everything. At some point, avoiding responsibility means abdicating responsibility. This is a slow means of losing control!"
"Is control even that important?" Ves hit back at her through their internal channel. "I am a mech designer. Designing mechs is what I do best. Sure, I took up leadership positions to expand my mech company and help my family, but it is all so I can design mechs with ease. Chasing power for its own sake has never been my goal!"
"Hahaha! What a funny joke. No mech designer can do everything alone. Designing mechs is an expensive and time-consuming endeavor, and it only gets worse the further up we go. Every successful Senior and Master have grown to become leaders of their own networks and organizations because all of this support is essential to sustain their growing research, financial and industrial needs!"
Ves knew this, but a part of him was reluctant to see his clan as a provider of loyal manpower to his organizations. There was something distinctly heartless and utilitarian about that perspective that clashed with his values as a Larkinson!
"What is in it for you?" He asked back. "Why are you so adamant in urging me to steer the clan in a different direction?"
"I'm a part of the clan as well, remember? No matter what my dynasty says, I signed the Larkinson Mandate during its founding, so that makes me as much of a clan member as you! I have a stake in these proceedings as well!"
"I don't understand why you don't want us to adopt a class system." Ves furrowed his brows in confusion. "Do you want to make it easier for Hexers to gain influence in the clan or something?"
She shook her head. "It's not about that! I never told you this, but the Wodin Dynasty also adopted a tiered system of sorts. While I'm lucky enough to be part of one of the main branches, people like Ranya received less opportunities because she's from a side branch. My dynasty isn't really pleasant if you look at it from the outside."
"I see." Ves understood her concerns. "I don't know, Gloriana. It isn't right to override their voices."
"This isn't about what's right, but what's necessary. Feeling good about yourself isn't going to save you when you will pay for letting the clan run itself into the ground! Just look at the people who you entrust with responsibility! Do any of them inspire trust in you? I sure don't see anything worthwhile! There are too many boys in the assembly!"
"What does that have to do with this problem?!"
Gloriana ignored his inquiry. "I've seen you struggle and change your mind several times over the course of the last few days. Time is running out, Ves. I know it's not what you wanted to do, but a good leader is someone who is cruel enough to make the necessary choice instead of the right choice!"
It wasn't as if Ves hadn't adopted this approach before. In fact, there were way too many times where he briefly set aside his principles and morals to make the necessary choices. This was often the case when his own interests were on the line.
Yet.. when it came to his own clan, his own family.. could Ves really bring himself to go this far? He already felt a little remorseful for fracturing the original Larkinson Family.
In his perspective, that had been a necessary choice at the time, but that didn't make it okay.
As his conscience warred against his desires, Gloriana's face turned sly.
"If you score a victory today, I'll dismiss the guards tonight. We'll have our stateroom all to ourselves, hihi! I'll even convince Lucky and Clixie to play elsewhere for a while!"
Ves suddenly turned to her in shock! "Are you serious?!"
"Of course I am! I'm always in the mood when something great happens! A great man like you deserves a reward. Just think about it. Didn't you enjoy your first time? The eagerness you showed back then is something that I'll never forget! Won't it be great if we could relive that night? We could also do more if you want!"
He frowned. "Do you think I make my decisions based on my libido? I'm not that kind of person!"
"Oh, Ves, I don't mean it that way." She smiled. "Just consider it a cherry on top, a bonus to look forward to. You don't want to return to the Scarlet Rose in defeat, don't you? You'll never get me in the mood that way. Now stop stalling. Do what is necessary and make the clan follow your lead! Will you be a good leader or will you be a strong leader?"
Good leaders never got anywhere. Ves tried that already and only received betrayal in return. Not only his allies, but also his own family stabbed him in the back because they thought they could get away with their actions!
Perhaps Gloriana was right. Perhaps Ves needed to show some spine and throw his weight around. He didn't set up the position of clan patriarch to serve as a symbolic figurehead!
He drew his hand away from hers while adopting a stern expression. He grabbed hold of the Larkinson Mandate floating besides his throne and drew on its strength!
"Golden Cat, please support me and lend me your strength!" He mentally pleaded with the young spirit.
Nyaaaa?
She looked hesitant in meeting his request. As a spiritual entity that was in tune with every Larkinson, she was much more sympathetic towards the consensus of the majority! Right now, that meant she was loathe to interfere in the current assembly session!
However.. While she had been set up to represent the greater will of the Larkinson Clan, she was still a young and naive entity! Ves was like a father to her considering that he literally created her into existence!
Private sentiment warred against public interest. The latter soon lost out. In the end, Goldie was far more affectionate towards Ves than the entire clan.
This wasn't surprising to Ves. It was something he consciously and unconsciously willed into her spiritual makeup!
Nyaaa!
With Goldie's consent, Ves began to draw upon her spiritual energy, suffusing his body with a glow that was identical from the ones radiated by the Bright Warriors surrounding the assembly theater!
"Larkinsons!" He shouted, rudely interrupting the current discussion on some proposed amendment. "We have debated enough about one option, but there is also another choice we can make!"
Every Larkinson fell silent. The sheer pressure exuded by the clan patriarch wasn't stifling, but there was something about it that compelled every Larkinson to shut up and listen!
Chapter 2015 Heart Bea
Ves managed to command everyone's attention.
This didn't sound so strange, but it was the methods he employed that made it remarkable.
Aside from his natural authority as clan leader and Journeyman Mech Designer, he made use of almost every trick in his arsenal to distort every Larkinson's perception!
With the silent Bright Warriors in the mech hangar on standby, their glows melded with the glow exuded by his mind and body, giving everyone the impression that he was the living incarnation of the Larkinson Clan!
Even though he fell silent for a time, no Larkinson uttered any word or showed any inattention. The expansive spiritual manipulation that Ves exerted with the assistance and coordination of the Golden Cat was too grand to be dismissed!
It didn't matter whether the assembly members possessed spiritual potential or not. Young or old, man or woman, soldier or civilian, they all perceived the glow that represented the clan from their surroundings and their clan patriarch!
What was more, each Larkinson possessed an active bond with the Golden Cat and the Larkinson Mandate. Since the great book was currently in his hands, Ves felt through his connection with the Golden Cat that he could exert an even greater degree of influence on their psyche!
Though his sudden actions shocked everyone into submission, not everyone was stunned into submission.
The wisest, most stubborn and strong-willed Larkinsons still looked as if they retained a decent amount of lucidity. People like Speaker Ovrin Larkinson who already wielded a lot of responsibility and Caratan Larkinson who was highly opposed towards the clan were among those who weren't as easy to influence!
In fact, the latter already started to frown as he found this current situation to be highly disturbing!
Ves did not pay any attention to Caratan or any individual Larkinson. Right now, he was addressing the entire Larkinson Assembly and every clan member who was watching the feed.
"My fellow family members." He spoke again. "We are all Larkinsons. For centuries, we have based our existence on our lineage. It is easy to consider each other kin when we share the same blood. Don't we all have a part inside of us that wishes to go back to the past when everything was simpler and where we didn't have so many responsibilities?"
Certainly, nostalgia was present in every Larkinson, particularly the older ones who had gone through many good and bad experiences back in the Bright Republic!
"Those times are over now. We are facing a greater set of challenges, and this time we don't have the government to back us up. We have chosen to find our own fortune, but that means we must all step up, because if we make the wrong choice, everyone pays!"
He reminded them of the stakes. He wanted his fellow Larkinsons to realize the import of their decisions. It wasn't as if they were just a military family in a third-rate state anymore. If they made a mistake back then, there wasn't much of a risk that it would cause their downfall.
That was no longer the cause. Though everyone was aware of this concern, when Ves brought it up, they couldn't help but amplify their worries!
"It is in times like these that we must make the wisest and most farsighted decisions." Ves continued. "We can no longer think for ourselves. We can no longer think about the interests of our narrow bloodline! We have to rise up and govern our clan with a greater perspective, a broader perspective! We must take more than just ourselves into account!"
He raised his arm and manipulated his comm. A projection of some of the valiant mech pilots of the Avatars of Myth came into being. Joshua King was one of the most prominent individuals in his pre-prepared slideshow.
"Our current fleet is filled with great supporters and loyal adherents. Their contributions need no explanation. Even those who haven't stood out are still worthy of consideration! Unlike everyone else, these humble workers and soldiers have stuck with us when half the star sector turned against us! Do you know what that means? They had the choice to leave and divest themselves from their association from us, but instead they doubled down and committed to working with us even if they spat the Friday Coalition in the face! Don't you think that deserves our appreciation?"
A lot of assembly members nodded. Ves appealed to their sense of fairness, which was fairly strong but which they regardly set aside whenever family came up. Not this time. He forcibly dragged it up in order to prevent his relatives from downplaying the contributions of non-family members!
While he spoke, he continually tweaked and refined his spiritual manipulation. He was already quite proficient with it. This time, he didn't just rely on glows, which were rather passive in nature.
Instead, he also expended his spiritual energy to form a psuedo-force of will! Infused with the influence of the Golden Cat, it was as if Ves was an expert pilot to the gathered Larkinsons!
Expert pilots possessed a revered status in the original family. Even in the clan, the Larkinsons never halted this long-standing custom!
Though Ves was obviously not an expert pilot, the air and vibe he evoked reminded the Larkinson of some of the great figures in the family such as Ark Larkinson!
Ves noticed that certain spiritually strong individuals such as Jannzi Larkinson were frowning or looking suspiciously at him. Fortunately, she was just an expert candidate and not a part of the Larkinson Assembly.
With no genuine expert pilot on the Redfeather, Ves had free reign to expand his spiritual influence as he saw fit! The passive glow and the active force of will both combined to put every single Larkinson in the Assembly under his influence!
Though Caratan's stubborn expression made it clear that he wasn't outright controlling their minds, it was undeniable that they were very open to his words!
"I have a vision of the Larkinson Clan." Ves continued, his soothing voice worming into the ears of the Larkinsons like velvet.
Unlike the previous times he employed his Devil Tongue, this time he traded acid for sweetener. Despite never raising his tone in fury, his fervor was very much stoked!
"In my dreams, our clan is something that is strong. United. Trustworthy. Whether we trade or fight, we are a clan that moves as one and acts in harmony! Don't you wish our clan would become like this? Don't you want to pursue a future where every Larkinson is a brother and where the most talented, capable and caring clan members are in charge?"
"That does not mean that we should put outsiders in the same category as trueblood Larkinsons!" Caratan rudely interrupted!
Though it was difficult to resist his influence, those determined to oppose him and his views were still able to shake themselves off his spell!
Ves directed his head towards the offending assembly member. "Caratan Larkinson. I was speaking."
"Ovrin didn't give the floor to you! I have a right to speak as well as you do!"
"What is it you want to say, then?"
Though Ves exuded an increasing amount of spiritual pressure onto Caratan, it still had a limit. There was only so much influence he could exert on someone without spiritual potential.
"Your suggestion cheapens our Larkinson name." Caratan spat. "Our predecessors have fought long and hard to secure the future of our original family. Even though we split off and formed a clan, we still owe our current lives to the efforts of the previous generations of Larkinsons! Each of them fought and toiled in order to provide their children and grandchildren with a better future. I can guarantee you that none of them have ever approved of the notion of recognizing those who don't share our blood as Larkinsons! Going down the path you are trying to suggest is the equivalent of trampling on the graves of our forefathers!"
Ves curled his lips into a mild frown. Though he didn't mind sparring against an opponent, he didn't like it when they were competent enough to form a good rebuttal. He couldn't wait to kick Caratan Larkinson from his clan!
"Our forefathers didn't think we would ever separate ourselves from a state they swore an oath to defend to their dying breaths. This is why I said that times have changed. We Larkinsons are no longer the simple soldiers as we were before. We have left the sandbox of the Bright Republic and entered into a greater world! So much has changed that it is more important than ever to keep up with them! With so many threats on the horizon, we cannot wait to rely on our bloodline to provide us with strength. The only way to grow strong enough to preserve our blood and our way of life is to rethink our customs!"
"That's understandable." Caratan took a step back. "Changes are necessary, that is not something that we question. The problem I have is that you are taking it too far! Why must we redefine what it means to be a Larkinson? Why must we share all of our honor and prosperity to those who should be relying on their own efforts to earn them? Our identity as Larkinsons binds us all together! No matter if we are part of the family or the clan, we are all kin to each other, and that is something that should never change!"
His words were having an effect. More and more Larkinsons seem to be escaping from the lull they had fallen under when Ves exerted his pervasive spiritual influence.
Ves needed to regain the ground he lost.
"You are too narrow-minded, Caratan. Are you so possessive that you can't stand to provide our loyal workers and soldiers the recognition they deserve? Are you so short-sighted that you can't see how much they risked their lives and their old way of life to commit to our cause? Just look at how many mech pilots who aren't called Larkinsons fought and died on the battlefield! They didn't fight for their state. They didn't fight for their own lives. Instead, they fought for our interests and our existence! Offering them some form of outer membership isn't enough. We should recognize their worth and add their strength to our clan without reserve!"
"And how will we prevent them from abusing their numbers to their advantage?!" Caratan retorted. "How can we stop them from slowly worming their way into our institutions and altering them beyond our recognition? The Ylvainans are cultists who believe whatever their so-called Living Prophet tells them to do, and they are the least of our worries when it comes to foreigners in our midst!"
"You are wrong!" Ves summoned up his full strength and influence! He let Caratan have his say in order to serve as a foil, but there were limits to his patience! "All I hear from your mouth are warrantless fears and hyperbolic situations which will never come to pass! If you have spent any time with our workers and soldiers, you would know that all of them aspire to be Larkinsons! If we give them the chance to become our kin, then they will gradually mold themselves into our image! Believe in our clan. Believe in our way."
Ves looked up to the face of one of the Bright Warriors looming behind the theater. "Where we come from and who we used to be doesn't matter anymore. We have Brighters, Ylvainans, Kinners and other folk among us. Since we're leaving the Komodo Star Sector anyway, why should we cling on to our old divisions? It will slowly become more meaningless the further away we travel from our homes! I say that starting from today, we should all be part of the same people!"
He raised his fist before pounding it onto his chest!
"Strength comes from the heart, not from the blood! Open your eyes and look to the people we are surrounded by. As long as you look closely enough, you will recognize that the heart of a Larkinson is beating inside their chests!"
It was as if every heard the sound of a heart beat. At this instant, the hearts of everyone aboard the Redfeather beat as one!
Chapter 2016 Ostracized
The power of speech was one of the most emotive manner of conveying information to one person to another.
Compared to other means of information transfer such as plain text, speech allowed the source to convey emotion.
Many people didn't even consciously think about the emotive quality of their manner of speaking. Perhaps some people did, but they never used it to their full advantage.
What Ves did was actually a step beyond conveying emotion through sound. Though the inflection of his voice conveyed a portion of his passion, this time he mainly relied on his spiritual manipulation to permeate his passion to the assembly members!
The power of spirit possessed a powerful and more direct influence on someone's mood than regular speech.
On top of that, the effect he achieved was a lot more potent than he could achieve on his own by making use of the aid provided by the Golden Cat and the Bright Warriors!
The Larkinson Clan's ancestral spirit may not be the most sophisticated spiritual entity, but she was decently strong and possessed a direct connection to all of the Larkinson clansmen!
The Larkinson clansmen who took part in the founding ritual essentially opened a backdoor in their mind for the Golden Cat. This two-way connection not only fed the Golden Cat, but also allowed her to peek in their inner minds or exert some influence!
Of course, there was only so much the Golden Cat could do, especially against spiritually insensitive individuals.
No single means was strong enough, but it was the combination that Ves set out to convey!
The Devil Tongue moniker stood for more than his clever words. His impassioned speech, his insidious spiritual manipulation and his courage to bring up touchy subjects all combined in an experience that hardly left his audience unmoved!
There was a reason why Ves hesitated in employing his full range of persuasive tools to his own family. Employing spiritual techniques and amplifying it through the Golden Cat and the Bright Warrior was something that hardly anyone could guard against.
It strayed far too closely to indoctrination because Ves sought to win the argument by distorting their judgement! Rather than trying to convey a clear argument based on sound logic and compelling benefits, he instead sought to scramble their rationality by firing up their emotions!
From a cynical perspective, each time he utilized his Devil Tongue, he sabotaged the better sense of his audience!
Trying to sway people through such means was borderline unethical and very distasteful.
The only reason Ves didn't equate it to brainwashing was because he knew that there were a lot of impressive leaders and statesmen who could accomplish something similar!
What was incredibly frightening about these master manipulators was that they trained their speech-making abilities to the point where they could essentially brainwash anyone through clever word choice and emotional inflection alone!
Ves knew his own limits. He was far from reaching that point, especially since he never formally trained in this area. He liked to speak from his heart rather than come across as inauthentic and slimy. His spiritual manipulation worked best when he matched it with the passion in his speech!
Right now, the assembly members he addressed all appeared mesmerized. It was as if Ves cast a spell on them. Only a handful of people such as Caratan Larkinson and Speaker Ovrin Larkinson possessed the will and experience to remain lucid in the middle of his extraordinary speech.
Leavers such as Caratan Larkinson didn't want Ves to gain the upper hand. As far as they were concerned, if Ves had his way, the identity of the Larkinson name would forever be diluted! Sharing it with thousands of outsiders was a travesty to those who always felt pride in belonging to the famed and honored Larkinson Family!
After a long and solemn pause where everyone had the illusion that their hearts were beating as one, everyone slowly drew themselves out of their fugue. The Larkinsons taking part in the assembly session and the people witnessing it through a projection all came off their highs.
Ves could have proceeded with the vote right away, but he didn't think that was the right choice. Though he attempted to make his point by scrambling their minds, he didn't want them to cast their votes only to regret it later on. That would only breed further resentment from his relatives.
For this reason, he added an extra step.
"Many of you may harbor some lingering concerns." Ves spoke in a calmer and less intense voice. "There are many people in the galaxy. Each of them hold different values and abide by different principles. These are legitimate concerns."
Just as Caratan wanted to reiterate his objections, Ves raised two of his fingers!
"However, consider these two points! Once we begin our travels and embark on our expedition, we will be meeting many different people. We will become exposed to various different cultures that could make the Ylvainans and the Hexers look like normal folk! In order to rise above our local roots and fit into the galactic scene, we must develop an openness and tolerance towards different cultures! Only through developing a cosmopolitan identity will we be able to grow our clan and become a major power!"
This was not a particularly strong argument. Even if the relatives who followed Ves and joined the clan consisted of the more ambitious Larkinsons, their hopes were grounded by their modest roots.
Back in the Bright Republic, the Larkinson Family wasn't even an important entity. Though it possessed a decent presence in the military, the lack of high-ranking officers among the Larkinsons hampered their political influence.
Compared to the likes of the Tovar Family whose members regularly held the presidency, no one important listened to the Larkinson Family!
The lack of success still weighed on the necks of the Larkinsons like a stone. With their heads constantly pointed towards the ground, they were unused to raising their heads and looking up at the sky! Even if Ves cut the cords and lifted their burdens, centuries of defining their identities as loyal, upright soldiers!
Ves may have ripped their physical shackles, but their mental bonds still remained intact!
This was why he broached this point. He wanted to rip apart their bonds and liberate their minds!
Of course, an aspiration for greatness wasn't enough to assuage their concerns. Every decision revolved around weighing risk and reward.
Right now, Ves amplified the reward. Now, he needed to lower the risk."
"Secondly, our Larkinson Clan is not a weak entity. Look into your hearts. Do you feel it?" Ves tapped his heart before tapping the surface of the Larkinson Mandate. "What you sense is the living essence of our clan. It is alive. It is a part of us. As long as you believe in it, the clan will always have your back, but if you have nefarious intentions in mind, then the clan itself will mark you out and expose you for the cancer that you are to us all! Caratan Larkinson, let me be the first to show you what your ill intent and disloyal tendencies has wrought!"
Ves dramatically lifted the Larkinson Mandate in the air! Its antigrav brace caused it to float from his grip and soar until it reached the center of the assembly theater!
Everyone's attention shifted towards the book that radiated the same glow as Ves and the Bright Warriors.
Invisible to everyone except a couple of entities, Ves began to communicate and manipulate with the book and the spirit residing inside of it. The Golden Cat was perplexed at his request, but she eventually acquitted and proceeded to manipulate one of her bonds according to his intentions.
Caratan Larkinson stood perplexed as he looked at the book. Though it was a very impressive piece of craftsmanship, how was it supposed to exact its punishment? Smacking him with its heavy cover?
The attack came without warning. The invisible, almost unnoticeable bond he shared with the Golden Cat suddenly grew hot!
"Ahhh!"
The older Larkinson immediately bent over as a sensation akin to a migraine afflicted his head! He massaged his palm as the suddenness of his headache took him by surprise!
The headache was just the prelude. As a former mech pilot who fought in several wars, his mental fortitude was resilient enough to shrug off the pain!
Yet that was not the extent of the punishment that Ves announced!
While Caratan steeled his mind in order to resist the pain, his entire mind and body began to exude a discordant sensation!
Though weak and imperceptible to most people, those who were connected to the Golden Cat began to sense something weird from Caratan.
Like a fly in a soup or a stain on a shirt, Caratan no longer looked like he belonged.
Surrounded by Larkinsons and Bright Warriors, his single presence broke the uniform pattern!
The surrounding Larkinsons instinctively expressed disgust or dislike at his presence. He was like an annoying uncle spoiling their cozy family gathering!
"What have you done?" Caratan asked, his perplexity becoming more evident as the assembly members sitting besides him started to scoot away!
Ves smirked and crossed his arms. "You are a pariah upon the clan. Rather than allow you to hide behind your mask, the Larkinson Mandate has marked you out and exposed the ugliness inside you to the rest of our clan!"
"What?! That's absurd!" The dissident protested! "I am a Larkinson! I am a veteran! I fought and bled for the family! I have never disgraced our Larkinson name!"
"That may be true, but the fact that you intend to leave the clan for the family signifies that you are no longer welcome in our midst! You can join your like-minded relatives in the family all you want, but don't linger in our clan and try to sabotage us from the inside! This assembly represents the Larkinsons who are part of the clan. Someone like you who openly stands against everything the clan is trying to achieve has no place in this theater!"
"What witchery is this!? You've become stranger and stranger, Ves! What more will you do to turn the clan into your private property?!"
Caratan's flailing words might have sounded reasonable to a normal audience.
It was too bad the assembly members weren't receptive to his arguments! The Larkinson glow substantially attuned them to Ves and the Golden Cat. Any complaints from someone who came across as a pariah of the clan sounded like ineffectual whining!
"Clansmen," Ves ignored Caratan and addressed the assembly members. "There is an intruder in your midst. What will you do against this unwelcome visitor. Will you allow him to poison our discussion?"
"No!"
"NO!"
"Go away!"
Ves smirked wider and swept his hand towards Caratan. "Then cast him out!"
A brief silence ensued before the Larkinson sitting next to Caratan stood up and grabbed the other man's robe.
"What are you doing?! Unhand me!"
"Get out, you old man!"
More Larkinsons around Caratan quickly joined the commotion. Hands from all sides grabbed onto Caratan and slowly pushed, pulled and cajoled the Larkinson who didn't belong out of the seats!
"You're not welcome here anymore!"
While this ugly proceeding took place, Ves quietly passed some orders. A couple of Avatar guards quickly moved to Caratan just as a kick caused the old man to fall against the deck besides the edge of the theater!
The guards rudely picked up the former assembly member by the shoulders and dragged him out of sight.
"This is a travesty! I'm a Larkinson! I contributed more to our heritage than most of you! You won't get away with this, Ves!"
No one paid much attention to his fading shouts. Due to the Golden Cat's secret manipulation, the remaining Larkinsons continued to view the departing Larkinson in a bad light.
Now that this show was over, the Golden Cat subsided her efforts. The Larkinson Mandate flew back to Ves' palm.
"Just like my mechs, our clan is alive." He smiled. "I've shown you what that entails in case of a threat in our midst. Now, I'll demonstrate what can happen if we embrace outsiders who are actually dedicated to our clan! Joshua King! Please step forward!"
The young prodigal mech pilot strode from the crowd of bystanders in his Avatar dress uniform. Every assembly member turned their attention to him in curiosity!
Chapter 2017 Accolade
"Joshua King." Ves spoke as the young mech pilot approached his throne. "Born on Cloudy Curtain, graduated from Meirling Mech Academy with honors. Enlisted in the Avatars of Myth after graduation and fought alongside other Avatars in the Sand War. He has always been a valiant defender when he joined our ranks. However, it is his actions during the Battle of Kesseling VIII that is truly worthy of merit!"
He waved his arm, causing a prepared projection to come into life. Though many Larkinsons had already reviewed the footage or took part in the space battle, the montage running above everyone's heads highlighted the heroism of the mech pilot in question!
The Quint was the most impressive copy of the Bright Warrior, even if it wasn't immediately obvious.
Regardless, the masterwork mech was in its lancer mech configuration during the battle. Its magnificent charges and powerful impacts against the CRC mechs repeatedly stunned the audience.
As third-raters, the Larkinsons harbored a huge amount of respect towards second-class mechs! Their military heritage and intimate familiarity of mechs meant that every Larkinson was aware of the vast gulf between a third-class mech and a second-class mech!
Even though the Quint was a masterwork, even though its quality level bridged the gap, even though there were a lot of friendly mechs providing valuable cover, Joshua still faced overwhelming odds!
CRC mech after CRC mech slowly succumbed to the Quint. Though it was significantly easier for Joshua to take out his targets due to the Fist of the Faithful empowering the lancer mech configuration, the second-class mechs still possessed a lot of advantages!
"Through Joshua's valiant efforts, our forces in space achieved an overwhelming victory against the Coalition Reserve Corps, defeating the attempt to block our escape into space! The difference that he and many loyal mech pilots and support personnel have made in orbit far surpasses the contributions made by our relatives. Each of us owe our lives and freedom to Joshua and his comrades! Let us show our appreciation to his efforts!"
With a little nudge from the Golden Cat, several Larkinsons began to stand up and clap. Soon, the rest of the assembly members joined the standing ovation!
The honor bestowed upon Joshua slowed down his steps. He felt thankful for receiving so much appreciation. He felt nervous to be put under the loop.
When he initially joined the Avatars of Myth, all he wanted was to pilot Ves Larkinson's mechs.
That dream had come true. Piloting a masterwork mech like the Quint was an unsurpassable privilege that Joshua felt thankful for every day!
He knew the value of this mech and was very cognizant of the fact that piloting it was a privilege instead of a right!
As soon as Joshua proved himself unworthy to pilot this great machine, his superiors wouldn't hesitate to take it away!
For this reason, Joshua continued to invest himself in training while diligently following every order without reserve.
Piloting a Bright Warrior mech made it a lot easier for him to get in tune with the values of the Larkinson Clan! Spending time with Jannzi and other Larkinsons allowed him to get very familiar with how the Larkinsons distinguished themselves on other mech pilots.
He envied their strong family bonds. Each Larkinson treated each other with a greater intimacy they showed towards their friends and colleagues.
While this didn't sound so unusual, Joshua recognized that there was something more than shared blood tying them all together!
As a Brighter who came from an ordinary family from Cloudy Curtain, Joshua always felt a bit left out in their presence. There was nothing particularly wrong about this as the Larkinsons never set out to exclude their fellow colleagues. It was just frustrating to be left outside their exclusive club.
As Joshua stopped a few steps before the raised platform bearing the thrones, he quietly hoped that might this day. His back was straight and his uniform was impeccably clean. A handful of badges and awards exclusive to the Avatars of Myth adorned his chest.
Though he was currently the focus of the entire Larkinson Clan, Joshua no longer looked awkward after he reined in his nervousness.
As the impressive footage had showed, there was no reason for him to feel ashamed. Though he was still younger than every assembly member, he had already faced the sandmen and Fridaymen in battle! Compared to these formidable threats, facing the Larkinsons who exuded the same vibe as his Quint!
"Joshua King." Ves spoke in an officious tone. "Please kneel."
The mech pilot knelt in an instance. He adopted the stance of a soldier lowering himself before a king with only a single knee resting on the metal deck of the mech hangar. The entire setting was reminiscent of a knighting ceremony, especially since Ves and Gloriana resembled monarchs with how they sat on their thrones!
Ves rose from his seat and held the Larkinson Mandate prominently in his hand.
Every Larkinson expected him to enact a knighting ceremony of some sorts and add Joshua to the clan.
Though that was his intention, Ves had something different in mind. Doing everything by himself would only legitimize the accusation that he was turning into a tyrant!
Though Ves had already crossed a lot of lines, that made it all the more important to contrast it by involving another Larkinson!
"Who vouches for Joshua King!?
A silence stretched until one female voice shouted out from the crowd.
"I do, patriarch!"
Ves immediately turned towards the speaker and smiled.
"Jannzi Larkinson! Please step forward!"
Everyone reacted with surprise as one of the Larkinson Clan's honorable expert candidates strode out of the same crowd of bystanders.
Though also young, Jannzi was a much more important member of the clan than even the assembly members! The Larkinsons always revered their expert pilots. Since Jannzi possessed the chance to become an expert pilot, no one treated her like a regular Larkinson!
Of course, she wasn't there yet. Despite her relatively high status, the clan didn't hand over any responsibilities to her. She wasn't a member of the Larkinson Assembly or Executive Council. She would only be eligible to become a member of the Larkinson Court after she completed her ascension.
Therefore, no one expected that Ves would call her forward at this instance. Ves himself recognized that it was rather inappropriate to call upon someone who should be investing all of her energy in reaching apotheosis!
He didn't care, though. He already broke plenty of taboos. What was the big deal about breaking another one?
For her part, Jannzi didn't show any dissatisfaction towards Ves' attempt to drag her in a political play. In fact, she smiled as she stood besides the kneeling mech pilot!
Days before, when Ves read the up-to-date record on Joshua, he noticed that the young kid started dating Jannzi of all people.
Ves immediately realized the value of this relationship! As long as most people weren't aware of the intimacy between the two mech pilots, he could readily abuse it for his own ends!
Though he was tempted to grin, he carefully schooled his expression and adopted a formal demeanor.
"Janzi Larkinson. As a fellow mech pilot and Avatar, you have shown your willingness to vouch for Joshua's entry into our clan. Tell me why you are willing to stand up for this mech pilot."
Jannzi stoically blinked before issuing her response.
"Mr. King is an excellent soldier and Avatar. He respects his superiors. He supports his colleagues. More importantly, he has dedicated his life to the clan. Our patriarch is right. Joshua is just as loyal and committed to our cause as our fellow relatives. I can trust him with my life, and that is enough."
Even though she didn't speak very much, her words still held a lot of weight. In a clan without any current expert pilots, the few expert candidates were the next best thing! It was not easy to challenge Jannzi's endorsement.
That said, Larkinsons were still capable of opposing expert pilots when it truly mattered. Ves had shown no hesitation in resisting Ghanso Larkinsons and plenty of other relatives stood by their principles even if the greatest members of the family disagreed!
However, those who spoke out against an expert pilot had to make a very deliberate choice. If they challenged an honored family member for a trivial reason, then they would definitely attract a lot of condemnation!
Ves took advantage of this custom by calling upon Jannzi to vouch for Joshua. He could have called up Commander Melkor instead. In fact, that would have been the most appropriate Larkinson to call upon considering that the Avatar Commander was Joshua's superior.
His endorsement wouldn't be as strong, though. Despite his higher rank, Melkor was still an ordinary member of the younger generation to the assembly members. It was a lot easier for them to ask their questions and voice their doubts to a regular Larkinson!
Ves made the right choice. Silence ensued after the mech pilot of the Shield of Samar spoke on behalf of Joshua. None of the assembly members were confident enough that they could challenge Jannzi's glowing praise.
From a political standpoint, it was unwise to show opposition to her. An expert candidate was a possible future expert pilot. What if she developed a grudge against the naysayer? What if she exerted her influence as an expert pilot to suppress the assembly member?
The risks were considerable. Certainly, the future direction of the Larkinson Clan and the Larkinson name were at stake. Yet the sheer momentum which Ves had shown since he spoke up seemed irresistible! To the assembly members, it was a lot easier to just go with the flow instead of acting as a contrarian!
Caratan Larkinson already showed what happened to those who tried to obstruct the proceedings! Though Caratan was supposedly a dissident who didn't belong in the assembly anymore, a lot of Larkinsons feared that they would receive the same treatment!
The combination of Joshua's stellar track record and the inviolable endorsement of an expert candidate was too much. There was no meaningful opposition to what was about to occur.
Just as planned.
Ves inwardly grinned as he rose from his throne and stretched out his hand yet again. The Larkinson Mandate floated from his grasp and soared gently over to the standing and kneeling mech pilots.
Eventually, the book landed in Jannzi's hands. The woman looked curiously at the book and its eye-catching medallion on its front. This close, she could feel the life it held.
"Please induct Mr. King into our clan." Ves instructed.
"I do not know the words."
"The phrasing isn't as important as the intent. Speak from your heart. The Larkinson Mandate will do the rest."
Though Jannzi was a bit perplexed, she adjusted her mood and turned towards Joshua.
Just like Ves, Jannzi wanted Joshua to become a member of the Larkinson Clan!
She took some inspiration from the rituals she went through when she joined the Apocalypse Heralds.
"Please place your hand on the book."
She lowered the book until the kneeling Joshua was able to obey her command.
"Please answer my questions."
The entire assembly theater grew silent. The air grew heavy as an unprecedented event took place!
To enhance the moment, the Golden Cat even modulated her glow. Every Larkinson felt more connected to each other than ever before!
"Will you shed your former loyalties and allegiances and forget your prior obligations?" Jannzi asked the kneeling mech pilot.
"I do."
"Will you take up the Larkinson name and honor its heritage and honor?"
"I do."
"Will you fight on behalf of the clan and swear to uphold its existence no matter the circumstances?"
"I do."
"Will you treat your fellow Larkinsons as kin and do your utmost to protect and nurture your fellow clan members?"
"I do!"
Jannzi took a deep breath. "Then rise, Joshua Larkinson!"
The latest member of the Larkinson Clan rose to his feet with incredible dignity! Everyone widened their eyes as their perception of Joshua had inexplicably shifted!
The glow that was responsible for their shared sense of belonging somehow included Joshua! The moment he rose to his feet, the Larkinson Mandate seemed to spike!
Only Ves witnessed the moment where the Golden Cat spontaneously formed a new bond with Joshua! His extraordinary mood which aligned so heavily with the Larkinsons made it very easy for the Golden Cat to establish this bond!
This was the final proof that Joshua had truly become a Larkinson!
Chapter 2018 Casting Votes
The entry of Joshua into the ranks of the Larkinsons marked a seminal moment in the history of the Larkinson Clan.
For the first time in the existence of the entire Larkinson line, the clan members recognized an outsider as a fully-fledged Larkinson without any caveats!
Even though Joshua was already dating Jannzi and could have become a Larkinson through marriage, Ves had forestalled this slow and gradual process and turned him into a Larkinson right away!
Joshua was very happy about his elevation. For the first time in his life, he truly felt he belonged to the family and clan he admired from afar and up close! The last point of separation between him and the Larkinsons were no longer in place.
From now on, he would no longer go by Joshua King.
From now on, he was Joshua Larkinson, an upstanding member of the Larkinson Clan!
Aside from him, Jannzi cheered for him as well. Even if she wasn't dating, she still would have endorsed his entry into the clan. He had already shown many of the exemplary traits that matched the Larkinson ideals.
Of course, the biggest winner of all was Ves. He successfully manipulated the circumstances in his favor and utterly dominated the assembly session. Though his conduct was tyrannical, few assembly members spoke up against his intervention. Even if they still harbored misgivings with turning people like Joshua into genuine Larkinsons on the same level as them, they kept their words to themselves!
The atmosphere after Joshua's entry into the clan was so heavily slanted in favor of the current proceedings that it seemed that no one could stave off the inevitable!
Ves rode the momentum he created after enacting his plans to maximum effect. He knew that adopting Joshua alone was far from sufficient! Thousands more aspiring soldiers and workers were waiting to become a Larkinson, and Ves wanted to act quickly in order to secure their permanent loyalty!
There were several reasons why he wanted to move quickly.
First, the Larkinson Mandate and the Golden Cat already exposed the ability to detect traitors and threats to the clan. Therefore, the risks involved with adding so many outsiders was largely moot. At least the worst outcomes were off the table!
Second, as the principal supporter of full integration during the assembly meeting, Ves stood to gain an unimaginable amount of support and appreciation from all of those new Larkinsons! His clout and influence within the clan would surely remain strong and enduring considering that he had allowed so many people to become Larkinsons!
Third, Ves wanted to move their hearts proactively in order to secure their commitment and reduce the risks of defection or betrayal.
Though the Battle of Kesseling VIII had made a lot of his subordinates proud, the awful losses and the considerable disruption to their lives were still sources of discontent.
Over time, the various setbacks and tragedies might erode the pillars of his organizations!
Turning them into Larkinsons before reaching the Sentinel Kingdom was a crucial objective to Ves! The people who joined his organizations and gradually became indoctrinated by them were very valuable resources. It took years to turn them into his loyal subjects!
If the fleet reached the Sentinel Kingdom only for a quarter or a third of his workforce to submit their resignations, Ves and the clan would be severely hampered!
It wasn't easy at all to recruit a lot of new people. Their shaky loyalties and commitments could be the doom of his endeavors if they all decided to abandon their duties and run when they encountered a crisis!
Caratan Larkinson and his band of like-minded clansmen weren't the only people in the fleet who expressed a desire to leave.
While Ves disdained the people who had already taken an oath and joined the clan only to change their mind later on, he was not as harsh to those who were merely employees.
The level of commitment expected from the two were completely different! This was why he frequently worried about valuable talents such as Casella and Imon Ingvar quitting their jobs. There was no way that Ves could retain those who resigned in the proper fashion.
"My fellow Larkinsons." He spoke up again. "Let us wrap this assembly meeting, shall we? Joshua is but the first to join our clan! Speaker, please hold the vote."
Ovrin Larkinson threw a sharp look at Ves. The impatience shown by the clan patriarch was a strong hint that he wanted the votes to be cast quickly without any further room for debate!
Though the speaker felt disturbed by this conduct, he nonetheless proceeded as instructed because the outcome already seemed set in stone.
"The critical question in consideration is to decide whether to open up the opportunity to integrate outside people into our Larkinson Clan without any explicit tiers or classes.
The speaker briefly reiterated the main points of the proposal. Outsiders were allowed to join the clan, but it wasn't as simple as knocking on its doors and filling in a form.
Just like Joshua, they had to possess existing relations with the Larkinson Clan. Whether they were employed by the LMC or served in one of the mech forces, the applicants shouldn't consist of random people from the streets!
Secondly, the applicants wouldn't be able to gain entry into the clan without securing the endorsement of at least one upstanding member of the clan.
While Ves already trusted the Golden Cat to keep an eye out for any traitors and agitators, it was best to leave the matter of control to the Larkinsons themselves.
As a result, the proposal made the person who recommended or endorsed the applicant responsible for the deeds and misdeeds of the latter.
For example, if Joshua went crazy one day and killed a bunch of Larkinsons, Jannzi would bear the guilt of harming the clan by incautiously inviting a malignant element into the clan!
This was a common condition in many organizations. It was a simple but effective method to ensure the applicants were as well-behaved as possible as their referrers accepted nothing less!
The final matter that Ovrin explained was the conditions of leaving the clan.
"The rules for Larkinsons born or married into the clan remain unchanged." The speaker said. "Any existing Larkinson can apply to leave the clan without too much fuss. This is a tradition that has been set by the original Larkinson Family and has ensured its stability and cohesion for centuries."
He threw a glance to the joyful Joshua who had since returned to the crowd on the side. "The rules are different to those who have applied to join our clan. Once they swear the oath, their decision is permanent and irrevocable. Unlike the Larkinsons who had no choice which clan or family they belong to, those who proactively seek to become a member of our clan must abide by their decisions! We will NOT allow anyone who voluntarily joins our clan to reconsider their choice and leave!"
This was a small concession on the part of those who were worried the outsiders would be less-than-committed to their new clan. Treachery was a rather sensitive subject to Ves and the other Larkinsons and they did not wish to accept reluctant applicants!
Of course, every rule possessed exceptions. In extraordinary circumstances, it was still possible for Joshua to leave the clan. If he transgressed or pushed very hard to leave, Ves or the Larkinson Court could review his case. Exile was a common punishment in many family organizations, and it was something that the Larkinson Family frequently employed as well in the past.
Once Speaker Ovrin clarified the most important details, he proceeded with the vote.
"Those in favor of this proposal, please say aye!"
Over forty assembly members instantly rose to their feet! Barring a couple of odd exceptions, the Larkinsons all raised their hands and voiced their support!
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
"Aye!"
"Those who are against this proposal, please say nay!"
No one moved. No one talked. An awkward silence stretched as none of the people who disapproved dared to stick their heads out of the crowd!
Though Ves already identified and memorized the identities of the assembly members who refused to voice their support, he didn't do anything to break the illusion of neutrality.
He had already secured his goal and scored a very important policy victory. There was no need for him to be petty and go after the obstructionists.
Ovrin paused a little longer than he had to in the hopes that someone raised a principled objection, but alas, Ves had built up so much momentum that none of the original opponents of this proposal thought it was wise to stand in his way!
"Forty-one votes in favor, eight abstentions, and no votes cast in opposition. The ayes have it. The Larkinson Assembly formally adopts this proposal! From this day onwards, the Larkinson Clan will open its gates to any outsiders who aspire to become a Larkinson!" Speaker Ovrin announced!
A large round of applause emerged from a surprising direction!
While the assembly members were still trying to fathom the profound consequences of the passing of the proposal, the crew and soldiers of the Redfeather were not so burdened. Their jubilation towards this change inspired all of their hopes to follow in Joshua's footsteps!
Everyone who wasn't already a Larkinson eagerly longed to place their palms on the Larkinson Mandate and take the oath!
After the commotion subsided a bit, Speaker Ovrin formally ended the assembly session. The members slowly started to exit the assembly theater and spoke in low tones with each other as they started to board their rides back to their assigned ships.
Ves and Gloriana rose from their seats and collected their cats before heading to their own shuttle.
Along the way, Ves held Gloriana's hand and silently communicated with her through their implants.
"I didn't do it for you." He conveyed.
Gloriana's lips curled up into a sly smile. "Oh? Then should I instruct the guards to remain in our stateroom later tonight and guard us against any possible threats?"
"Umm.. you don't have to.. we're pretty safe, you know. In fact, those guards are completely redundant considering that Lucky and Clixie already serve as excellent protectors. Why not reassign those valuable guards elsewhere? I think the Scarlet's Rose engineering bay requires more protection considering its vital importance to the running of the fleet."
"Hihihi! Sure, Ves. You just want to reinforce a critical compartment. Your suggestion doesn't have anything to do with expending your excess energy, does it? Should I be prepared for an exhausting night?"
Fortunately, Gloriana didn't prolong his torment any further. She squeezed his hand. "I'm very proud of you, Ves. You did what was necessary despite your desire to be soft to your relatives. While I understand your sentiment towards your family, you are their leader now. You can't afford to be soft and let your clan spin out of control."
"I'm… not sure I'm okay with what I've done." He sighed. "One thing is for sure. At least some part of me has grown hard!"
"Oh, Ves! Stop being so silly, hihi!"
The two boarded their shuttle. The vehicle quickly departed the Redfeather and flew back to the Scarlet Rose.
As Ves and Gloriana continued to communicate with each other through their private channel, Gavin coughed and interrupted their play.
"What is it, Benny?"
"First of all, I'd like to thank you for working so hard to push through the proposal. On behalf of all of the people in the fleet, I thank you. Each of us hope to be accepted into the clan very soon."
Ves smirked. "You sure you think you can become a Larkinson?"
Gavin blinked. "I've been serving as your assistant for years! I even have a referrer ready to back me up! Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson has already agreed to vouch for me when I submit my application!"
"Ah, but are you loyal enough? Bennies like you aren't exactly known for that, and you have already transgressed once. Will my Larkinson Mandate even accept your oath?"
"Boss! That's not fair!"
Chapter 2019 Discharging Energy
A momentous change took place. The Larkinson Clan only existed for a couple of months, but already it was in the process of morphing into an entirely different beast!
The opening of the clan was such a radical change that the members of the Larkinson Family reacted with shock and outrage when they heard about it! What gave the clan the right to redefine the very meaning of their name?!
Though the members of the clan couldn't fully explain why their assembly passed this proposal in the first place, what was done was done. Due to the extraordinary incidents that took place during the assembly session, every clansman instinctively felt that this was the right course of action!
One thing was for sure. The clan had not prepared any procedures to process the applications. The Executive Council went into overdrive in order to erect an administrative unit to review the applications and manage the adoption process in the event of approval. Thousands had already submitted their applications and the backlog only grew every day!
A practical problem related to the adoption ritual was the necessity of the ancestral heirloom. When Joshua swore his oaths, Ves lent the Larkinson Mandate to Jannzi Larkinson in order to provide the Golden Cat an opportunity to take a close look at the mech pilot.
The close proximity also enabled the formation of a new spiritual bond. While Joshua was already highly attuned to the values of the Larkinson Clan, other applicants may not be so highly attuned!
If the alignment between the candidate and the Golden Cat wasn't good enough, the formation of a spiritual connection might fail!
That would be a disaster for the applicant. By now, every clan member recognized each other by the faint sensation akin to a glow within each other. A tiny part of the Golden Cat existed within each of them due to their bonds.
While her presence didn't provide them with any meaningful spiritual strength, it was sufficient to allow the clansmen to sense each other when they were close.
A lot of Larkinsons questioned what was going on. None of them missed the similarity between this phenomenon and the glows of the Bright Warrior!
Despite the rumors and speculation, Ves never elaborated on it aside from describing it as the 'unique strength of the Larkinson Clan'.
Over time, the clansmen slowly stopped asking questions and took the phenomenon for granted. Though its origin was shrouded in mystery, the Larkinsons all began to appreciate the positive vibes they sensed from each other!
That said, to form this bond in a new person, the Golden Cat had to exert some effort, and that represented a problem.
"I can't pass on the Larkinson Mandate willy-nilly." He muttered during the shuttle ride back to the Scarlet Rose. "It's too vital to leave my sight. If someone manages to steal or destroy the book, our clan will surely take a hit!"
He also had to account for the future. Decades or centuries from now, the Larkinson Clan might be a hundred or a thousand times larger! With millions of clansmen spread across several fleets and star systems, it was impossible to ferry the Larkinson Mandate around to meet every recruitment need!
After a bit of thought, Ves suddenly thought up a good idea.
"The Larkinson Mandate is the heart of the Larkinson Clan, but it is not the only object that holds Goldie's presence!"
Ves instantly recalled the Bright Warriors in the Redfeather's mech hangar! Their glows were identical to that of the Larkinson Mandate!
Nyaa?
Goldie curiously looked up at Ves.
"Can you do the same thing you did with Joshua to others through the Bright Warriors?"
Nyaa…
Though Goldie sounded a bit reluctant, she expressed at least some confidence at his suggestion, and that was sufficient.
Even though her presence in the Bright Warrior mechs was a bit weaker because they only contained a projection of her existence of some sorts, it at least enabled their use as a surrogate for the ancestral relic!
Therefore, when Gavin asked how they should solve the relic problem, Ves idly waved his hand.
"The Larkinson Mandate will remain within my reach." He declared. "The Larkinson Clan can utilize the Bright Warriors to administer the oath. There are a lot more of them than the book, and best of all they can be passed to numerous different star systems and still retain their effects!"
Certainly, there was probably a range limitation on the effectiveness of their glows, but Ves believed that only applied to distances spanning star clusters!
With all of the newcomers about to join the clan, the Golden Cat would probably experience an explosive growth in strength, allowing Ves to worry even less about the range problem!
Gavin reacted with skepticism. "Are you sure that a mech is able to do what your book managed to do? It's completely unprecedented!"
"Just try it out and see what happens. If it works, then we'll spread some Bright Warriors around so that every major ship carries a copy."
"What if your guess is wrong, boss?"
"Then get back to me and I'll figure out another solution."
Ves recalled the time he crafted the Banner of Vulcan in order to inspire the dwarves of Desala X.
Even though he developed his glows to differentiate his products, Ves wasn't limited to applying them to mechs! The successful empowerment of the Pride of Dusk, the Larkinson Mandate and the Banner of Vulcan all proved that this particular spiritual application could be used on all sorts of objects!
Ves made a mental note to explore this avenue of creation further. He already labelled it as spiritual totem creation. Compared to other spiritual engineering techniques, Ves thought it was a lot more suitable to him! From the beginning, he always attempted to blend spirituality with the material realm. This was something that was highly compatible with his inclinations.
The reason why he thought of this technique was the possible demand for an alternative for his mechs.
Relying on the Bright Warrior mechs and other future Larkinson mechs was the most ideal outcome. Wherever the Larkinson Clan went, their mechs were quick to follow. Using these imposing machines to facilitate the adoption process was a lot more impactful because everyone would be impressed if they came close to one of his machines!
Still, if his Bright Warriors weren't suitable, then Ves supposed he might build smaller totems to serve as smaller and more portable stand-ins. Not every site could fit an enormous mech.
Ves took inspiration from the mini-altars that Gloriana used to make her daily prayers. The size of the object wasn't as important as the meaning invested in their creation.
At his current level of craftsmanship, creating these totems was as easy as pie. Ves looked down at the Larkinson Mandate resting on his lap. The large, eye-catching medallion adorning the front cover of the book should probably be sufficient to serve as a totem. The fierce cat head that served as the emblem of the Larkinson Clan practically personified the Golden Cat!
"Yet another task to add to my long to-do list."
He hadn't even started his research on imaginary mechs and already intended to investigate another avenue of spiritual engineering!
Even with his implant, Ves had way too little time to explore all of his interests. More and more, Ves began to envy the Seniors and Masters who raised up dedicated students and apprentices.
All Ves could rely on to supplement his design philosophy was raising Maikel and Zanthar Larkinsons into his image.
He still wasn't sure whether that was a good idea.
A part of Ves wanted the two Larkinson seeds to develop their own original design philosophies. This was the approach he applied to Ketis.
However, a larger part of him wanted to raise the two boys as his research assistants! This entailed exposing his core trade secrets to someone other than Gloriana though, and Ves was far too paranoid to pull the trigger on this decision!
"I have plenty of time to make this choice." He muttered. "It will take at least six to seven years before the two kids mature into actual mech designers."
The shuttle eventually reached the Scarlet Rose. After answering Gavin's inquiries and providing various suggestions, Ves embraced his girlfriend and walked back to their stateroom.
That night, the Scarlet Rose's engineering bay hosted additional guards. Ves enjoyed a very good night, so much so that he donned a silly smile as he woke up the next morning!
"Meow."
"Miaow."
Lucky and Clixie lazily greeted Ves as he opened his eyes.
"Good morning, lovelies."
With his girlfriend resting on his shoulder, he felt inordinately pleased with himself! It was times like these when he felt like he had become a true man!
Soon enough, Gloriana stirred from his movement. She yawned and cracked open her eyes.
"Had a good night?"
"Do you even need to ask?"
"Hihi.. you were as eager as ever back then. If I didn't tell you that it was time to sleep, I'm afraid you would have stayed awake all night!"
"What can I say? My energy cells were brimming with energy! You know, they wouldn't be overloaded all the time if I can discharge their energy more frequently."
Gloriana giggled and rubbed his chest with her hand. "Keep dreaming. Work is more important. I would much prefer it if you discharge your energy in mech design! You can get your reward after you have done a good job, not before."
He frowned at this answer. Why did it seem like he was being treated like a little kid who had to do his homework before receiving his sweets?
They woke up and returned to work. Even though the Larkinson Clan was undergoing a lot of upheaval, Ves and Gloriana didn't immediately notice anything different due to their long bouts of isolation in their design labs.
Ves did try to keep up with the ongoing expansion process. Every morning, Gavin briefed him on the latest developments.
"One of the biggest issues that have emerged is the naming of the new clan members." Gavin reported. "During the historical assembly meeting, Miss Jannzi Larkinson unilaterally decided to replace Joshua's surname."
"Is there a problem with that?" Ves asked.
"Do you know how many Joshuas we have in the fleet? Over a dozen! If all of them suddenly get to call themselves Joshua Larkinson, we'll have to resort to serial numbers or nicknames to distinguish them from each other!"
"That.. is indeed a problem." Ves murmured. "What does the Executive Council have in mind?"
"They would like to employ compound names to distinguish the new clan members from each other. There are already existing cases in your family. Raymond and Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson are the most prominent examples."
Ves fell into thought.
While Gavin was right, Ves feared that the use of compound names would hinder the integration of the new Larkinsons.
"Is everyone okay with this option?"
"In most cases, it's not a problem." Gavin answered. "In fact, a lot of applicants prefer to carry their old names. While it doesn't fully fall in line with the promise to forget their old allegiances, they still want to remember their origins."
"What about the ones who just want to carry the pure Larkinson name?"
"For now, the Executive Council wants to reserve that for trueblood clansmen and exceptional cases."
Ves frowned. "That sounds like a sneaky way to implement a class or tier system within the clan."
"Unless you address the assembly or council in person, this policy will become the new standard. There is too much support for this proposal."
"What do you think, Benny?"
"It's not a big deal." He shrugged. "Regardless of how they are called, a Larkinson is still a Larkinson. The ones with compound names still enjoy the same opportunities and privileges as trueblood Larkinsons. As long as this is ensured, there won't be any objection from the newcomers."
"I see. Well, if there aren't any problems, then I suppose I'll let it be. The critics from the Larkinson Family will probably be a little placated by this decision as well."
Ves had already gotten his way in the issue he cared about the most. Right now, it was vital for him to draw back his influence and let the regular institutions of the clan excercize their powers.
2020 The Clan of the Golden Cat
Weeks passed by. Every day, hundreds of applicants acquired a compound name. Each of them found a Larkinson to endorse their entry in the Larkinson Clan. After passing the review and successfully swearing the oath while touching the foot of a Bright Warrior mech, they became a new addition to the clan roster!
Ves didn't have to call up the list from his terminal to keep track of the clan's explosive growth. His bond with the Golden Cat allowed him to inspect the spiritual network as it changed before his spiritual senses!
A steady amount of new connections expanded the size and scope of the Larkinson Network as he began to call it. More and more, the Golden Cat became occupied with forming all of the new bonds.
He worried that the ancestral spirit would quickly exhaust herself, but his fears turned out to be unfounded.
Though Goldie always had to expend a bit of energy to form a bond, she received an increasing amount of spiritual feedback as the network grew larger! She was able to continuously invest her new-gained spiritual energy into forming more bonds, which soon paid back her initial investment in the form of spiritual feedback!
Of course, this cycle wasn't completely profitable. She slowly had to dip into more and more of her reserves, especially when the new applicant wasn't as aligned to the Larkinson Clan as the most dedicated newcomers such as Joshua Larkinson!
The addition of so many new people not only increased Goldie's strength, but also affected her character!
Every adopted Larkinson brought something different to the table. Their diverse origins directly exposed the Golden Cat to different values, principles and perspectives on life.
Ves noted that Goldie had become a little more introspective in the days to come. He checked on her every day in order to monitor her evolution. If she ever developed into a direction that caused her to shed her Larkinson identity, then he would immediately put a stop to the adoption rituals!
Fortunately, the Golden Cat managed to endure remarkably well. With Qilanxo's guidance, she found a way to accept the new influences without allowing them to overpower her core Larkinson traits.
As an experienced sacred god who enjoyed the worship of humans for centuries, Qilanxo was a veritable authority when it came to managing spiritual feedback!
Fortunately for Ves, his suggestion to utilize the Bright Warriors as the totems for the adoption ritual worked out for the clan. As long as the new applicants touched the surface of one of the mechs, the Golden Cat gained enough proximity to form her connections!
In fact, this newly-discovered purpose of his Bright Warriors also led to an unanticipated side effect.
The True Believers started to worship the Bright Warriors! They treated the mechs just like their altars and started to prostrate and pray to the mechs!
To many Brighters, this newly-developed custom from their more religious-minded clansmen was highly disturbing!
Ves received a hail of complaints from his trueblood relatives. He sympathised with their views, but it wasn't as if he could order the True Believers to stop their current practice!
"What do you think those fanatics will do if I ban the worship of our mechs?" He responded to Gavin. "They'll just worship the mechs in secret or come up with something worse! The former Ylvainans aren't harming anyone by kneeling in front of the mechs in prayer. As long as they don't get in the way of the mech technicians servicing the machines, just let them do whatever makes them happy."
"Your trueblood relatives won't like that, boss. Of all of the new groups joining the clan, the Ylvainan-born members are the most problematic of the lot! This strange ritual is just one of the sources of tension between them and the rest of the clan."
"If our clan can't even handle this problem, then how is it supposed to navigate a diverse and varied galaxy?" Ves shook his head. "If you ask me, then I prefer to keep my clan secular, but we can't always get what we want. People are going to believe in something regardless of what we want. Right now, the followers of the Living Prophet have become an inseparable part of our fleet. Accommodating their needs to an extent is not that bad as long as we make sure they are reciprocating towards us. There's no point in joining our clan if they aren't willing to adopt our ways!"
With the Golden Cat watching over them, Ves wasn't too worried about this problem. The True Believers were already fanatical towards him in his guise as the Bright Martyr to begin with, and James was astute enough to instruct his followers to integrate smoothly into the clan.
In fact.. His recent instructions to switch their worship seemed oddly prescient!
"Goddamn charlatan." Ves cursed under his breath.
There was another reason why he did not bother to rein in the True Believers. When Ves observed their actions, he noticed that the Golden Cat actually benefited from their practice!
Worship didn't do anything to a mech designer such as Ves, but it was different to a spiritual entity like the Golden Cat!
While Ves wasn't entirely sure why the Golden Cat preferred active worship, he didn't want to interrupt a beneficial process.
What Ves worried the most about the True Believers was that their loyalties would remain with the Living Prophet instead of the Larkinson Clan. Turning their worship to him and the Golden Cat was a lot more reassuring, especially if it persisted for decades! By then, no one would remember their old practice of worshipping the Living Prophet!
Of course, Ves wasn't naive enough to believe that James would fade into obscurity. The clone had seemingly struck a partnership with Calabast. The successful enactment of their proposal was probably just the first of many successes!
A lot of other changes ensued during the mass adoption events. The Larkinson Assembly passed a range of proposals to meet the emerging needs of a clan that was ballooning in size!
"The Executive Council wants a new uniform." Gavin passed on during another daily briefing. "There are so many new Larkinsons that it's more important than ever to foster greater cohesion. If everyone wears the same outfits, it becomes a lot easier to create a sense of unity."
The Larkinson Family never adopted a uniform. It never needed it, but the needs of the clan were very different. Ves immediately recognized the benefits of this proposal.
"What are they suggesting?"
"For ordinary clan functions, they want to adopt a clean and simple look that is similar to the uniforms of the Mech Corps. Those uniforms are something that most trueblood Larkinsons are familiar with. They think it would be nice to pay homage to their heritage as loyal defenders of the Bright Republic."
Ves frowned. His opinion towards his former home state wasn't very good these days! It disappointed him that his fellow Larkinsons still clung to their sentiment to a state that was as good as doomed in the hands of the Friday Coalition!
"Have they come up with a design?"
"Here." Gavin projected a couple of outfits worn by generic human models. "The standard color scheme is red-and-white. The lines are inspired by the designs of some of the uniforms of the mech regiments the Larkinsons used to serve with. The uniform designers added a bit of their own touches as well. The extra stripes adds a bit of sophistication while the clan emblem placed in the back reinforces our common identity."
Ves inspected the design. His assistant wasn't kidding when he said the uniform looked clean! It lacked the flourishes he expected and its overall color distribution was very geometric.
However, it was exactly these kinds of uniforms that always withstood the test of time. Chasing after current trends or trying to implement anything too specific would only look gauche or outdated after a few generations.
Overall, Ves felt he could live with the uniform. "It looks fine. What about the other uniforms?"
"They are the modified uniforms for the Avatars, Sentinels and other organizations that fall under our umbrella. They retain the same layout, the clan emblem on the rear and the white accents. Instead, the principal color shifts according to the specific organization."
For example, the uniform of the Avatar of Myth adopted a bright yellow shade as its primary color while the Living Sentinels adopted a less ostentatious light grey shade.
Though the shift in principal colors resulted in different impressions, the common layouts made it clear that they all shared a common origin!
While the Avatars and Sentinels still wore the emblems of the Vitruvian Mech and Silver Caduceus on their chests, they all wore the emblem of the Golden Cat on their backs!
Ves liked this detail! His inner cat person rocked with glee when he imagined this emblem on every clan member's back!
Of course, the dog persons in his clan probably thought differently, but Ves didn't care.
Every organization generated their own variation of the standard Larkinson Clan uniform. So far, only the Black Cats veered from the standard by sticking to their muted black-and-grey color scheme. While Calabast's pet organization did adopt the new layout, even there they deviated a bit by darkening the emblem on the back!
Though Ves understood the intent behind this deviation, he felt a bit offended at the affront to the Golden Cat. It was as if Calabast was sending a message that her Black Cats operated according to her own whims!
Still, aside from this exception, the other uniforms looked fine to him. He knew that once everyone started wearing these uniforms, the Larkinsons would feel more united than ever!
To Ves, this was a good way to counteract some of the friction between the old guard and the new guard!
He waved aside the projections. "Please tell the Executive Council that I approve of their choices. Let's complete the transition to the new uniforms before we reach the Sentinel Kingdom. I want our Larkinson Clan presents the strongest unified front when we meet with the Larkinson Family."
"Got it. There is plenty of time to complete the transition. Is there anything else?"
"Yeah. Make sure to add the uniforms to my wardrobe as well."
"I'll prioritize it right away."
As the clan started synthesizing the new uniforms before issuing them to everyone, the expansion of the clan continued.
While the applicants on other ships made their oaths through the use of the Bright Warriors, the people on the Scarlet Rose were different.
Ves personally administered the oaths with the Larkinson Mandate. A lot of Kinners and Brighters joined the spiritual network, much to his delight. He was a lot more assured of their loyalties now that they came under the supervision of the Golden Cat!
Surprisingly, when it was time for Gavin to swear his loyalty, the Golden Cat instantly accepted his pledge and formed a connection!
Ves blinked as he withdrew the Larkinson Mandate. "I didn't expect that to work. Are you sure you're a qualified Benny?"
"Boss! I already told you! My name is Gavin, not Benny!" The latest Larkinson protested! "I know I made a mistake, but that was in the past! I'm better now! You can trust me now that I am family!"
"I'm not so sure about that."
Privately, Ves believed the Golden Cat was still fallible! Even she could overlook some issues! Trusting Gavin just because he successfully passed this test was not the end of the story!
As the Larkinson Clan soon reached 10,000 members, an increasing sense of optimism settled over the fleet!
Though plenty of integration issues popped up left and right, the overwhelming sense that the Larkinson Clan was on the rise made everything more manageable!
The ubiquity of the Larkinson Clan emblem on everyone's backs began to foster a new custom.
The Larkinson Clan gradually became known as the Clan of the Golden Cat.
Chapter 2021 Surge of Optimism
As the Larkinson Clan experienced massive changes, the fleet eventually crossed through abandoned and distressed space and reached the territory of the Sentinel Kingdom!
Everyone's nerves truly relaxed at that time. Though the Penitent Sisters already provided them with a huge amount of security, the CRC could always spring a huge surprise on them while the fleet was still within its reach!
Entering the Sentinel Kingdom definitively closed this door. Though the Sentinel Kingdom didn't exhibit a strong bias towards women, it existed firmly in the sphere of the Hegemony. If the CRC dared to invade so far into Hegemony-aligned space, its forces would never make it out alive!
During this time, Ves slowly put his mind off all of the changes in the clan in order to direct his attention towards his design projects.
Gloriana demanded his full commitment to the striker mech project and the Hexer mech project!
"You're such a worrywart, Ves." She crossed her arms and tapped her feet. "Just let the Executive Council and the Larkinson Assembly do their jobs. That's what they are for, right?"
"I'm the clan patriarch. It's my duty to keep abreast of the developments."
"If there are any issues the council and the assembly can't handle, they'll bring them to your attention. That hasn't happened lately, right?"
Ves reluctantly nodded. To be honest, the council and the assembly mostly presented their solutions to him as a courtesy.
"I suppose you're right. I don't need to spend all of my time worrying about every single detail. I'll try and invest my attention to our mech projects."
His mechs deserved all of the love and attention he could provide. As a mech designer, it was a sin to hold back when he could have put more effort in his designs!
It was fine for his mech designs to exhibit shortcomings due to his lack of skill and ability.
What his professionalism couldn't tolerate was a mech design that failed due a lack of effort or investment on his part! Such sloppiness was completely preventable as long as he did his due diligence!
Once he let go of some of the current issues, his productivity went back to normal. While their third-class striker mech project didn't exhibit any significant changes, his increased energy made a substantial difference in the development of their Hexer mech!
Although it was just supposed to be a landbound knight mech at its base, the added functionality that Ves insisted upon produced a lot of technical challenges.
The mech not only had to accommodate a lot of energy cells, but also had to fit in an entire suite of energy transfer systems!
Ves listed the main requirements. "We need a system to regulate the energy cells. We need a system to safely and quickly transfer energy from our knight mech to another mech. We need a system to siphon energy from fallen friendly and enemy mechs. Oh, we also need a system to keep it all together and prevent energy from spilling into places where they aren't supposed to go! Have I missed anything?"
"Don't forget about the heat management systems." Gloriana reminded him. "All of those energy transfers will encounter various amounts of electrical resistance. Though the use of superconductors mitigate a lot of possible heat generation, not every process can be achieved with them. Aside from the limited total energy capacity, the heat management system will likely be the second weakness of our design!"
His girlfriend was right. Their knight mech had to devote too much of its capacity to the energy transfer systems. Even if second-class mechs could fit in a lot more modules, they didn't have the budget or spare capacity to do more than stuff a bunch of heat sinks inside their mech.
This was a distinctly limited solution that put a finite limit on the operation time of their mech.
In theory, their Hexer knight mech could remain online indefinitely on the battlefield as long as it kept siphoning energy from various sources.
In reality, other limitations would probably force the mech to leave the battle. Pilot exhaustion, heat build-up, battle damage and other stresses all made sure the mech wouldn't be able to last more than a day on the frontlines!
"That's fine." Ves largely dismissed her concerns. "The point of my mech is to support the female Hexer mechs in their assaults or risky maneuvers by providing its shield, bringing along its glow and putting its energy reserves at their disposal. It's not necessary for the limitations of our mech to surpass the limitations of the Hexer mechs."
In the end, their product was a knight mech with a support function. Its offensive ability was completely garbage, and neither Ves nor Gloriana did anything to address this shortcoming.
For one, Gloriana and the Hexers were fixated on the idea that male mechs had to possess as little teeth as possible!
While this rule was rather difficult to apply to rifleman mechs, when it came to defensive mechs, the male mech pilots better not have the ability to overpower a female mech!
As for Ves, he went along with this custom because he simply couldn't find any capacity to strengthen his mech's combat potential.
That said, he didn't entirely resign himself to designing a toothless mech.
"Siphoning energy can also be an attack if it is applied to an active hostile mech!"
Ves didn't share this opinion with Gloriana. He did his best to keep it in his mind and out of his implant. If his girlfriend ever thought that he wanted to turn his mech into a bonfide energy vampire, she would probably erupt in front of his face again!
That was not a pleasant experience!
In order to turn this mode of attack into reality, he spent an inordinate amount of time refining the energy siphoning systems. After trying out various ways to add this system onto the mech in a way that made sense, he eventually settled on adding additional limbs to the Hexer mech.
"The arms of our mech are already needed to hold the sword and tower shield." He explained as he projected a sketch of his proposed solution. "The energy transfer and siphoning systems need a way to reach out and establish a connection with other machines. It's impractical to expect our knight mech to drop its sword or shield in the middle of a battle in order to reach out its hand to a friendly mech."
To solve this problem, Ves attached an extra pair of specialized 'arms' on the mech's lower back. It made the humanoid mech look a bit like an insect. The extra limbs were longer in order to facilitate their reach but thinner because they weren't designed to hold any objects.
Sharp, needle-like implements that were geared towards connecting to energy ports or piercing through softer armor formed their tips. All in all, the mech looked a lot more menacing with the addition of these inhuman limbs!
Gloriana studied his sketch and frowned. "This isn't what we planned."
"I know, but how else will you solve this problem? Adding extra limbs is the most convenient solution. I know the Good Boy transfers its energy in a different fashion, but that mech is not expected to fight or do anything else with its arms! In order to allow our Hexer mech to operate on the frontlines, we have to ensure its ability to defend itself no matter the circumstances!"
In the end, Ves had his way when Gloriana failed to offer a better solution.
Though the extra limbs added to their workload, Ves began to enjoy this project more and more. While it was still a mech that treated its male mech pilots as support personnel, he hoped that at least a couple of them would discover and utilize the offensive possibilities that the energy siphoning limbs enabled!
Ves didn't dare to do much more than that. He was already fortunate that Gloriana was too taken in by her biases to realize that this new change could make the mech more dangerous!
All in all, while there were still a couple of months of development to go, the progress they made so far made both mech designers very content!
Of particular note was the increased performance of their design teams. After Ves personally inducted the Tovars, the Ylvainans and the two oddballs into the clan, they began to perform their duties with a lot more fervor than before!
Their high morale not only increased their results, but also accelerated their progression!
One major reason for that was that Ves no longer saw his subordinate mech designers as employees.
They were Larkinsons now.
Sure, they still retained a part of their old identities through their compound names. However, their addition to the Larkinson Network meant that Ves was much more certain about their loyalty and commitment to his endeavors!
For this reason, he began to devote a little more attention to his lessons. His earnest guidance allowed his assistants to avoid several pitfalls in their development, thereby speeding up the growth of their design philosophies!
A couple of individuals achieved a lot more progress than he anticipated.
Miles Tovar-Larkinson began to exhibit a greater degree of spiritual strength! Each time Ves peeked into the new clanman's mind, he noticed that Miles' spiritual potential began to grow and show more activity!
This was a rather fascinating process! Ves didn't have much experience in observing the transition of Apprentices to Journeymen. He could only base his theories around his own transition, but he had no clue whether other mech designers followed the same steps!
His curiosity drove him to pour more attention onto Miles. If the Apprentice was still an employee, then Ves would be much more reluctant to provide so much help.
Who knew if Miles Tovar would leave the LMC as soon as he advanced to Journeyman!
Yet now was different. Miles Tovar was different from Miles Tovar-Larkinson. The former was an employee while the latter was an employee as well as family!
Since the adopted members of the clan weren't allowed to undo their joining unless something exceptional happened, Ves could trust Miles to stay for the long haul!
Elevating one of his assistant mech designers to Journeyman therefore posed much less of a risk than before. In fact, adding another Journeyman to his roster would do much to strengthen the clan and increase the design capability of his mech company!
That said, it would still take a fairly long time for Miles to actually complete the transition and form his design seed.
"You have a lot of potential, Miles." Ves mentioned. "You have prior design experience and you have done a lot to shore up your knowledge in the past few months."
"Thank you, sir. I feel really great. Joining the clan was one of the best moments of my life!"
Miles had many reasons to smile. While he had to make his separation from the Tovar Family permanent, he was very much aware how lucky he was to receive so much personal attention from a talented mech designer!
"There's one problem that is slowing you down, though."
"What is it, sir?"
"You haven't been designing any mechs for a while, right?"
"I.. don't have the time. I started up a few projects, but the work that we're expected to do is consuming all of my attention."
Ves grimaced. That was partially his fault. "While I still require your assistance, I think it's time for you to cut back."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm freeing up some time in your schedule so that you can resume the development of your personal mech designs."
Miles looked surprised. Ves was never known to be generous in this fashion! This was a completely uncharacteristic decision from a notorious workaholic!
"Why?"
Ves couldn't tell the truth, so he resorted to a lie. "I see a part of myself in you. There is a drive within you that wants to explode, right? I think it would do you a lot of good if you unleash that drive onto your own mech designs instead of our current projects. Just try it out and see if you can progress your design philosophy. As my aerial mech specialist, I'll be leaning on you whenever we are tasked with designing mechs of this nature!"
"I'll do my best, sir!"
Chapter 2022 Hopeful Progress
The Larkinson Clan fled the Kesseling System in defeat. Dozens of Larkinsons lost their lives in the desperate attempt to defend their fellow family from the aggression of a foreign state with a vendetta against their clan leader.
The clan members left the Ylvaine Protectorate with seething fury and overwhelming grief. Many began to doubt their choice of joining the Larkinson Clan as opposed to remaining in the Larkinson Family.
The large but haphazard fleet of light carriers, transport ships and civilian ships moved to the Hegemony side of the star sector in low spirits. The enterprise that Ves dreamt of erecting within a decade rested on shaky ground as criticism unceasingly circulated among the ranks of Larkinsons.
Months later, the fleet that closed in on the Cinach System looked completely different. Not only did it enjoy the escort of a formidable force of Penitent Sisters, its ships had also transformed in appearance!
A lot of mechs and vessels sported brand-new coating. The Scarlet Rose, the Barracuda and the other vessels of the Larkinson Clan boasted a geometric pattern of red and white.
The ships of the Avatars of Myth adopted the same scheme but with bright yellow as their primary color. Their mechs continued to stand out with their golden coating.
The Living Sentinels adopted the same as its sister troop but with grey and silver as their primary colors.
The vessels dedicated to the LMC stood out with their sky blue colors with an added touch of stylistic clouds decorating their surface.
The ships of the Black Cats, which included the Swordmaidens, stood out from the rest of the clan with their predominant black-and-grey coating. It was as if they were screaming to the galaxy how shady they were and how much they wanted to hide!
Aside from some discordant elements such as the Glory Battalion and the Penitent Sisters, the ships and mechs of the Larkinson Clan clearly looked as if they operated under the same banner!
If their coordinated appearances failed to impress on observers that they shared a common identity, then the emblems affixed to their sides certainly made that clear!
Aside from the individual logos of the various organizations, the most prominent symbol adorning every ship barring Calabast's spy organization was the emblem of the Golden Cat!
Due to the choices that Ves had made during the founding of the clan, every clansman began to wear the emblem that was shaped like the visage of a cat in gold with pride! That same pride extended to their ships where the emblem of the Golden Cat served as a prominent brand of their allegiance!
Ves had much to be glad about. During the couple of months after their haphazard flight from their former base operations, the Larkinson Clan not only regained its optimism, but also ballooned in size and strength!
He smiled as he lovingly held the Larkinson Mandate in his grasp. Whenever he physically held the book, he gained a very good view on the spiritual network. With the clan surpassing 10,000 members, the spiritual network had expanded in scope and strength!
"Meow."
Lucky playfully floated around the book while licking at the Golden Cat who seemed to be brimming with energy these days!
Nyaaaa...
Though the recent growth had been very beneficial to the Golden Cat's rate of growth, there were lots of signs that she was having difficulty handling the strain!
She spent most of her time dozing off these days as she began to master new techniques to handle the added burden and responsibilities. Taught by Qilanxo and formed from her instincts, her new techniques allowed her to split herself up and expand her awareness, thereby transcending her existence from an individual to something akin to an unconscious collective!
Ves found her transformation to be very fascinating. He studied her evolution frequently and observed all of the changes up close.
It was like witnessing the evolution of a god.
The profound changes altered her state of mind. While she was still a young and naive spiritual cat at heart, she also contained an unimaginable repository of collective wisdom! This larger gestalt served as a series of parallel processors that allowed the Golden Cat to maintain her full attention in multiple places with ease!
Anywhere her spiritual influence managed to reach, she could instantly pay attention to what was going on in the vicinity!
An important detail here was that her influence not only encompassed the living Larkinson clansmen, but also the inanimate objects that carried her glow!
So far, that only amounted to the Bright Warriors and the Larkinson Mandate, but Ves hoped to imbue her glow in more objects in the future so that Goldie would essentially be able to act as the clan's omnipotent monitoring system!
"What are you grinning about?" Gloriana asked.
Ves snapped out of his musing. He was currently taking a small break from a taxing design session at the design lab.
""I was just thinking how far we have come since we departed the Kesseling System. We successfully managed to reverse the downward trend of our clan and grow to a level of strength that we could scarcely imagine a month ago! Just look at the optimism brimming from every new clan member!"
Their assistant mech designers were all smiles these days as they wore their brand-new sky-blue and white uniforms. The emblem of the Golden Cat adorning their backs all conveyed a sense of shared identity.
Ever since they swore their oaths and connected to the spiritual network, the tension between the first design team and second design team lessened.
Despite their diverse origins, the mech designers no longer got hung up as much about their different origins and backgrounds. Regardless if they used to be Brighters and Ylvainans, they shared a lot more in common now than before!
While the secularists and faithful among the design teams still harbored many disagreements, they also regarded each other as brothers and sisters. The sense of fellowship swelling in the LMC's Design Department also took place on many other ships!
Even Gloriana, who still insisted on maintaining both her old and new identities, enjoyed the optimism brimming throughout the fleet! She picked up Clixie and hugged her cat in an outburst of joy!
"Miaow!"
She had good reasons to be happy. Their progress on their mech projects was on schedule. While they hadn't implemented any remarkable innovations, they developed many smaller but ingenious solutions to their new mech designs.
The difference in skill and mastery was very evident when they compared their current level of ability with the level they used to hold before they designed the Bright Warrior.
The gains they made when they designed the modular mech platform and created their first collaborative masterwork mech had finally come to fruition! Just the increase in their mech affinities alone had done much to increase their intuition towards mechs!
If there was one issue which Ves wasn't pleased about, it was that he failed to divert enough time to explore his side projects.
While the striker mech project didn't pose too many problems, the Hexer mech project was a constant source of setbacks and delays!
The energy vampire concept that Ves insisted upon was very hard to implement, particularly when he wanted to hide its offensive utility from his girlfriend!
Trying to stuff this secret functionality into his mech design demanded an enormous amount of time and effort. At the same time, he also had to ensure that his product could function as both a defensive mech and an energy transfer mech!
Both mech designers had to exert the utmost of their knowledge base to find efficient solutions to the problems that emerged during the design process. They even had to hit the books and reference obscure science in order to overcome certain hurdles!
Fortunately, Gloriana was more than up to challenge while Ves easily absorbed new knowledge due to his augmentations. His new Archimedes Rubal implant didn't outright allow him to internalize knowledge instantly like the System, but the processing power it contained accelerated his learning speed by multiple times, allowing him to spend a day to learn knowledge that used to take a few days to a week!
"No wonder Seniors and Masters are able to keep up with knowledge that requires regular people to spend decades or centuries of their lives to study. They are all relying on a combination of genetic modification and cybernetic implants to overcome their limits!"
Human civilization was a knowledge-based society.
Humans were inherently weak, and in the Age of Mechs, that remained unchanged.
That was fine, because the power of their bodies always paled in comparison to the technology they wielded!
Knowledge was the foundation of their success on the intergalactic stage!
While Ves always insisted that the heart was just as important as the mind to a mech designer, the Hexer mech project nonetheless stressed the latter to a much greater degree.
As his first second-class mech design, Ves began to encounter many issues he never worried about before!
"The higher the tech level, the greater the burden on the mind." He remarked.
Ves became a little more sympathetic towards the rational mech designers that dominated the MTA. The amount of knowledge it held on mechs must be so vast and overwhelming that only those who excelled in cultivating their minds and cognitive functions could keep up with the sheer amount of essential learning material!
Right now, the Hexer mech project had reached the half-way point. Its direction had already been set and all of the major design choices had already been made. All Ves and Gloriana needed to do now was to continue developing solutions to the remaining problems so that their new landbound knight mech became ready to be deployed in the Komodo War!
As for the less ostentatious striker mech project, Ves expected to finish it first.
Due to its lack of complexity, Ves handed over many of its aspects over to the design teams, and they did not disappoint. A project of this difficulty was a lot more within their means. As long as Ves and Gloriana made sure to oversee their efforts and review the results, they didn't have to spend too much time to herd this design towards completion!
"Once we hire additional mech designers, we can begin to delegate most of the work of designing third-class mechs to them." Gloriana pointed out. "We still need to set the direction and make all of the major design choices, but the competence of our first and second design teams have already reached a level where we don't have to hold their hands all the time. We only need to spend a bit of our time per project per session to make sure they develop on the right track."
"I know." Ves nodded. "That's my plan as well. I plan to hold a recruitment event at Rawlings University to pick up a lot of young and eager mech designers. While they'll probably be lacking in experience, that is exactly what I need to mold them into the right shape."
With the addition of more design teams, Ves could easily embark on multiple third-class design projects without meaningfully affecting his workload.
This meant that the LMC would finally be able to form a complete product family for the third-class mech market!
Ves hoped to relieve his straining finances with this plan. While the protection of the Penitent Sisters did much assuage his security concerns, their upkeep were bleeding his bank accounts dry!
"Where do we go from here, Ves?" His girlfriend asked.
"I'm not sure. Let's meet with the Larkinson Family and get the reunion out of the way. After we completed our two projects and published the mechs, I suppose we should start looking towards the future."
"You mean earning merits?"
He nodded. "When I explored the Rim Exchange's merit hall, I noticed that the Rim Guardians offered a lot of lucrative missions based in the Nyxian Gap."
"I thought you didn't want to enter this region." Gloriana furrowed her brows. "It was way too risky, you said."
"That was before we received reinforcements in the form of 600 second-class mechs. With a sufficient amount of strength, any risk can be overcome!" Ves grinned.
Chapter 2023 The Friedmont Massacre
Cinach Ves visited it once before during his tour through a portion of the star sector.
The Cinach System was as prosperous and industrious as ever. Controlled by various noble houses of the Sentinel Kingdom, the settled planets offered something for every Sentinel and visitor!
The identity that Ves held during his previous visit was completely different from his current identity!
Back then, he was a young Journeyman whose fame hadn't entirely reached the Sentinel Kingdom. While that still made him into someone of importance, he ranked very low in every local power's consciousness. They treated him like one of the many foreign business partners that stopped by Cinach to conduct transactions.
That was no longer the case.
Even before the Larkinson Clan arrived at their destination, the Sentinel Kingdom already reached out to them in order to arrange their stay in the star system!
"The entire Sentinel Kingdom is afraid of us." Gavin summed up the day before. "You have to look at it from the perspective of their nobles and royals. Despite their eminent status within Sentinel, their state essentially operates under the auspices of the Hegemony!"
"That means that they can't afford to offend the Hexers, is that right?"
"Correct. While the Hegemony has always restrained their influence on the lesser states for diplomatic reasons, the Komodo War has changed that to an extent. The Friday Coalition has made a play for the lesser states, so the Hegemony has to follow suit as well!"
"Which means the Hexers have become a lot more overbearing outside their borders?" Ves guessed.
His assistant nodded. "There's a lot of political and diplomatic maneuvering going on behind the scenes, but most of it isn't very relevant to us. The only factors we need to take into account is that the Sentinels will likely treat us as an important diplomatic entity."
"We're not, though." Ves retorted. "Our Larkinson Clan doesn't hail from any state. We are completely independent."
"Tell that to the Sentinels who see us barging in with a very blatant sign of Hexer favor. Hardly anyone in the Cinach System will be able to ignore the presence of the Penitent Sisters and Glory Battalion! The fact that you have received the public backing of the Wodin Dynasty and is dating one of its descendants will only reinforce every Sentinel's impression that you are a de facto representative of the Hegemony!"
"Damnit…" Ves groaned and palmed his face. "I'm not a Hexer! Our Larkinson Clan is nothing like the dynasties of the Hegemony! My clan title starts with the letter P, not M!"
"Are you sure about that, boss?"
"Don't joke around, Benny!"
Even though Gavin started to wear the sky blue LMC uniform with the Golden Cat adorning his back, his dynamic with his superior hardly changed. Ves still interacted with his assistant with a contradictory mix of irrational distrust and jovial familiarity.
While Ves contemplated promoting Gavin to some useless desk job in order to obtain a more trustworthy assistant, in the end he shelved this plan. He couldn't imagine a future where his assistant was completely loyal to a fault like Nitaa.
Not only would such a helper be boring, Ves also feared he might grow complacent and stop being as paranoid around his gatekeeper!
The best way to prevent betrayers from one of the people he was closest to was to constantly maintain his suspicion!
Of course, in order to maintain the illusion that every Benny harbored double loyalties, Ves conveniently disregarded that Gavin Neumann-Larkinson was constantly operating under the supervision of the Golden Cat.
"Whatever the case, you can expect to receive VIP treatment wherever you go." He said. "You have already received invitations from institutions such as the Peacekeeper Association and Rawlings University. I've taken the liberty of filtering out the irrelevant ones while sending the more interesting ones to your comm. You can peruse them at your leisure or ignore them if you wish. They're not too important. The Executive Council is handling most of the communication with the Sentinel Kingdom so far. If there is anything you need, you can pass it on to the council members."
"Understood. Aside from meeting with the Larkinson Family, recruiting more mech designers and resupplying our fleet, I don't intend to do much else in the Cinach System." Ves spoke. "At the very least, I have to devote two more months to complete our current design projects. Both of them are very significant. One is designed to rejuvenate the LMC while the other one is meant to repay my debt to DIVA."
Once he got those two projects out of the way, Ves would hopefully have more room for maneuver. From there, he could look towards accepting a mission from the Rim Exchange or seek opportunities in other star sectors!
The Sentinel Kingdom wasn't only close to the Nyxian Gap, but also within range of Vicious Mountain.
The only problem was that many ships of his fleet weren't rated for cross-sector travel. Ves would have to leave them behind or replace them with more robust vessels that could withstand the possible rigors of inter-sector space travel.
For now, that was not something he could achieve in the short term.
"Are there any ships for sale in the Sentinel Kingdom?" Ves asked in a hopeful tone.
"No." Gavin shook his head. "While Sentinel has managed to stay out of the Sand War and the Komodo War, it is engulfed in its own conflict. Did you hear about the Friedmont Massacre?"
"Yeah…" Ves smiled in a brittle manner. "I did.. what a slaughter.."
"The pirates of the Nyxian Gap have become more and more brazen lately! Not only are they burning each other's strongholds in the Gap, they have also turned their weapons against civilized space!"
The Friedmont Massacre was a shocking event that took place some time ago. Friedmont V, a major industrial planet operated by House Kant, suddenly became the site of tragedy on an enormous scale when a bunch of doom crawlers that had been smuggled onto the planet began to lay waste to every major city and industrial district!
Billions of people died and trillions of sentinel crowns worth of assets disappeared in a matter of hours as nuclear-armed mechs launched their weapons at abandon before they were taken out by the vengeful surviving forces!
When Ves first heard of the massacre and watched the footage of the massacre, he quickly shut off the projection.
That was because he recognized his own work! The Spyre Helix he designed as an upgrade to an existing model of doom crawlers wasn't supposed to show up in civilized space! Finlay promised to him that his faction would only utilize them against the pirates of the Nyxian Gap!
Ever since the Friedmont Massacre stunned the Sentinel Kingdom, the shadow conflict between the Peacekeepers and the Nyxian pirates intensified to an unprecedented scale! The hostilities threatened to turn into a full-blown war if the two sides continued to escalate their attacks!
"Whoever perpetrated the massacre succeeded in toppling House Kant and destabilizing the Sentinel Kingdom." Gavin remarked. "I've heard the MTA sent an investigation team to track down the pirates and backers responsible for organizing the attack. I heard that they placed an enormous bounty on the mech designer who designed the doom crawlers! Can you believe they're willing to reward any tip that leads to the exposure of the mech designer's identity with a million MTA merits?"
Ves raised his eyebrows while doing his best to suppress his nervousness.
"That sounds rather cheap compared to the severity of the crime. I would feel tempted to join the hunt myself if the reward is a little higher!"
The Sentinel Kingdom was larger and more powerful than the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom. That meant that the intrigue taking place in the state was on a bigger scale! The complication of the state's vicinity to the Nyxian Gap didn't help matters either as Ves was aware that the nobles often banded together with pirates from time to time!
The turmoil not only made the state less safe, but also increased the danger of any excursion into the Nyxian Gap.
That said, the rising risks of venturing out in a region the MTA was very interested in also increased the rewards to anyone who was willing to venture inside it to perform a mission!
This was the main reason why Ves still hadn't ruled this option out. Though the risks were high, the rewards were higher, and with the help of the Penitent Sisters and the Glory Battalion, he could outright ignore most pirate threats!
Of course, the Nyxian Gap contained greater perils than scattered pirate organizations. Even second-class mechs wouldn't be able to survive unscathed when they encountered a mysterious anomaly or came across a huge pirate organization!
Ves asked one more question. "Is there anything else we need to take note of before we arrive at Cinach?"
"There is one more detail. The state requested us to keep most of our fleet in the periphery of the star system. The Sentinel people are very uncomfortable with a powerful fleet lingering in the vicinity of an important planet. They're afraid our Hexer escorts might scare away visitors and depress commerce."
"That's a reasonable request. I take it the council has already come up with a decision?"
"For now, they agreed to keep the Penitent Sisters parked in the outskirts of the star system. The Glory Battalion and our clan vessels are all allowed to proceed ahead."
Ves thought for a moment. He recalled the times when he naively trusted the Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate to cover his back.
Yeah. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.
"While I understand the decision by the council, I don't agree with them. Tell them that I will overrule their decision!" He declared! "The Penitent Sisters will continue to accompany us while we are heading towards the inner system! This decision is final!"
He was not going to take any assumption of safety for granted, especially when the Sentinel Kingdom had become less stable in recent times! He would be a fool to put his strongest protectors numerous light-hours away!
Gavin frowned at his response. "We already agreed to abide by this reasonable demand."
"I don't care! You just told me that the Sentinels think I'm a Hexer envoy, right? Then let's act like one! I'm sure they'll roll over easily enough if we throw our weight around!"
The Executive Council wasn't happy with Ves' orders.
Too bad. The Penitent Sisters wasn't in their control. The Hexadric Hegemony directly seconded them to Ves instead of the clan. The Sisters were obliged to act according to his instructions, so there was nothing anyone could do to stop their advance to the inner system!
Before Gavin ended his briefing, he passed on one more detail. "By the way, Calabast asked me to pass on a message as well. She states that a couple of old friends and familiar faces might be showing up in Cinach as well."
"Did she say who?"
"No, but she said that some of them make for excellent recruitment material."
"Well, that's clarifying." Ves responded mildly.
It looks like a lot of different people were converging onto Cinach. Ves was curious who he might be able to meet and which of them were suitable to join the clan. As big as his fleet had already grown, Ves could always use more bodies, especially ones who could fight!
"The Sentinel Kingdom might be our final resting stop before we embark on an ambitious mission. We have to make the most out of our stay in Cinach." He muttered.
Around a year had passed since he formed his goal of earning enough merits to redeem a fleet beyonder ticket. Even though Ves had made enormous gains in his career and life during this period, he had hardly come closer to securing passage to the Red Ocean! If he didn't make any progress soon, he would definitely miss his self-imposed deadline!
Chapter 2024 Shared Blood
The Larkinson Clan's entry into the Cinach System was a sight to behold!
Though the clan's starships were rather shabby, their numbers were enough to dwarf most other trade convoys passing through the local star system!
Their uniform appearances and the ubiquitous sight of the emblem of the Golden Cat did much to counteract their cheap origins. The hundreds of spaceborn mechs that deployed from the light carriers to form a security perimeter also reinforced the impression that the Larkinson Clan was not that easy to chew!
As much as the ships and mechs of the Larkinson Clan made an impression on the locals, it was the Hexers who attracted the majority of the attention.
The Glory Battalion served as the direct extension of one of the medium-sized powers of the Hexadric Hegemony. Though the Wodin Dynasty wasn't particularly powerful in the massive state, its sheer might and wealth still surpassed anything the locals could scrounge up! Though the Glory Battalion was only able to effectively field a single mech company at this point, no one dared to take its mechs lightly!
As for the Penitent Sisters, their strength was enough to give a Sentinel mech division a run of their money. While such outcomes were highly variable depending on the circumstances of both sides, there was no doubt that provoking the ire of 600 second-class mechs was a one-way ticket to doom!
The one strange trait about the Penitent Sisters was that their ships and mechs all carried a symbol usually associated with the male gender.
Considering their name, a lot of Sentinels had already guessed that there was something very wrong about the Penitent Sisters.
No matter what they thought in private, the strength of the Sisters had to be respected. There was no way that anyone in Cinach would dare to mock the peculiar punishment outfit!
As the fleet gradually glided in the direction of Cinach VI, the mech-producing planet owned by House Evenson, Ves curiously studied the local plot of the star system.
Just like any industrious system, thousands of vessels were travelling in several directions. While most of them consisted of small craft and sublight cargo vessels that lacked FTL drives, plenty more ships came from other star systems and states.
"Business is booming as ever." Ves remarked. "War makes for a very profitable endeavor to star systems like Cinach."
Amidst all of the trade vessels, mercenary carriers, Peacekeeper outfits and military patrols, Ves finally identified a small fleet of ships parked in the orbit of Cinach VI.
One single starship within the fleet carried the name of Gracious Indigo. Last Ves heard, the second-hand light carrier as the flagship of the Larkinson Family.
Obviously, the Larkinson Family lacked the resources of the Larkinson Clan. Its 1 percent share in the LMC was enough to cobble up some mechs, but it was a stretch for them to purchase new ships, especially in a war climate that significantly increased the value of star-faring vessels.
"How is the Larkinson Family doing, Benny?" Ves asked.
"They're doing fine, boss. For a time, they were split up between Larkinsons who managed to escape the manhunt in the Bright Republic and those who were caught in the net. That's no longer the case now. The two groups recently reunited when DIVA's rescue ship brought the former imprisoned Larkinsons to the old family."
"That's great."
Soon enough, Ves received a personal comm call from his famous uncle. He accepted the hail, causing a projection to form in front of his face.
"Ves." Ark Larkinson smiled at his blood cousin in a benevolent manner. "Your clan has finally arrived. I must say, your arrival certainly made a very huge impression on the citizens of the Cinach System. The local news portals have already raised all sorts of alarmist questions. I'm.. not comfortable with the company you keep."
The expert pilot must be referring to the Hexers.
To be honest, Ves wasn't comfortable with the female supremacists either, but they were necessary for his upcoming plans. He had become so entangled with the Hexers that he couldn't get rid of them even if he tried!
"Let's not talk about old matters. First, how are grandpa, Melinda and the rest?"
"They weren't mistreated. At least our former state had the decency to treat our family members with dignity." Ark grimaced. "That said, their capture and subsequent escape left plenty of mental trauma behind. They're not as easy-going as they used to be. Even your grandfather has grown more weary as of late."
"Will he be able to exercise some responsibilities?"
"He's been thinking about retirement every day. If not for the fact our family needs more steady leaders, he would have stepped back entirely. So far, we are thinking about elevating him to an advisory position."
"Ah. So it's just like his previous job, except he'll be helping you instead of the Ministry of Defense."
"Essentially, yes."
Both Larkinsons fell silent for a time.
Ark always held a special place in Ves' heart.
Even though he was already an illustrious expert pilot during the time Ves grew up, Ark never put on any airs to the son of his younger brother. They were truly family to each other every time they met and talked to each other.
As much as both of them wanted to go back to those simpler days, they couldn't. The silence that formed between the Larkinsons reflected all of the changes that took place over the past year.
The schism that tore apart the Larkinson Family, Ghanso's madness and the abrupt formation of the Larkinson Clan all drove a wedge between the two. The tension only grew worse when both Ves and Ark had become the leaders of their respective family organizations.
Already, the clan had radically diverged from the traditional customs of the family.
The family patriarch couldn't help but mention one of the most controversial decisions that Ves pushed through.
"Did you really have to grant our Larkinson name to so many people?" Ark painfully asked. "While I understand the necessity to secure the loyalty of people you are depending upon, our family isn't happy, to say the least."
Ves stubbornly crossed his arm. "What the family thinks is not my concern. Your group of Larkinsons have already made it clear that you don't want to be part of my clan's endeavors. I can accept that. However, don't turn around and try to control us as if we are still obliged to respect your opinions."
"I am aware of that, Ves. I don't mean to sound like a hypocrite. It is just that our Larkinson heritage is something that we both share. That means that we must both do our best to maintain the integrity of our name. While our family has diligently tried to preserve the honor and reputation of the Larkinson name, your clan did something outrageous by diluting it among thousands of people!"
"It's more than twelve-thousand by my count." Ves added.
"How much more will you add before you are satisfied, Ves?!" Ark slightly raised his tone.
"..I don't think our clan will ever stop adopting new people." Ves slowly replied. Though he disliked disappointing his uncle, as the patriarch of the clan, he had to stand up for his side! "We do things differently than the family. While we value our Larkinson heritage, we are much more willing to share it if it gains us the loyalty of many talented and capable people. To us, the meaning of our name no longer revolved around our bloodline! This is an outdated stance that will only limit our growth!"
Though the two Larkinsons had plenty more words to share, a casual comm call was not the most appropriate channel to hash out their grievances. Ark's dislike was clear to see, but he refrained from snapping back at his own cousin.
"Let's have a good talk when your fleet arrives at Cinach VI. As much as our family is peeved at your clan, our people are still very eager to see the Larkinsons that have left for the clan. After this reunion, it is highly uncertain if and when we will ever be able to meet each other again. For posterity's sake, we should make our final meeting as memorable and conclusive as possible."
The weight of their upcoming separation weighed heavily on every Larkinson, but especially on the minds of the two patriarchs.
The Larkinson Family never faced a situation like this where a large group of Larkinsons were determined to separate and go elsewhere. Even though the galactic net ensured that both groups of Larkinsons would be able to maintain contact with each other, the physical separation ensured that they would eventually drift apart, and not just physically.
How would the Larkinson Clan look like a century later? How would the Larkinson Family develop after suffering so much trauma within the same span of time?
No one dared to imagine how the clan or family would look like after so much time. In fact, one of them might meet calamity one day and become extinct during this period of time!
These uncertainties made it all the more important to cherish their upcoming reunion!
After sharing a knowing look with each other, they soon ended the call. Ves fell into thought after his chat with Ark.
"He's changed."
This observation was a reminder that the old days of his childhood were slowly becoming more irrelevant.
Ves was no longer the kid who was depressed about the fact that he didn't possess the genetic aptitude to pilot mechs.
Ark was no longer the rising war hero who made it through the previous Bright-Vesia War a lot better than Ryncol!
With the fall of Bentheim and the exodus from the Bright Republic, there was no way they could turn back the block and return to their old lives. Both of them had no choice but to proceed forward and hope their new lives ended up better!
When Ves recounted his conversation to Gloriana a few hours later, his girlfriend crossed her arms.
"With the restrained attitudes of your family, I doubt it will be able keep itself together. The Larkinson Family has only managed to hold on to the same values and customs because it always existed under the umbrella of the Bright Republic! Now that they have to face the elements on their own, they can't afford to be so soft anymore!"
Ves grimaced. "Are you saying the Larkinson Family will break up in the future?"
"It's a guarantee. They're too stubborn to change their ways. The fact that our clan pushed through the changes that were necessary to strengthen us for what is to come is even more of a reason for them to stick their heads in the sand! While I respect your uncle Ark as an accomplished expert pilot and mech officer, leaders like him are unqualified to lead his family in this cruel, male-dominated galaxy!"
"We have come a long way from our primitive, patriarchal ways." Ves coughed. "I can show you several studies that men and women hold an equal share of leadership positions in human space."
"THOSE STUDIES ARE LIES! THEY'RE BIASED AND ONLY SERVE TO PUSH THE BIG TWO'S NARRATIVE THAT MALES ARE JUST AS COMPETENT AS WOMEN AS LEADERS!"
Ves had to lean away from his girlfriend's tirade!
"Okay okay, whatever you say!" Ves sheepishly raised his hands. "Regardless, whether Ark Larkinson can serve as a good leader or not is not that important, I think. He's hardly the only capable member of the old family. There's my grandfather and many other respected Larkinsons who can guide them in the right direction."
"There are too many war-scarred brutes in your former family." Gloriana dismissed. "Whatever they choose will likely be slanted towards violence in some fashion or another."
"Our clan isn't too different from the old family in that regard." Ves defensively retorted.
Despite that, Gloriana sneered at him. "The Larkinson Clan is completely different, honey. It's led by brighter minds."
Ves pointed at himself. "You mean me?"
"...Maybe."
Chapter 2025 Hot Commodity
When the so-called Larkinson Fleet arrived in orbit of Cinach VI, the entire planet seemed to prostrate before its arrival.
The household troops of House Evenson formed an honor guard to welcome the fleet's arrival. Forming a corridor which flanked the group of Larkinson Clan vessels from all sides, every other ship or vehicle in the vicinity had been chased away!
The grand display composed of almost a thousand mechs attracted a lot of publicity and amplified the interest in the Larkinson Clan even more! If Ves ever wanted his entry into the Cinach System to be low-key, then those chances were completely shot with the excessive display from the local nobles!
"What are the Sentinels doing?" Ves frowned as he observed the proceedings from the luxurious bridge of the Scarlet Rose.
"House Evenson wants to commission a mech from Gloriana and you." Gavin responded. "Your mechs have made quite a name, to say the least, and with Lady Miralix of House Laterna as a successful example, a lot of ambitious noble mech pilots think their careers will receive an enormous boost if they pilot one of your mechs!"
Though annoying, Ves also felt flattered. His professional reputation had finally reached a level where he no longer had to seek out customers.
Now, the customers were knocking on his doors!
"You know my stance on this matter." Ves dismissively replied.
"We've rejected their requests time and time again, but their envoys keep trying." Gavin sighed. "House Evenson seems to think that you're driving a hard bargain. Their negotiators continually raised their offers. They even found out that we're in dire need of high-quality ships and began to offer combat carriers if we complete their commissions!"
Did he really hear that right?! Ves sat upright in his chair. Combat carriers were far more valuable than light carriers, especially when Ves possibly sought to go on an excursion to the Nyxian Gap!
"Are you sure?! What do they want in exchange for some combat carriers?!"
His assistant looked hesitant all of a sudden. "Well.. they're only willing to remunerate you in full if you provide them with a masterwork mech. If that doesn't happen, then their offer becomes a lot less attractive."
"Oh." Ves dropped her excitement. "Forget about it. House Evenson is dreaming if I will expend so much effort on a possibility that is too miniscule to bother. Even if I luck out and create another masterwork mech, I would rather submit it to the MTA to earn some merits or something."
Some of the interest in him was due to the powerful glows he was able to imbue in his mechs. However, much of the frenzy surrounding him was due to his proven ability to create a masterwork mech!
Though his chances of replicating this feat was still microscopic even if his mech affinity improved twice, that didn't faze the nobles at all. They already had a lot of money and resources at their disposal.
To them, commissioning a mech from him and Gloriana was like buying a lottery ticket. They might hit the jackpot, and all it cost were some ships and money that they already possessed in abundance!
Even if combat carriers were worth their weight in exotics these days, the noble houses could always order more from the shipyards at any time! In contrast, a masterwork mech, especially one tailored to a specific mech pilot, was something that could only be sought but never found!
Such a mech could propel the career of a noble mech pilot to meteoric heights!
As an entrepreneur, Ves keenly recognized the value he could potentially provide. He did not intend to be taken advantage of so easily!
Fortunately, his assistant already knew what to do and what to look out for. If someone offered something truly compelling, then Gavin would surely bring it up to Ves. Until then, there was no reason to disturb his thoughts.
As the pomp and circumstance in orbit finally died down, the Larkinson Clan began to make landfall with at least a third of its ships. Light carriers may not be able to take much of a hit, but they were still light and maneuverable enough to make landfall on any standard terrestrial planet.
One of the more significant problems affecting the clan members was their abrupt flight into space. As Captain Silvestra warned him some time ago, humans simply weren't adjusted to space travel. It took a lot of effort over multiple generations in order to breed a group of true spaceborn humans!
Until then, humans who were born on land and grew up on land always yearned to have solid ground beneath their feet. His clan members all yearned to experience the vast open spaces and the fresh air from the atmosphere of a livable planet!
So far, his family and his workers had been holding back their urges with a remarkable amount of success. They all knew that it was unwise to halt their journey and take a break in some star system while the Friday Coalition was always looming over their backs.
Now that they finally reached their destination, the clansmen couldn't hold it in any longer! They were crowding the hatches and exit ports in order to escape the cramped corridors of their ships!
The clan couldn't afford to ground every vessel in its fleet, though. In order to guard against accidents, the Executive Council formed a rotation schedule that would give everyone in the fleet enough time to recover their sanity.
The vessels all landed in an empty base the clan rented from House Evenson. The facilities might not be as good as everyone hoped, but it provided Ves with a secure base of operations to spend the next two months.
"We'll stay in Cinach until our two ongoing mech design projects are complete." Ves reminded everyone. "Let us take the opportunity to rest and see to our battle readiness. I'm not sure what we'll do next, but there is a decent chance we'll encounter a lot of excitement. In order to rise up in the galaxy, we will have to take some risks!"
Ves emphasized the possible dangers they might encounter. Though Ves did not intend to drag the entire fleet through the Nyxian Gap, he still had to bring a sufficient amount of forces. If the clansmen believed they could leech off his success without risking their lives, they had another thing coming!
Since Cinach VI was also the site where the clan would reunite with the family, Ves wanted to give the weak-hearted one last chance to depart. Where he planned to go was no place for cowards!
As the vessels parked in the enormous yard, the clansmen began to settle in and fortify the base. Various Penitent Sisters, Glory Warriors and Avatars patrolled the perimeter on foot and in their mechs.
The clan was determined to never be caught by surprise again!
Ves was pleased that his clan members exhibited a lot of caution. Anyone would after suffering the continuous blows the clan had suffered from the hands of those they trusted. It seemed as if paranoia had the potential to become one of the clan's defining traits in the future.
The clan and the family had scheduled a date to hold a large welcoming and reunion party at a large and upscale hall in Torze, the capital city of Cinach VI. It would be a grand occasion where thousands of trueblood Larkinsons would all gather in a single location.
Naturally, they all intended to bring their mechs as well!
This was a grand occasion and one that required a lot of arrangements to ensure it proceeded both smoothly and safely. The last thing Ves and the others wanted to see was someone crashing a starship into the hall where almost every trueblood Larkinson congregated! Such a catastrophic attack would pretty much end the clan and family right then and there!
"We're holding the event in three days." Gavin notified Ves. "The old family arrived earlier and has already begun the preparations, but our clan has a lot more strength and resources at our disposal. The Hexers are particularly useful in ensuring that the meeting venue will remain secure."
"I understand." Ves nodded. "Is there anything we have to do in the meantime, or can I go back to the design lab in order to continue my design work?"
"While it isn't essential, it would be nice if you went out to meet with the local dignitaries from House Evenson and the royal house. As the clan patriarch, your personal presence will do much to honor the nobles."
Ves briefly contemplated the option before dismissing it. "I have no desire to waste my time on hobnobbing with the local snobs. Anything else, Benny?"
"There are a lot of personnel issues to go through. On the one hand, there are still a decent amount of vacancies in our clan and fleet. On the other hand, there are a lot of workers who declined to join the Larkinson Clan for one reason or another. Part of them wish to resign and be let go while others have shown a willingness to stay in the fleet."
Ves frowned. He was aware that there was a substantial minority of non-Larkinson employees who never applied to join the clan.
Their reasons varied. Some still viewed themselves as Brighters or other states. Others already belonged to distinct families and didn't want to lose their heritage.
"How many people have declined to join the clan?" He asked.
"Around eighteen percent percent of our total personnel."
"Get rid of them." Ves waved his hand.
"Pardon?"
"You heard me, Benny. Fire them. Encourage them to resign. Just kick them out of our fleet within two months!"
"I.. urge you to reconsider. Some of those people are very skilled and occupy essential positions. It would lead to a lot of turmoil if we suddenly let them go wholesale."
"THAT IS EXACTLY WHY THEY NEED TO GO!" Ves burst out in anger. "Our clan is meant to foster trust between our clansmen. How can we work alongside workers who refused to join our clan? How can we allow them to occupy critical positions where they are in place to do a lot of damage if they leak information or sabotage something important? Just get rid of them and hire some new people who are willing to join our clan!"
"That's.. not going to be easy. While there are plenty of skilled applicants from the Sentinel Kingdom, most of them are dubious in terms of background and loyalty. It will take a lot of vetting to verify their integrity."
"You have two months. That is plenty of time to make up for the shortfalls in our personnel roster. Tell the clan to do as I say. By the time we depart from this star system, I don't want any of our ships to bear any people who aren't part of our clan, have I made myself clear?"
"What about the Hexers, boss?"
"They're an exception."
"Okay. I'll pass on your instructions to the Executive Council. I'm not sure whether the council members are willing to abide by your demands, but I will make it clear that you are very adamant about this issue."
Though it would hurt the fleet in the short term, Ves thought it was worth it later on. While he recognized that those who refused to join the clan might have a lot of innocuous reasons to explain their choice, there was always a chance that a handful of them were spies or saboteurs!
Getting rid of the entire lot meant that there was a large chance that his fleet wouldn't be carrying any hostile elements anymore! To Ves, that peace of mind was priceless!
"The time that our main group operates through a mix of insiders and outsiders is over." Ves declared. "Aside from allied and auxiliary units like the Penitent Sisters, everyone who is part of our fleet must also be a part of our clan!"
It was fine if his clan or company employed regular workers in various subsidiaries or outposts. However, his future expeditionary fleet had to consist entirely of clansmen in order to ensure the highest degree of cohesion!
Chapter 2026 The Two Patriarchs
The sudden shift in policy towards the employees who refused to join the clan came as a major shock to everyone.
While there were plenty of people who expected the Larkinson Clan to phase out the uncommitted workers in their midst, they didn't expect it to come so soon and without transition!
Ves didn't care. Regardless of how many complaints and suggestions he received, he stood by his stance.
Considering his current prestige in his clan, the Executive Council and the Larkinson Assembly didn't dare to go against his will.
Besides.. his declaration made a lot of sense. Having suffered the sting of betrayal, his clansmen were a lot more sympathetic towards the idea of relying on themselves.
A lot of departures took place during this time. Thousands of workers received notices that their services were no longer required after a certain amount of time.
Fortunately, the people who rejected the clan didn't react as strongly as Ves and everyone feared. Over the last few weeks, they had already seen the new clansmen become more close and trusting towards each other.
While that was a great development to the new Larkinsons, the people who declined to apply were feeling increasingly more left out. It was as if they were observing a jovial gathering of family members through the window of a house.
Leaving the fleet was a form of relief. The Sentinel Kingdom wasn't a bad place to start a new life. It was a powerful third-rate state that had remained mostly unaffected by the two major wars raging throughout the star sector.
While the conflict with the Nyxian pirates was heating up, this war was of a much lower intensity than the Sand War. It provided enough turbulence to open up a lot of employment opportunities for skilled and proven personnel while being small enough to dismiss the danger.
Overall, no one was overly dissatisfied with this decision. Ves made sure to thank the laid-off workers and mech pilots with a generous amount of severance pay.
With the upcoming reunion coming close, the Larkinson Clan quickly turned its attention back to what really mattered.
Though the amount of trueblood members in the clan turned into a minority, they still held most of the leadership positions for now! That together with other factors meant that they still held the greatest voice in the clan for the time being!
Therefore, even if most members of the clan weren't blood-related to the Larkinson Family, they still cared a lot about the outcome of the reunion. Plenty of them had volunteered to join the honor guard and even more wanted to enter the hall to hobnob with their 'new' relatives!
However, in the best interest of preserving harmony, the clan and the family both decided to keep the runion centered around trueblood Larkinsons.
As three days went by in a whirl of activity, the awaited moment had finally arrived.
The Larkinsons departed from their rented base in a grand procession.
The mechs of the Penitent Sisters and the Glory Warriors patrolled the outer perimeter and scouted forward, but it was the mechs of the Avatars and Sentinels that played the starring role!
Bright Warriors, Blackbeaks Crystal Lords and many other mech models lined the procession of passenger shuttles from both sides. The clan had already fixed up their appearances with gleaming coating that matched the visual overhaul of other ships and mechs!
No matter the mech or vehicle, the emblem of the Golden Cat proudly adorned their surfaces, marking them as the exclusive property of the new but already formidable Larkinson Clan!
Traffic throughout the entire route had already been cordoned off by House Evenson. The local nobles showed incredible eagerness in accommodating the needs of the clan. Though the temporary blockades annoyed the hell out of the locals of Torze, Ves valued the safety of keeping bystanders away.
The clan made sure to present themselves at its best. Every trueblood Larkinson wore the same new uniforms with brand-new badges and medals to those who earned it during the Sand War and the Battle of Kesseling VIII.
Ves on his part contemplated whether he should wear his old awards from the Bright Republic. The Golden Mech, The Darkness Eater, the Torchbearer and so on might as well be worth as much as scrap metal with the decline of his home state, but they still carried a lot of significance to the original Larkinsons.
In the end, Ves decided to keep his uniform bare. He no longer had anything to do with the Bright Republic and the Mech Corps and wearing their medals only bestowed them with honor they did not deserve.
His girlfriend agreed with his decision.
"You're the clan patriarch now, honey. You can still act however you like in private, but in public, each of your actions will be scrutinized. Official functions and formal gatherings are some of the stressful places to be in because you can be sure that a lot of observers will be analyzing everything about you until there are no more secrets left to glean from your words and body language!"
Ves grimaced as he petted Lucky resting on his lap. "The reunion isn't a diplomatic exchange. It's just a meeting between two different sides of a family."
"Oh, Ves. It's not that simple anymore. You're a man on the rise. Your complicated relationship with the old family will certainly be a topic of interest. When you are about to step out of this shuttle, don't behave as if you are paying a visit to your relatives. Treat it as a public function, because everyone else will be looking at it from this angle anyway."
His girlfriend, who decided to doll herself up and wear a shimmering night blue dress instead of a clan uniform, made a lot of sense.
He fell silent as he enjoyed the flowery scent of her perfume. Both Lucky and Clixie lazily rested on their owner's laps while the Golden Cat curiously looked in the direction of the hall from her perch in the Larkinson Mandate.
The ancestral spirit already possessed a connection with the members of the Larkinson Family by virtue of its existence. While the members of the old family weren't connected to the clan's exclusive spiritual network, Ves still found it convenient to keep track of the lives and directions of every family member!
As Ves observed the spiritual network, he noticed that most of them had gathered in the vicinity of the meeting hall.
The few family members who weren't on Cinach VI were located very far away.
Of particular note to Ves was two particular Larkinsons.
Ves had already determined to his displeasure that Ghanso was likely residing somewhere in the Friday Coalition.
As for his father, the tether that signified the Golden Cat's connection clearly pointed to somewhere Nyxian Gap before becoming completely fuzzy. It seemed that the anomalous space warping of this asteroid-filled region was distorting the weak bond.
What Ves found disturbing was that while the Golden Cat was able to maintain at least some form of passive connection to every relative, the bond that represented his mother was nowhere to be found!
Was it because his mother actively cut off her presence from the Golden Cat, or was it because she never considered herself to be a Larkinson to begin with?
Either possibilities sounded disconcerting to Ves. His mother was becoming increasingly unfathomable to him. A part of him wanted to talk to her again. Another part of him wanted to get as far away from her as possible!
"She's the original energy vampire." He muttered under his breath.
A very scary realization suddenly struck him. Did he subliminally design his striker mech to match the characteristics of his mother?!
His eyes widened as he listed the similarities.
First, the remnant of the Idol of the Superior Mother put him on a path to form a design spirit that would likely carry over the name of its source!
This meant that despite its masculine contours, his landbound knight mech would likely be watched over by a matriarchal design spirit of his own design, one that would likely share a lot of similarities with his actual mother!
Second, he envisioned a mech that could not only store and carry a lot of electrical energy, but also siphon it from both willing and unwilling sources!
While his own mother manipulated spiritual energy rather than electrical energy, they were still capable of performing the same actions to empower themselves or others!
Naturally, there were a huge amount of differences as well. Ves relaxed a bit when he concluded that a spiritual sorceress and a mech design were not actually comparable in the slightest. The two similarities were complete coincidences and had nothing to do with each other.
Ves emphatically did not design his Hexer mech to reflect his own experiences as a son who was constantly being coddled by his overbearing mother!
"What are you thinking about, Ves?" Gloriana curiously observed his changing expressions.
"Ah, nothing, haha." Ves sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I am just nervous, that's all. I'm afraid our clan won't be able to measure up against the old family despite the growth we've gone through. Our foundation isn't stable."
"It will be fine." Gloriana reassured him. "Look, we're almost at our destination. Let's get ready to greet the other side of the family, shall we?"
Once the shuttle at head of the procession landed at the designated landing spot, Ves, Gloriana, their cats and their exited the vehicle.
The subsequent shuttles followed suit and disgorged their uniformed passengers.
The masses of red-and-white, yellow-and-white, grey-and-white and blue-and-white uniforms instantly brightened up the avenue leading up to the large and traditional-looking meeting hall.
The members of the Larkinson Family who had arrived half an hour earlier all waited at the top of the raised steps. Unlike the clansmen, the members of the old family all wore a variety of civilian outfits. While their appearances weren't awful, the lack of uniformity caused them to look distinctly less organized than their estranged relatives!
The common appearances instilled a sense of psychological unity in the clansmen. They reinforced this impression by filing into ranks and marching towards the steps with something akin to a military column!
The Bright Warriors and other LMC mechs taking up positions along the sides of the avenue only strengthened that impression!
In one of his preparations for this occasion, Ves had tweaked the glows of his mechs. He employed some spiritual tinkering in order to temporarily tune down the glows of the Blackbeaks and Crystal Lords. This allowed the glows of the Bright Warrior mechs to become more prominent!
The aura of the Golden Cat soon began to engulf the entire venue. The Larkinson family members who witnessed the approach of the column all began to feel a glow that felt both new and familiar!
The Larkinson glow became more and more overbearing to the family members as the Bright Warriors approached the meeting hall. In fact, the Larkinson Family risked losing its composure entirely if not for their family patriarch!
The old family had to show its might. Ark Larkinson began to exhibit his own prowess!
A force of will that shared some resemblance to the Golden Cat's glow began to envelop the minds of the family members like a protective blanket.
While it wasn't as oriented towards protection as Brutus' force of will, Ark possessed the remarkable ability of fortifying the confidence of those he affected!
As expected, his uncle was a formidable leader! Ark was perhaps the strongest expert pilot that Ves had ever witnessed!
As the members of the clan began to climb up the steps, the head of the column eventually stopped.
The two patriarchs locked eyes. Both the Journeyman and expert pilot exhibited their respective abilities. While they excelled in different abilities, no Larkinson thought lightly of their abilities!
Eventually, Ark began to bow. "Members of the Larkinson Clan. I am glad to see you once again. No matter what disagreements we might share, you are always family to us. We are glad to see you safe and sound."
Ves smiled and nodded. "Our clan is happy to hear your well-wishes. I share your sentiment. While over differences will doubtlessly grow over time, what we have in common will always make us family to each other."
The reunion between the two branches of Larkinsons had finally begun!
Chapter 2027 Blurring Differences
After the rather stiff exchange of greetings at the entrance, both groups of Larkinsons entered the meeting hall.
The large venue had undergone a minor overhaul in the preceding days. The interior decorators transformed the furniture and surroundings to be more in line with Brighter styles. This infused a strong sense of familiarity to the trueblood Larkinsons. Despite fleeing all the way to the Sentinel Kingdom, they still carried forth a piece of their home!
Once they entered the hall, the Larkinsons began to seat themselves at the rectangular tables.
The reunion started off with a sumptuous banquet. With family members sitting on one side and clan members sitting on the other side of the table, they both began to warm their bellies with the regional specialties of the Bright Republic.
The clan and family both made sure to employ chefs familiar with Brighter cuisine to cook the dishes. A lot of nostalgia appeared on the faces of the Larkinsons.
Regardless of their allegiances, both clan and family members began to reminisce about the olden days when the Larkinson Family was still a single entity.
Mothers and daughters, grandfathers and grandsons, aunts and nieces and many other estranged relatives began to loosen up in each other's presence.
It was as Ves had said. Their differences may have grown, as evidenced by the growing disparities between the two groups, but their shared origins and values still tied them together!
Sitting at a small table placed at the end of the hall, the two patriarchs calmly dined opposite to each other.
Two more people sat at the table as well.
Gloriana immediately stood out due to her proximity to Ves and her special identity.
Benjamin Larkinson served as a calming influence to the two leaders.
Both Ves and Ark tried their best to abide by their father and grandfather's desire for harmony!
"I'm glad to see you safe, grandfather." Ves began. "Have the rescuers I've dispatched treated you nicely enough?"
"Oh, the Hexers clearly don't respect the men they rescued." His grandfather ruefully smiled. "Still, that's hardly worth bothering over considering that most of us managed to escape and meet with fellow relatives in this state. I am very thankful for what you have done. It must have been difficult to convince the Hexers to perform such a major operation in an out-of-the-way state."
Gloriana smiled and answered for her boyfriend. "It is no trouble, Mr. Larkinson. My state is very appreciative towards Ves. The Larkinson Family is one of the few truly honorable military families in this star sector. You are too good for the Bright Republic."
Both Ark and Benjamin Larkinson looked at Gloriana with varying degrees of interest. To Ves, it looked as if they didn't really know what to make of his girlfriend!
While Gloriana was an unabashed Hexer, she was also very charming and very adept in social functions. She didn't exhibit the rampant dislike towards men that other Hexers tended to show!
He stretched his hand towards his girlfriend. "Grandfather, uncle, meet my girlfriend. I'm sure you are already aware of her identity. Aside from our personal relationship, she's also my collaborator and business partner. Our respective specialties play well with each other, allowing us to design mechs that are better than what we are able to design on our own. Much of the success that I achieved recently is thanks to her presence in my life."
Gloriana beamed at his praise. "Ves is such a great boyfriend. I'm very happy to be at his side! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect lover!"
"I'm glad to hear that the two of you have managed to make your relationship work. I was afraid that the two of you are only together due to practical reasons."
"We love each other with all our heart!" Gloriana declared in a way that left no room for doubt! "I would do anything to make him happy, and he feels the same way about me. Not even the Friday Coalition has managed to break our relationship!"
Ves quietly coughed when she said those words. Though most of what she said was true, he had some doubts about the claim that she would do 'anything' to make him happy. There were plenty of nights where he was left unsatisfied!
Though Gloriana put up a wholesome act in front of Ves' grandfather and uncle, her identity was not something that the two were able to forget!
The smile on Benjamin's face turned a little frail. "Please forgive this old man, but I am rather perplexed why a Hexer such as you are happy with someone like Ves. Professional reasons aside, the two of you come from completely different states. What do Hexers such as you think of my grandson?"
This was a very thorny question to ask. Ves glared a bit at his grandfather!
Fortunately, Gloriana didn't show any discomfort.
"Ves is.. a special person. As the youngest Masterwork Mech Designer of this star cluster, his identity is different from the other.. men.. we are familiar with. While I can't honestly claim that every Hexer is able to respect him for who he is, my Wodin Dynasty is different. My mother personally approves of our relationship!"
"It doesn't really matter anyway what other Hexers think." Ves quickly interjected. "You don't have to question my masculinity, father. I'm not stupid enough to move to the Hegemony. I'm sure you've already heard that I have set my sights on a different galaxy."
Both of the other Larkinsons looked severe.
"I don't blame you for wanting to leave." Ark remarked. "It's a shame to distance yourself from our family, though. It will become increasingly harder to stay in touch if we go our separate ways."
"Our departure is already a matter of time. Sooner or later, we'll be going elsewhere. I have an immense desire to see what the rest of human civilization is like. Our little corner of the galaxy is hardly enough to satisfy my curiosity!"
The small group fell silent for a moment. Ves made it clear that he was very determined to lead his clan away. Ark and Benjamin knew better than to continue their futile attempt to get the clan to stay.
Benjamin began to divert his interest to Gloriana. He wanted to familiarize himself with the girl who managed to steal his grandson's heart. There was only so much he could gain from reading about her on the galactic net.
"Do you like cats?"
"I just love them!" Gloriana beamed in an adorable manner. She picked up Clixie and hugged her cat tightly against her chest! "My Clixie gets along well with Ves and Lucky. Am I right?"
"Miaow."
Clixie's elegant and well-behaved demeanor fascinated Benjamin. "She is certainly an exemplary cat. How have you been getting along with Ves? Do you share other interests with him aside from your shared liking of mechs and cats?"
"Oh, we are both invested in the Larkinson Clan, of course. My Wodin Dynasty has done much to protect the clan and help it survive against the machinations of the Friday Coalition."
The two Larkinsons didn't react to that statement. While Gloriana didn't lie, her entanglement with Ves was the main reason the Friday Coalition turned hostile to their family to begin with! She could hardly claim to be their benefactor when she herself was responsible for starting the initial fire!
Neither of them wished to rehash an old, controversial argument on the first day of their runion. They were more interested in moving on and looking towards the future.
"I've heard that one of your relatives is an expert pilot." Ark began. "I also heard that he has been pivotal in defending the clan."
"Would you like to meet him, Mr. Ark?"
"It's not a high priority. I am merely curious about meeting a fellow expert pilot. I can't help but feel intrigued to talk to a male Hexer expert pilot."
"Brutus would love to exchange with you, I think. The class disparities matter less to expert pilots, and my brother is already used to interacting with lots of third-class mech pilots. He's not here right now but I'll send him a message to arrange a meeting with you. It would be good for him to share his thoughts to a peer."
Though Gloriana made it sound as if Brutus had a choice, Ves knew that the Wodin expert pilot would do whatever her sister said. Hexer boys were simply trained that way by their female overlords!
The discussion shifted to other casual and innocent topics for a time. Both Ark, Benjamin and even Ves began to learn more about Gloriana.
For example, they heard how Gloriana received a very strict and demanding upbringing in the Hegemony. Despite the high expectations put on her shoulders, she expressed an immense affection towards her mother.
They also learned that Gloriana had an option to become the direct disciple of Master Mech Designer when she studied at Kelma University!
"I respectfully refused the offer." She stated as she elegantly sipped a cup of tea. "While it is a great honor to receive the care and guidance of a respected Master in our industry, I already chose my future direction. Back then, I was confident that I could design the mechs of my dreams with my own abilities! I'm still confident these days. In fact, I'm even more hopeful that I can achieve my goal with Ves by my side!"
The passion she exuded when she talked about her profession was quite intense. Both Ark and Benjamin Larkinson became more impressed by Gloriana. Their unease about her Hexer background gradually eased. They no longer worried as much about Ves being led astray by a woman with a very different view on how men should be treated!
Ves wondered if Gloriana had always been this charming or if she picked up some tricks from him. She clearly went all out to leave the best possible impression behind in their minds!
Eventually, the conversation shifted in a direction where Ark and Benjamin slowly began to hint they wanted to talk to Ves alone.
Gloriana tactfully excused herself. She picked up her cat and left for the restroom in order to freshen up and whatnot.
Once she walked away, both of the older Larkinsons looked at Ves with a mixture of concern and suspicion.
"If your current circumstances are not as ideal as it sounds, please give us a hint." Ark whispered while putting his hand in front of his mouth.
"That's not the case!" Ves softly protested. "There is no coercion or anything like that going on! I genuinely love Gloriana and she loves me back just as much!"
They believed him. "That's good to hear, Ves. We were concerned that the truth was different. After all, just look at how many Hexers are surrounding you. Not only do you have a Hexer as a girlfriend, but you also have a disconcerting amount of Hexer troops surrounding you on all sides!"
"The Glory Battalion are mostly there to protect Gloriana while the Penitent Sisters are hardly aligned with the Hegemony. The latter are basically exiles on punishment duty."
"Sounds like an interesting story."
"I'll tell you about them later. My point is that I'm still an independent man who can make my own decision. I haven't defected to their side, if that is what you are afraid of. I think the best way to describe my relations with the Hexers is that we've become allies. While we share some common interests, I can still make my own choices. Otherwise I wouldn't be so eager to leave this star sector."
Benjamin looked incredibly relieved. "I'm glad to hear that, grandson. While I never had someone like Gloriana in mind when I told you to find a girlfriend, I'm glad to see you have found a woman to your liking. Love is one of the most valuable pleasures in life. Cherish your relationship. The experiences you share with her will only happen once. When you reach my age, you'll realize that your upcoming years will be the happiest moments of your life!"
"I will." Ves softly replied. "I'm committed to Gloriana, and she is to me. While there are several kinks in our relationship, I'm sure we can work them out over time."
"As long as you are happy, Ves. As long as you are happy."
In this moment of reunion, the differences between the Larkinson Family and Larkinson Clan had blurred. Ves and Benjamin were just grandson and grandfather to each other.
This was what family was all about!
Chapter 2028 Defectors
The first day of the meeting between Larkinsons mostly centered around reuniting the separated groups of family members.
A lot of trueblood Larkinsons received the opportunity to greet relatives who they hadn't seen or talked to for months.
Of particular note were the Larkinsons who had been taken prisoner. After DIVA rescued them from Spotlight, they had been brought to the Sentinel Kingdom as promised.
Not a lot of former prisoners seemed thankful that Ves arranged them to be rescued. Ves could feel the resentful stares directed at his position at the head of the banquet.
He didn't blame them for feeling this way. There was no way that Ves could excuse the misfortune thrust upon them due to his actions.
Even so, he wasn't about to apologize to them either. There was hardly any point to it considering that it wouldn't convert them into clansmen.
Ves did not exhibit any surprise when Ark Larkinson mentioned that almost all of the rescued Larkinsons preferred to follow Ark and the old family.
The goals and vision that Ark had set for the Larkinson Family appealed much more to the average family member. The Larkinsons had never dreamt of ruling the galaxy or becoming a dominant power in a star sector.
They just wanted to raise their families and live an honorable life of service, preferably to a worthy cause. They held no desire for adventure and possessed no stomach for taking risks.
Space might be boundless and full of unknowns, but the overwhelming majority of humanity was content with sticking to their familiar corner of the galaxy.
In any case, the rejection he received from so many Larkinsons didn't bother him anymore. He already poached the most open-minded and adventurous relatives from the old family. Whoever remained no longer fit with the profile of his clan.
Another reason why Ves no longer cared as much was due to the recent expansion of the clan. Even though the ten-thousand adopted clansmen still diverged from the ideal mold of a Larkinsons in many ways, their loyalty and dedication to the clan was undeniable!
Ves valued those traits more than blood kinship. Even the Kinners earned more regard than him than most of the members of the old family!
That said, there were always exceptions. Certain individuals within the Larkinson Family still earned his love and respect.
For example, Ves always valued the intimacy he shared with his closest blood relatives. Ark Larkinson and Benjamin Larkinson had both been important figures in his youth. Though he had already grown up and made his own accomplishments, a part of him would always look up to his uncle and grandfather.
He enjoyed his cordial talk with them during the opening banquet. Neither of the two older Larkinsons wanted to make things difficult for him. At no time during their discussion did they press any blame for the turmoil that Ves had directly and indirectly caused.
That said, the three couldn't avoid every difficult topic entirely.
When the conversation turned towards the question of a possible merger between the clan or family, both sides remained stubborn.
"We are all Larkinsons no matter what we believe in." Benjamin argued. "Both of you are different, but it isn't as if we have ever insisted that every Larkinson should be a carbon copy of each other."
"Nice try, grandpa, but it is far too late for that." Ves snorted. "I doubt the old family can stomach the idea of adopting new Larkinsons en masse."
Ark crossed his arms. "While I love Ves as my brother's only son, his ideas are too radical and irresponsible for us to accept."
"I think our current course is already a good outcome. Rather than try to corral a bunch of disagreeing Larkinsons in a single direction, it's best to maintain the split so that every Larkinson can get what they want. Breaking up a group is not always a bad outcome when the benefits outweigh the costs."
"Everyone has a different valuation of the costs." Benjamin depressingly remarked. "In the history of our lineage, we have never suffered a split as awful as now. The amount of friendships and kinships that have been broken the past years has inflicted a lot of damage to our sense of togetherness. Family members should always support each other. Isn't that our rule?"
Neither Ark nor Ves fully agreed with the elder Larkinson. There were only so many differences that they could tolerate.
"I think this outcome is already set in stone." Ves declared. "The best we can do is to manage our permanent split and make sure that there is as little animosity towards each other as possible. There is no need for us to part ways on a bad note."
Though every Larkinson looked a little sad at the mention of going their separate ways from each other, there was no choice.
The Larkinson Family didn't want to get caught up with Ves and his clan's antics ever again. It just wanted to find a stable home where they could resume their old lives as closely as possible.
The Larkinson Clan no longer considered the local star cluster to be their home. There were a lot more gains to be made elsewhere!
As long as this contradiction stood, a merger was off the table.
When Benjamin saw that his weak entreaties of reconciliation fell flat, he no longer tried to mind fences. In the end, his son and grandson were simply too different from each other!
As the evening began to wound down, a notable event took place at the end of the banquet.
A large group of clansmen separated from the ranks of the rest of the clan. Despite wearing their new uniforms, they slowly separated from the family members they spent the last few months with. Though they felt a bit ashamed at their actions, they had already made up their minds!
Ves silently counted the Larkinsons walking up to him. In the end, around a hundred trueblood clansmen committed to their decision to leave the clan!
The clansmen they left behind all sent resentful looks at the defectors. They especially directed their ill will towards Caratan Larkinson, who still carried the mark of shame bestowed by the Golden Cat!
Even the members of the Larkinson Family reacted with mixed emotions at the spectacle. Duty, loyalty and commitment were important values to the Larkinsons. Even though the clansmen had already betrayed the family once by joining the clan, it was still somewhat excusable due to their differences.
For the leavers to change their minds yet again due to losing heart of the risks that the clan intended to take was another matter!
Their conduct was distinctly dishonorable. They had made their choice, but backed off very quickly after they encountered actual danger! If they were soldiers of the Mech Corps, they would have faced disciplinary action if they tried to desert!
Nonetheless, Caratan Larkinson and his band continued to march forward even though all of the attention turned it into something akin to a walk of shame.
"That's less leavers than you initially expected, right?" Gloriana whispered to him as she maintained a very authentic-looking smile.
The initial estimate he received was double the current figure. It seemed that in the intervening months between their journey from Kesseling to Cinach caused a lot of trueblood Larkinsons to reconsider their choice!
The warmth conveyed by the spiritual network and the close intimacy that every clansman shared towards each other probably did much to change their minds.
While Ves wasn't exactly pleased with retaining the clansmen who had been feeble-hearted enough to signal an intention to defect, he did not wish to make this spectacle uglier for everyone involved.
Though Caratan Larkinson received a lot of nasty looks after he had been kicked from the Larkinson Assembly, the stubborn pride of his bloodline compelled him to maintain a straight and dignified demeanor.
He refused to show any shame or defeat! He did not regret the choice he made!
Once the old man stopped in front of Ves, he bowed his head in a stiff manner.
"I wish to formally withdraw myself from the Larkinson Clan. Do I have your permission to leave, patriarch?"
Everyone turned their attention towards Ves. Wearing his red-and-white clan uniform and holding the Larkinson Mandate under his arm, the clan patriarch looked incredibly serious.
"You have my permission to leave."
Just as Caratan was about to turn around and loosen the collar of his clan uniform, Ves extended the book in his grasp.
"Please wait. Before you go, you must undergo one more ritual."
Caratan frowned. "What must I do?"
"Please place your palm on the cover of this book and state your intention to leave."
"Why?" The leaver looked at the book with a mixture of fear and suspicion. By now, every Larkinson knew that there was something strange about the Larkinson Mandate! "I have already filed the necessary paperwork."
"We are a clan that abides by rituals. This is one of the essential rituals I've set for anyone who is permitted to leave the clan. If you are honest in your intentions and do not intend to harm or sabotage us, then we won't have any problems with your departure. If that isn't the case, then we will need to keep you for a while longer."
A lot of defecters and other Larkinsons looked disturbed at this explanation!
"And this.. book.. is going to help you determine whether I sabotaged the clan or something?" Caratan feebly asked.
Ves smiled at Caratan like a shark. "Believe what you will. As long as there is nothing bothering your conscience, you have nothing to fear. Just get on with it already so I won't have to deal with your repulsive presence any longer!"
After a bit of reluctance, Caratan pressed his wrinkly palm on the golden medallion adorning the front cover. With his skin touching the contours of the emblem of the Golden Cat, he once again announced his intention to leave the clan!
"I, Caratan Larkinson, wish to leave the Larkinson Clan! From here on now, I shall hold no obligations to the clan, understanding that I am no longer entitled to its privileges! Let my declaration be witnessed!"
The Larkinson Network began to stir. The Golden Cat, who had been paying attention all this time, extended her claws. A small amount of spiritual energy flowed into them, imparting the intangible claws with mysterious power.
With a single, decisive swipe, the Golden Cat severed the bond that tied Caratan Larkinson to the Larkinson Clan!
For an instant, a profound sense of separation seemed to take place! Though the regular family members didn't sense anything strange, the members of the clan all felt the sudden loss!
The clan no longer ostracized Caratan Larkinson. The clan didn't feel anything about him because he was no longer part of the spiritual network!
Ves observed everything with his spiritual vision. The Golden Cat decided to make a clean cut to the bond, signifying that she didn't have any issue with Caratan.
"Goodbye, Caratan." He spoke after concluding that Caratan hadn't sabotaged the clan or tried to smuggle some classified information on his way out. "No matter how short you have been with the clan, you were our comrade for the time you have been with us. I wish you good luck on your future endeavors with the old family."
Caratan frowned, but refrained from making an acid remark. What was done was done and he got what he wanted. He simply turned around and joined the ranks of the Larkinson Family while slowly peeling off his uniform coat.
"Next, please."
The rest of the defectors followed suit. Everyone of them announced their intention to depart, and the Golden Cat cut them off the Larkinson Network as if she was just taking out the trash!
What Ves found interesting about this ritual was that the defectors may have lost active bonds with the Golden Cat, but still retained a hint of a passive bond. This meant that the Golden Cat treated them like the rest of the members of the Larkinson Family. They weren't part of the clan anymore, but still retained their identity as Larkinsons!
Ves wasn't the only one who sensed the spiritual changes taking place.
Standing a short distance away, Ark Larkinson frowned a bit as he stared at the book his nephew held.
There was more to this ritual than mere symbolism!
Chapter 2029 Sad Ves
The first day of the Larkinson reunion ended on a fairly good note. Despite the defections that took place, the loss to the clan was significantly smaller than Ves expected.
The clan's growing cohesion had already started to take effect! The shared identity among the clan members had all grown to a point where they were truly proud to wear their distinctive uniforms!
The next day, the Larkinsons on Cinach VI continued to mingle with each other. A lot of trueblood clan members received permission to take some time off to meet with their fellow relatives from the other branch of the Larkinsons on an individual basis.
Small groups of Larkinsons gathered together to commiserate about their shared experiences in the good old days.
Even Ves decided to take a break from working on his two mech design projects to meet with some relatives.
When he looked at the list of family members rescued by DIVA, he immediately honed in on a single name.
After arranging a meeting, Ves finally got to meet with one of his favorite cousins at the temporary base rented by the clan.
When Melinda Larkinson stepped into his office, she looked impressed at what she saw along the way!
"Ves! I already knew you were kind of a big deal, but I never imagined you would be able to gather so many mechs and people in your clan!"
"Melinda." Ves dropped his airs and smiled as if he was ten years younger. "I'm so glad to see you safe and sound. I was scared of what might happen to you when the government took you into custody."
The two came close until they hugged each other. Pure affection engulfed the both of them as they were overjoyed to see each other again!
Eventually, they separated and sat down at the desk.
"Spotlight didn't treat me that badly." Melinda remarked. "The government may have rounded up our family, but we never committed any crimes."
"So how are you doing these days?"
"I'm fine. While I miss my old job, I still feel content as long as I'm with the family. I've been spending a lot of time with the Larkinson Family."
"Melinda.. does that mean.."
She sighed. "After hearing about all of the differences between the clan and the family, I really can't make any other choice. I understand what you want and I will always support your efforts, but that isn't me. I don't like fighting. I don't want to seek out conflict. Working at the Planetary Guard was nice because I wouldn't have to ruin other people's lives for a living. I would much rather prefer to protect people with my abilities."
"You can do that as well in the clan." Ves suggested. "The Living Sentinels is perfect for you. My Sentinels are dedicated to protecting the lives and assets of the clan. There won't be any instances where they will be expected to take offensive action."
"Nice try, Ves, but the trouble you seem to attract is rather disconcerting." Melinda threw a strained smile at him. "I heard a lot of tales from the family members I've been lodging with and swapped even more stories with some of the members of your clan through my comm. I think I have a pretty good idea where you want to take the clan. When I asked myself if I wanted to be a part of it, I didn't receive an encouraging answer."
In the end, her heart yearned for a different life. Ves recognized that Melinda truly wouldn't join the clan. With this small hope crushed, he no longer tried to convince his cousin to join the clan. Their values were simply too incompatible with each other.
As the mood turned melancholic between the two, Lucky suddenly floated onto Melinda's lack. He rolled around and presented his belly to the female Larkinson.
"Oh, Lucky! It's good to see you again! You're so cute!"
Melinda enjoyed herself as she caressed Lucky's metallic skin.
"Meow!"
Lucky always seemed to enjoy the affection of women! Ves glanced at his cat with a mix of appreciation and betrayal.
One the one hand, he appreciated Lucky for cheering Melinda up. On the other hand, he resented his cat for his habit of seeking the comfort of others instead of him! It wasn't as if Ves kicked his cat every day!
"Meow meow meow!"
"Oh, you'll miss me too when I'm gone?"
"Meow!"
"Would you like to follow me instead of Ves?"
"..Meow."
Ves immediately sat up straighter in his chair! "Hey, Melinda! Don't steal my cat! He's mine!"
She giggled. "You should learn to share. Besides, I can't take your cat. As you said, he's yours. I wouldn't deprive you of your own family."
After she had her fun, she lifted Lucky away. The cat returned to lounging on the desk.
The two Larkinsons proceeded to chat for a time. They exchanged some stories and talked about their aspirations for the future.
"No offense to you, Ves, but I truly believe in Uncle Ark." She stated. "He's a proven leader and he is willing to do anything to give our Larkinson Family a new home. Compared to the clan, our old family is worse off and needs me more."
"I see. You're right. Our clan is much better off. I suppose you can make a bigger difference to our lineage if you accompany Ark and protect our family members."
"What about you, Ves? I already heard about where you want to take the clan, but I don't quite understand why you are exerting yourself so much. Why are you in such a hurry?"
Though Ves could never possibly tell the truth to her, he still cared enough about Melinda to say at least something to placate her concerns.
"It's.. complicated. I can't really explain myself other than that there is more afoot than what is apparent on the surface. Suffice to say, the disappearance of my father has a lot to do with my actions."
She frowned at this cryptic response. "I see. There's obviously something fishy about all of this, but if you don't want to tell me, I'll respect your decision."
"I'm sorry, Melinda. It would only put you in danger if I told you. Some things just aren't meant to be I guess."
"Are you in danger? Will you be fine without me? If you ever need help, you can always call on me. While I can't do much on my own, I might be able to convince Ark to lend a hand."
"No need." Ves shook his head. "My problems aren't as severe as you think. At the very least, I'm not in imminent danger. I just need to get stronger in order to solve the issues that have been plaguing me for the past few years."
The Mech Designer System, the Five Scrolls Compact and his father's persecution were all issues that Ves was determined to solve. Yet the strength needed to confront them was so much that he needed to be a Master before he was confident enough to confront the conspiracy that enveloped his parents!
"As long as your goal is just, you will always have my support."
"Thank you. That means a lot to me. I will always keep you in my heart."
The two began to wrap up what might possibly be their final moment together. Both of them stood up and hugged each other once again.
"I don't know where the future will take you, Ves, but if you ever want to return to me, you can likely find me and the rest of the Larkinson Family somewhere in this star cluster."
"I know." Ves smiled. "I have your comm contact. We can always talk over the galactic net. Even the Red Ocean is connected to the same network."
He supposed the name of the galactic net was rather outdated now. Properly speaking , the Comm Consortium should encourage everyone to refer to it as the inter-galactic net.
Still, saying that phrase out loud was a massive bother compared to the term that everyone had already been used to saying for centuries.
In any case, both Larkinsons knew that maintaining contact through the galactic net was anything but ideal. The loss resulting from physical separation was simply insurmountable no matter how much technology was being employed.
As Melinda strode towards the exit, she turned around one last time.
"I have been hearing some mixed stories about you lately. I don't know how much of it is true and what you have been really up to. I hope you take your responsibilities seriously and don't lead your clan astray. I would hate it if you turn into one of the criminals that I used to arrest back when I was a Planetary Guard officer."
Ves awkwardly smiled in return. "I always have the best intentions in mind. As the clan patriarch, there is no way I would ever do anything irresponsible. Rest assured that the Larkinsons who are following me will be well taken care of. Honor is still important to us even if we are no longer part of the old family!"
"I'll hold you to that promise, Ves. Farewell."
The door slid open, allowing Melinda to step out into the corridor.
Once the door slid shut, it was as if a piece of his life had left. Ves sank despondently in his chair as he reflected on his final meeting with his favorite and most supportive cousins in his life.
Was this farewell?
Would Ves ever meet her again?
Would the two of them slowly drift away from each other?
The thought of no longer being able to enjoy a pure, personal moment with Melinda caused his eyes to well with tears.
He went through so many harrowing events since he embarked on his career, yet he never cried. Why was this different? Why did his emotions run out of control in this fashion?
A part of him wanted to run out of the door and reach Melinda in order to convince her to stay! If Ves tried hard enough, he could probably find a way to lure her into the clan!
Yet.. as much as his emotions urged him to do so, he knew it wouldn't be right. Melinda had already made a choice with her mind and heart. The only way he could convince her to change her decision was to distort her decision-making process.
Ves had already done so once to his clan when they hesitated on fully integrating the adopted Larkinsons.
Though the decision seemed to work out so far, Ves was very much aware of the dubious ethics behind his action.
He refused to subject Melinda to such treatment! Even he had limits!
"I'm a mech designer, not a politician! I have morals!" He convinced himself!
"Meow?"
Lucky curiously looked up at his owner. His tail swished in the air while he adopted a skeptical expression.
"It's the truth!"
It took half an hour for Ves to regain his composure. Melinda Larkinson wouldn't be the only person he would say goodbye to in the coming days. There were lots of Larkinsons he would likely never see again unless he decided to return home.
His grandfather was perhaps the Larkinson he cared about the most after his father. Benjamin Larkinson was already old and nearing the end of his life.
While it was no problem for the elder Larkinson to hang on for a decade or so, Ves doubted that his grandfather could live any longer.
"There is no way for me to prolong his life either."
He needed to sacrifice too many merits to prolong the life of a former mech pilot. When he compared the cost to extend the life of his grandfather to the delay he would suffer in setting off his grand expedition, he couldn't justify the tradeoff.
"My grandfather wouldn't want me to sacrifice my dreams to extend his existence. He has already lived a full life!"
Chapter 2030 Special Applican
As the Larkinsons from both branches continued to mingle with each other, the clan underwent a large reorganization.
After the Battle of Kesseling VIII, the clan suffered a lot of losses. All of those missing positions had to be filled. In fact, the clan also sought to expand its numbers further in order to ensure it had enough strength to face its challengers!
The Larkinson Clan organized a large recruitment event. Any Sentinel or upstanding person could apply to join the clan!
As long as they possessed valuable skills the clan urgently needed, they became eligible to become Larkinsons!
Though this was a rather sudden shift in policy, Ves encouraged it because he was confident that the adoption ritual was sufficient enough to weed out the weak-hearted and treacherous people among the applicants.
The Larkinson Clan had made it very clear that it wasn't offering a regular employment opportunity. Instead, they sought people who knew what they were getting into and were enthusiastic about taking part in all of the wealth and woe of the clan no matter the danger!
Even if the clan listed out an extremely stringent list of demands, the amount of locals applying to join still flooded the administrators assigned to process them! There were far too many Sentinels and other people who heard about the clan and envied the people who became a part of it!
It was an especially attractive offer to the commoners who led regular lives in the Sentinel Kingdom!
To become adopted by a clan known for its wealth, strength and heritage was a dream come true to many locals who once fantasized about becoming nobles.
Though the Sentinel Kingdom occasionally elevated outstanding commoners into the ranks of nobility, that was a pipedream for many ambitious lowborn citizens. The class system in the Sentinel Kingdom was still a fact of life for many people!
Though the commoners of the Sentinel Kingdom were better off than their counterparts in the Vesia Kingdom, they always yearned for more.
This was why the recruitment opportunities of the Larkinson Clan were so significant. Though the foreign clan didn't necessarily equate to a noble house, to the commoners who didn't know any better, they might as well be the same!
In their eyes, the wealth, prestige, honor and heritage of the Larkinsons already elevated them into nobles in every way that mattered!
While the Larkinson Family emphatically did not seek to adopt anyone, the Larkinson Clan was different!
In the eyes of many Sentinels, the clan was rather crazy for opening its gate so wide! Over the course of the next two months, thousands of people would receive the chance to become a Larkinson and thereby turn into 'nobles'! The frenzy the news ignited among the populace was so great that passenger liners were struggling to handle all of the demand for transit to Cinach VI!
Some local powers were pleased at this development. House Evenson, despite failing to arrange a meeting with Ves in person, were ecstatic at all of the attention that Cinach VI received!
Others, particularly its rival houses, were not so pleased to see so many skilled and talented people leave their domains.
The Larkinson Clan didn't pay attention to the sentiment among the nobles. Their strength and the strength of their Hexers escort meant that there was nothing the local nobles could do to pressure the clan into stopping its activities!
So many people applied to the Larkinson Clan these days that the people responsible for vetting the newcomers had to allocate additional personnel to handle the influx!
For a time, Ves tried to evaluate the applications in person, thinking that his implant allowed him to be very efficient at this task.
He soon gave up. When the applications surpassed a hundred-thousand, there was no way he could properly evaluate every individual in a comprehensive manner!
Ves soon decided to leave the matter to the clan and went back to meeting with important Larkinsons and resuming his work on his ongoing projects.
All sorts of weird and peculiar people applied to join the clan.
The handful of members of the old family who looked at the clan and wanted to be a part of it all got in without issue. They were the only exception! Everyone else had to go through the normal process, which entailed successive rounds of inspection in order to filter out the unsuitable!
At a large venue in downtown Torze, hundreds of people were obediently waiting in line to enter the Larkinson Clan's recruitment hall. The hopes and dreams of many commoners rested inside the hall where the Larkinsons in their dashing uniforms evaluated each of them for their skills and temperament!
In fact, the crowd outside the hall would have grown bigger if not for the preselection that took place before. Automated AIs employed by the clan already scanned their applications and records and already filtered out the vast majority.
The ones who didn't make the cut all failed to meet the basic qualifications. Examples included doing badly at school, a history of behavioral problems or a criminal record. Anything that pointed towards trouble or ineptitude need not apply!
AIs couldn't do everything, however. There was always a chance that the application and records contained lies. Even if some mech technician graduated from technical school with excellent grades, they might have forgotten half they learned after a couple of years!
If there was one thing the Larkinson Clan and Ves especially loathed, it was incompetence!
Since so many people wanted to become a part of the clan, the Larkinsons had the luxury of choosing the very best!
Because expanding the Larkinson Clan was a very serious matter, the clansmen assigned to conduct the recruitment event all took their duties seriously. They not only had to verify in person that the applicants actually possessed the skills the clan urgently needed, but also test their personality and temperament to see if they were compatible with the values of the clan!
It was mostly the latter where the applicants received their crushing rejections!
"I'm sorry young lad, but your personality is better served elsewhere." A Larkinson recruiter shook his head.
"What?! Why!" The young man stood up and thumped his fists against the table! "I know starships like the back of my hand! I'm an excellent helmsman! I'm a spaceborn from birth. I studied how to control the complex propulsion systems of trade ships as I grew up and studied interstellar navigation in university!"
The recruiter sighed. He had seen sights like this all the time. On paper, the applicant was highly suitable. Not only was he a well-trained helmsman and navigator, he also possessed a true spaceborn pedigree, which was something the clan desperately needed more of in order to adjust to life in space!
"Your application has already been rejected by us. While it is true that you are very skilled, your personality wouldn't be a good fit with ours. In particular, we don't find you trustworthy enough."
"That's not fair! There is nothing wrong with my behavior! The previous tests didn't indicate any problems!"
Privately, the recruiter knew that was true, but there was one test which the applicant had failed.
It also happened to be the most important test and the entire reason why the aspiring helmsman and navigator had to look for employment elsewhere!
"Do you remember the instance where you were asked to move close to the Bright Warrior we placed inside this hall?"
"Uh, yes?"
"When you touched it, didn't you exhibit a negative reaction?"
"I was just feeling ill or something! I admired that mech! I thought it was very impressive with how it can affect my emotions. Just give me another chance and I'll hold in my reaction!"
The recruiter shook his head. How many times had he heard that excuse. "Sorry. You only have one shot at it. That's the rule."
The applicant completely lost his composure! "That can't be! I behaved so well! I held myself in so hard in order to become a noble! Please give me another chance!"
As soon as the distressed fellow tried to lunge across the desk, his hands brushed against an energy screen.
Soon enough, a zap from a turret hidden in the ceiling stunned his body to paralysis! A bot soon entered the interview room to haul the reject away.
"This is the seventh time today." The Larkinson recruiter sighed.
Ever since the locals got the notion that joining the Larkinson Clan was the same as becoming a noble, they went through extreme measures to cheat and game the tests!
From bringing government officials to alter the records to presenting a false image of themselves as a model employee, none of their efforts succeeded.
This was because they had to go through a hidden 'integrity' test that entailed exposing them directly to the glow of a Bright Warrior!
While the clansmen administering the tests weren't quite sure what was going on, their faith in the Bright Warriors all caused them to trust this procedure. This was especially so after the rejects all exhibited problems that they hadn't shown before when they still had hope!
The next applicant soon entered the room.
Surprisingly, he didn't come alone. Someone else entered as well!
The recruiter frowned. "Applicants are supposed to enter on an individual basis. If it is not your turn, please exit."
"You must be one of the newer Larkinsons, right? I'm Raella Larkinson, an original member of the family. I came to join the clan!"
"Oh." The recruiter's face softened up. "If you are a trueblood Larkinson, then you aren't required to go through this process. You can join the clan right away!"
"I know that. I already received an appointment to the upcoming induction ceremony. I'm here to support my boyfriend instead!" Raella beamed.
The recruiter turned his gaze at the handsome, confident-looking man dressed in a shirt that failed to hide the muscled contours of his chest and abs.
"Mr.. Ricklin." He said, looking up the applicant's record from his terminal. "Hmm. You're young, that's great. Mech pilot. We need those. Former officer with command experience. That's great. Participated in the Sand War and fought in defense of Bentheim. That is an excellent accomplishment! Hm.. it says here that you have brought a large number of subordinates. You do realize that we will have to test them on an individual basis, correct?"
"I know." Vincent lazily waved his hand. "I already told them the score. If they can't pass the tests, they'll just take over my outfit and run it by themselves."
"Very well. We have received multiple instances of people wishing to apply by group, but we don't do that here."
The recruiter went back to studying Vincent's records and test results. His face soon fell. "There are certain red flags in your record. It says here you once fought for an illegitimate rebel organization and committed acts of murder, sabotage and other assorted terroristic activities."
"I received a pardon for that!" Vincent objected! "The Bright Republic, back when it was still decent, forgave my past deeds! I fought tons of sandmen in order to redeem myself!"
"Vincent is not a bad guy." Raella vouched for her boyfriend.
The recruiter found other warning signs. "It says here that there are several.. irregularities.. with regards to your personality. You are too selfish, narcissistic and immoral!"
Raella shook her head. "Vincent isn't a bastard! He just had a difficult upbringing, that's all! Come on. Give a fellow Larkinson a favor. Just let him through. He can become a great clansman if you give him a chance! Didn't he do well in the remaining tests?"
According to the test results, Vincent didn't elicit any strong reaction from the Bright Warrior. The absence of a negative or positive reaction wasn't necessarily good. The most earnest and capable applicants always received a positive reaction from the mech!
"Besides, I know the big guy in person." Vincent grinned and tapped his comm. A projection of a very masculine-looking mech appeared into view. "I'm one of Ves Larkinson's best buddies, you know! Did you know he and his babe designed the Adonis Colossus for me? I smashed so many sandmen with this mech! I even brought it along with me so I can use this mech to fight alongside other Larkinsons. What do you say? Will you let me into the clan?"
"I'm not sure." The recruiter looked uncertain. "This is outside of protocol. I will need to contact my superior."
"Go ahead. Just mention what I said and I'm sure it will be fine!"
The recruiter privately contacted his superior and passed on the information he received as requested.
The overworked administrator in charge of some of the recruitment process quickly scanned at the information he received.
"Hmm… these red flags can't be ignored, but.. The Adonis Colossus? A mech designed by the clan patriarch in person? Anyone who received his attention must be someone special!"
The fact that Realla Larkinson personally endorsed Vincent Ricklin was also a mark in his favor.
Five minutes later, Vincent Ricklin's application had been approved!
Chapter 2031 Girlfriends and Wives
The Larkinson Family and the Larkinson Clan went along fine for now. Though the two branches of Larkinsons had plenty of disagreements, their upcoming separation led them to cherish their remaining time together.
There was a very big possibility that they would never be able to physically meet again.
Certainly, there were a lot of voices from both sides that called for merging the clan and family back together. Yet those suggestions never made it past the objections from their own ranks.
No matter what, the schism had already happened and the differences cut too deep to even consider the option of reconciliation.
They only converged on Cinach VI in order to resupply and prepare for their journeys ahead.
While Ves was swamped with responsibilities, he made sure to reserve some time every day to talk with the members of the Larkinson Family.
He met Ark a lot more often during this time than the last ten years!
"You were almost always on deployment. It was rare for me to see you outside of family visits during the holidays." Ves remarked as they met in a private room at a restaurant in downton Torze. "At least now you can set your own schedule."
Ark smiled at him in a generous manner. "The burden of leadership doesn't allow me to take any breaks."
"You haven't even married. At least my dad has got that one over you. Grandpa should have been exorcirating you instead of me for lacking a girlfriend!"
The expert pilot's smile turned melancholic. "We expert pilots are different. In many cases, we are consumed by our professions. We are wedded to our calling. It's very hard for us to turn our 'off' switch and go back to normal."
"Plenty of people have made that excuse. Doctors, mech designers, managers… all of them state that they have to sacrifice everything for their careers. And to their credit, I think these kind of people have managed to make it further than if they devoted more time to their personal lives."
"It sounds like you don't agree, Ves."
"What is the meaning of life? Are we solely put into this reality to function as a cog in a machine? I happen to make machines for a living, and I think that there is more to life than just their obvious functions. We are living, sentient existences. We exist to survive, yes, but we are also entitled to our own pleasures."
His uncle sighed. "I don't disagree with you, Ves, but maintaining a healthy work-life balance when the survival of my family is at stake is very difficult, to say the least."
Expert pilots were not infallible. Ves knew that very well. While it wasn't strictly his business to poke into Ark's non-existent love life, Ves felt as if he needed to subject others to the same treatment that he endured!
Ves had Gloriana, so Ark should suffer just as much!
"Grandfather won't be able to hang on forever." Ves whispered, his eyes glinting with calculation. "He looks fine if a bit frail for now, but you and I both know that former mech pilots deteriorate remarkably faster in their waning years. How long can he maintain his lucidity? How long can his cognitive functions remain normal? In five or seven years, it would be too late to delight him. You should look into finding someone to share your life with, not just to ensure the continuity of your line, but also make grandpa happy one more time."
Though Ark knew he was being manipulated by his cheeky nephew, he couldn't quite refute this argument.
While his workload hadn't changed since his days in the Mech Corps, he had much more control over his agenda.
If he truly wanted to date someone, he could definitely find a way to fit it into his schedule.
"I'll think about it. Your grandfather is indeed about to enter a stage of accelerated deterioration. The long years of piloting and the brain damage he endured when he suffered defeat has always plagued him over the years."
This was the fate suffered by many veterans. The Larkinson Family was no stranger to the lingering trauma that wounded veterans brought back from the war.
As they continued to partake in a Sentinel specialty that consisted of some blue potatoes and some exobeast meat, they continued to chat about various topics.
"What are your plans for the immediate future?" Ves asked.
"The Larkinson Family needs a new home. It's vitally important for us to choose the right one. We aren't as averse to serving as your clan, so our greatest priority is to find a new patron who will treat us fairly."
"That is very hard to do. Most powers who are interested in accepting the services of a group like the Larkinson Family are those who are looking out for themselves. It's far too easy to get exploited by them if you put your trust in the wrong person."
"We know, Ves. We're being very careful about our selection this time. Don't think we are clueless or without resources. We are slowly going over possible options in the Yeina Star Cluster. While I have no doubt that there are more attractive opportunities elsewhere, long-distance travel is too risky and dangerous for us. Unlike you, I have no intentions to form an expeditionary fleet."
A fleet that was capable of traversing the galaxy was entirely different from a fleet that was mostly expected to remain in a single star sector!
Due to various reasons, a true interstellar fleet had to possess robust FTL drives that could overcome a higher degree of gravitic disturbance. The FTL drives installed on most affordable third-class ships were actually the knock-off versions of proper models that were much more capable of enduring the rigors of inter-sector travel and higher-energy space!
Right now, neither the Larkinson Clan nor Larkinson Family possessed a fleet that was completely capable of traveling to the more exciting parts of human space.
Certainly, if Ves really wanted to cross over to another star sector, he could travel aboard one of his second-class ships such as his Scarlet Rose or the Barracuda.
However, that also meant he would have to leave the rest of his clan behind! All of those cheap light carriers and transport ships were only built for intrsector space travel!
To make them suitable for longer distances, Ves needed to find a couple of shipyards that could replace their cheaper FTL drives with better-performing ones!
Right now, the clan was merely exploring the option. Ves did not expect to hear any easy or affordable solutions. There was a very good reason why most third-rate states eschewed the more premium FTL drive models. Many of them actually cost more than the ships they were supposed to be installed!
Of course, Ves had also heard of engineers who were capable of allowing FTL drives to propel starships to places where they had no right to be. A skilled chief engineer with a high degree of proficiency in FTL theory could draw out a lot more potential from an FTL drive.
The only issue was that FTL drives operated within a range of performance parameters that guaranteed a high degree of safety and reliability. Anytime anyone exceeded those parameters, they incurred a risk the FTL transition might go wrong or that they might not end up at the destination they envisioned!
This was why good engineers were priceless. They took calculated risks and often succeeded in what they set out to do because of their high degree of understanding.
In any case, hiring skilled engineers was something the Larkinson Clan was already in the process of doing. While most of their ships didn't have the right FTL drives yet, it was never too early to prepare the appropriate crew!
"How are the finances of the Larkinson Family?"
"We're making do." Ark mildly replied. "We don't need your charity. The 1 percent stake in the LMC is already sufficient for us to make ends meet. We have our own pride, Ves. We'll earn our keep one way or another. For now, we plan to look for reasonable employment opportunities in the Sentinel Kingdom. There is a lot of demand for mercenaries to defend important assets against pirate raids these days. This kind of low-level conflict is suitable for us to get our bearings."
"I'm sure that many employers would pay a fortune for an expert pilot bodyguard." Ves smiled.
"I am aware. I don't relish working too closely with the local aristocracy. The nobles from this state reminds me too much of the nobles from the Vesia Kingdom."
Both of them shared the impression. No matter how well-behaved the nobles appeared in public, every Larkinson knew that there was a darker side to them! If the old family wished to maintain its spotless reputation, then it needed to steer clear of the swamp!
After revealing some of their future plans, it was almost time for them to return to work.
Before they left, Ves realized that he might be able to ask a question that had been nagging him for some time. He didn't dare to voice this question through the galactic net.
"Ark.. about my father.. do you know how he met my mother?"
His uncle suddenly frowned. "What an odd question to ask."
"I don't know that much about my mother." Ves truthfully said. "My childhood memories of her are rather sparse considering that she died too early."
"That.. was a very unfortunate tragedy." Ark conveyed his empathy in his tone. "I think we were all fortunate that your father held up remarkably well after her passing. Ryncol could have shut down from depression and neglected your upbringing, but in fact he did the opposite. It was as if your mother's passing hardly affected his mood."
Ves was lucky to be raised by an attentive and caring dad. "I know. What I want to know is what my mother was truly like when she was alive. While I have my early memories to go on, I'd like to hear what you thought of her. What was it about her that made my father fall in love with her, and what kind of person was she like?"
Ark began to smile. "I'm not too sure, actually. Your grandpa should know a bit more. You have to be aware of the circumstances of the previous generation. More than twenty years ago, the Bright-Vesia War was exceptionally bloody. Unlike the last time where an early peace treaty concluded the hostilities early, the one that baptized your father and I in blood and fury lasted for years. Pretty much every Larkinson who survived this war returned damaged, some more so than others."
"I always heard that my father had become affected with what he had experienced."
"That's true. Unlike me, your father.. came back a lot more damaged. He took an extended leave after the war in order to process what he had been through. He was rather odd at the time. He traveled a lot. At some point, he returned with your mother by his side. By then, they were very close to marrying."
Ves blinked. It sounded as if his mother worked very quickly!
"What about after they married?" He asked.
"They settled down in Cloudy Curtain. It's close enough to your father's assigned unit that he would be able to return frequently, but remote enough to give him the peace and quiet he always desired after he returned from the war. While your father resumed a portion of his service, your mother took care of you for most of your early years."
"What was my mother like to you?"
Ark hummed for a while. "I don't have the strongest impression of her, to be honest. I didn't get to see her that often. As far as I can recall, Cynthia was a loving mother and a gentle woman."
"Was she a Brighter?"
"Of course." Ark looked confused. "There's no doubt. Her accent and mannerisms are all unmistakably Brighter. You can look up her record if you want, though I'm not sure if they are all intact after the fall of Bentheim."
Ves didn't know what to make of this answer. The mother who raised him might be different from the ghost who had been haunting him from time to time. It could also be that his mother was very good at disguising her true self.
"She was an artist when she was alive, right?"
"Yes." Ark nodded. "In fact, I always appreciated her art. While I'm not well-versed in the art industry, I always thought she had the talent to break into Bentheim's art scene. She never did, though. Aside from raising you, she mostly performed smaller jobs such as recording weddings or taking school pictures."
"Do you have any artwork of hers?"
"Don't you?"
Ves shook his head. "No. I think my father got rid of her stuff or stored it somewhere else. I don't know."
"Well.. I think your grandfather possesses some gifts and mementos."
"That's great!"
Chapter 2032 The Artist Known as Cynthia
Ves often suspected that he obtained his mech side from his father and his artistic side from his mother.
Later in his life, he learned he probably inherited a lot more from the latter. His high spiritual perception, for example.
Ever since she seemingly came back from the death to steal his possessions and siphon away his energy, Ves had been plagued by questions concerning his mother's background.
While her mother's past wasn't exactly a critical issue to him right now, he hadn't forgotten about it either. Since his grandfather possessed some gifts of hers, Ves might as well take more time off his schedule to study her work.
Was she truly an artist? Ves recalled that in his early days, the System didn't rate his creativity very high.
Admittedly, that was also because Ves didn't engage too much in art those days. He was so obsessed with the technical side of mech design that he didn't fully realize the importance of creativity in his profession.
Only after he absorbed a lot of Creativity Candies did his imagination bloom.
Maybe his mother was the same way, he thought. Maybe she wasn't cut out to be an artist, but augmented herself in a way that allowed her to pass off as one. Did she use the same pills as he did?
Seeing how he himself turned out when he ingested so many candies, it was no wonder his mother came across as eccentric!
The day after Ves issued his request, Gavin entered his office and delivered a package.
"The Larkinson Family sent this over. They told us it came from your grandfather."
"Ah." Ves smiled. "I requested that. Just place it on the table and I'll see to it later. Let's hold our daily briefing first."
Nothing much happened during the past few days. The resupply effort continued and the clan made a lot of headway in selling their valuable scrap scavenged off the battlefield of Kesseling VIII for a princely sum.
Normally, no one would ever dare to purchase scrap that originated from downed CRC mechs, but this was the Sentinel Kingdom! The powerful third-rate state not only needed a lot of high-grade exotics to build more powerful mechs, but also enjoyed the implicit protection of the Fridaymen's mortal enemies!
"The profit we expect to make after selling all of our valuable but difficult-to-work with scrap can give us a month or three of extra time." Gavin finally concluded. "That said, the various expenditures that we are incurring eats up most of the money we've earned. Some of the supplies we are stockpiling are very useful in keeping our ships and mechs running for years, but they don't come cheap in larger quantities."
"Do whatever is necessary." Ves dismissively waved his hand. "It's better to procure too much and not need all of it than the opposite. I've been in too many situations where I was lacking critical resources. Being able to procure most of what we need is a luxury that we should cherish."
"Understood."
"How is the recruitment going?"
"Same as always, boss. Our recruiters are hard-pressed to separate the wheat from the chaff, but the people we are hiring are highly-skilled and talented for their age. Upon your request, we limited the amount of older people we are hiring."
This was not due to a desire to discriminate on the eldery. Ves merely wanted to obtain new clan members who he could invest in when they were young and reap the benefits for many decades.
While it wouldn't be possible to hire competent engineers in usual circumstances, the willingness to become a Larkinson clansman was so high in Sentinel that a significant amount of genuine talents came to Cinach VI on their own accord!
Ves knew that these valuable talents usually signed contracts with other scouters and recruiters while they were still working towards their degrees. It was very difficult to seek out a genuine talent that hadn't been locked up by some other company, but now was different! A lot of those talents were even willing to tear up their previous contracts if they could become a Larkinson clansmen!
"I think we are on track of hiring enough Sentinel ship crew to reduce our dependence on the Ylvainans." Gavin noted with a smile.
"That is good news. As much as the True Believers seem loyal to us, the extra insurance is still nice."
The mass recruitment period was a precious opportunity to address the various problems and shortcomings of their current workforce. The departure of a hundred Larkinsons and thousands of employees who refused to join the clan left a lot of manpower holes that urgently needed to be filled.
"Aside from native Sentinels, a small number of Brighters passed the recruitment tests and are slated to be inducted into the clan as well." Gavin dutifully reported. "I believe some of the names might sound familiar to you. Ever since the Battle of Bentheim, a lot of citizens fled the Bright Republic. A few of them have managed to make it all the way to Sentinel and sought to join our clan when they heard we were recruiting."
"As long as they aren't related to the scum who turned against the Larkinson Family, I will welcome any Brighter. With all of the different cultures mixing in my clan these days, a few more Brighters will help me feel a bit closer to home."
In the future, he would come to regret this statement.
"If you say so, boss. We'll look out for more Brighters in the region."
The daily briefing finally ended. When Ves made sure that Gavin departed his office, he dismissed the rest of his guards barring Nitaa.
His eyes rested on the simple parcel sent by the Larkinson Family. The box was just a bog-standard courier container. Ves experimentally tried to reach out with his spiritual senses but perceived nothing unusual inside.
Ves did not let down his guard. Anything related to his mother was either dangerous or suspect.
That also applied to himself!
He turned to Lucky. "Stay close to me and protect me if anything happens."
"Meow?"
"I'm serious!"
"Meow meow."
"What do you mean? My mother is probably the most dangerous member of my family!"
Lucky directed a mocking look at him. This cheeky cat!
"Who's side are you on?! Don't think I forgot about the previous times you sided with my mother!"
"Meow!"
Lucky rolled around in the air until his back faced Ves. His tail indolently swished as if he stopped paying attention!
Ves grumbled as he turned his attention back to the box. After a bit of hesitation, he finally opened to reveal a small, carved statuette of his mother and father.
"What a lovely piece." He whispered.
There wasn't anything exceptional about the way it had been carved and shaped. He instinctively guessed his mother probably fashioned it from a block of wood sourced from a nearby tree at his childhood home.
The statue looked remarkably life-life and accurate to reality, but he recognized plenty of smaller touches that showcased a distinct art style. If Ves had to describe it, then he would say that his mother had a preference towards realistic art, but spiced it up with exaggerated elements.
In his memory, his father and mother didn't look this handsome and beautiful!
What struck him the most about this statuette was not its appearance, but the design choices that his mother had made. From the material to the pose of the subjects, every choice was deliberate and carried some kind of meaning.
Unfortunately, Ves didn't know his mother's work well enough to analyze what most of her choices meant. He could only entertain himself with unreliable guesses.
After five solid minutes of observation and analysis, Ves had his fill with the mundane aspects of the statuette.
"It's time to find out if it carries anything exceptional."
Ves wasn't sure if his mother imbued anything special to what was supposed to be a casual gift to his grandfather, but he hoped he might be able to uncover something.
Unlike his own spiritually-empowered works, the statuette didn't radiate a glow. Yet the more he observed it with his spiritual senses, the more he thought it hid something unusual.
Ves began to exert more effort in his examinations. He strengthened his spiritual efforts and expended so much energy to seek something unusual.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, his mind flashed brightly! After his senses penetrated the statuette past a certain degree, he abruptly encountered something strange!
Though it was hidden and self-contained, Ves recognized the spiritual residue for what it was! It carried the same 'flavor' as the ghost that he encountered in recent years!
His eyes were filled with shock! "So it's true. She's my mother after all!"
He had obtained near-definite proof that the mother who birthed him and raised him was the same as the ghost who claimed her identity!
Though Ves was paranoid to acknowledge that this might be part of an elaborate ruse, it was too convoluted for him to bother. In this case, he was much more inclined to apply Occam's razor and accept the most obvious explanation!
Now that he finally found something, he eagerly studied the spiritual residue.
It was small in quantity but very high in quality. His mother probably didn't set out to empower the statuette consciously. It was just that she concentrated for hours to make the statuette that she passed on a small amount of spiritual energy during her creation process.
What Ves found peculiar was that the spiritual residue in the statuette didn't seem complete. It lacked a lot of spiritual attributes he expected to find.
That signified to Ves that his mother may have purposefully imbued the statue with her spirituality, but in a highly altered form.
When Ves inspected the attributes, he found that most of them were benign.
"Happiness, family, love, affection…"
All of these traits subtly enhanced the appeal of the statuette to someone like his grandfather.
There was one attribute that possessed a lot more presence than the other presence!
When Ves tried to identify this strong attribute, he couldn't help but be reminded of what he sensed from the previous relic he inspected.
"Motherhood!"
His eyes quickly sharpened as he inspected the depiction of his mother in a carved form. He specifically looked at her belly and realized that it bulged slightly more than usual!
"She was pregnant when she carved this work!" Ves uttered in realization!
That explained the mix of attributes she passed on in the statuette. Though ostensibly the piece was about their couple, in actuality his mother had been channeling her hopes and expectations of motherhood!
A very warm feeling engulfed his mood. Regardless of how his mother turned up these days, back then she was genuinely happy when she carried him in her womb!
"This feeling.. it's so pure and pleasant."
He almost couldn't equate the sensations he was feeling now with the ghostly mother who reintroduced herself into his life. The transition from life to death must have done much to alter her psyche!
As Ves entertained various theories, he suddenly had a stroke of inspiration.
The sense of motherhood he gained from the statue was so pure and and exceptional that it might make for a good ingredient for one of his upcoming mechs!
Having worked on the Hexer mech for months, Ves had always tried to design it in a way to make it with a design spirit derived from the Idol of the Superior Mother.
While such a spiritual product would probably turn out okay with his current abilities, he always felt as if the spiritual residue from the former Hexer relic wasn't enough.
In order to create a spiritual product that was powerful enough to influence the Komodo War, Ves knew he had to add additional ingredients to increase the dimensions of his creations!
Though Ves already planned to borrow some spiritual energy from sources like Qilanxo, adding one that revolved more explicitly around motherhood would be a great addition!
"This is a fantastic idea!" He grinned. "This is the perfect way to elevate my next mech!"
Using his own mother as an ingredient, why didn't he think of it before!?
Chapter 2033 Hippolyta War College
Ever since he obtained the statuette carved by his mother, he felt more at ease with himself. He not only obtained a few important answers to his questions, but also something valuable to add to one of his upcoming mechs!
When he visited the design lab the next day, everyone couldn't help but notice his brightness.
"You seem inordinately happy today." Gloriana remarked as she prepared herself for another mental design session. "Did something good happen between the family and the clan?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just in a good mood to design our mech today." He replied.
"Well, before we start, you should talk to Maisie Ann and Rennie. My two cute students have learned enough to do well in the Hegemony! I plan to send them off within the month so that they arrive in time to begin the next semester!"
Ves widened his eyes. "They're departing?! Now?"
"Do you want to delay their future?" Gloriana frowned. "I know it's rather abrupt, but a university in the Hegemony has finally accepted our request. This is a lifetime opportunity to them, Ves! It won't be easy to admit them in any other second-class university in the coming years."
He knew she was right. The two female Larkinson seeds deserved to learn how to design mechs in the best possible institutions.
He was just a bit uncomfortable with the idea of carting them off to Hexer schools of all places.
"Which institution agreed to admit the girls?"
"Hippolyta War College. It's a mid-ranked university that is affiliated with our military. A lot of graduates from its programs go on to serve in the Hex Army."
Ves frowned. "I didn't agree to send Maisie and Rennie off to the Hegemony to take part in the Komodo War!"
"You don't have to worry about that." Gloriana crossed her arms and smiled. "Joining the Hex Army is optional to the graduates of the college, and besides, the two girls are foreigners, so they are ineligible anyway."
He calmed down a bit when he heard that. His girlfriend made a lot of sense. Maisie and Rennie would just be regular foreign students in a state that thinks that women are the superior gender and that boys needed to be taught a lesson. There were a lot of other matters he should be concerned about!
"How long will their program last?" He asked.
A mech design degree could be obtained from as little as four years to as much as eight years. The latter was a rather extreme case, though. It depended heavily on the quality of the institution, the qualifications of the professors, the laws and regulations of the state and the overall degree of development of the state and region.
"It depends on how well they do in their studies." Gloriana answered. "The shortest track is just five years. That is enough to get their foot off the ground but not much more. If they achieve better results, then they can enter a more promising track that will allow them to make a running start in their careers!"
"I see."
The War College adopted a merit and achievement-based approach, then. This sounded good, because the two Larkinson seeds would have a fair chance to prove themselves.
The only downside was that their foundation still paled in comparison to the elite Hexer mech design students whose bodies were probably stuffed with augmentations!
Ves fell into a brief silence. He knew the current state of the two girls. Their learning ability was better than the average person, but not enough to keep up with their second-rate counterparts!
"What about their augmentations? We planned for Dr. Ranya to foist them all with implants and gene mods, right?"
"There's no time, Ves. I'll just have to contact someone at Hippolyta to augment them when they arrive. As long as there are no complications, they should have just enough time to acclimatize themselves with their new improvements before the semester starts."
That sounded a bit iffy. Ves turned his head to look at the two girls. Right now, they looked ecstatic at the thought of attending a Hexer university!
"Give me a moment, Gloriana. I need to read up on what you said."
He turned away from her and pressed his finger against a port from a nearby console. After his implant connected to its systems, he entered the galactic net to read up on some articles.
He gained a very quick overview of the Hexer higher education system.
It turned out that Hippolyta was a fairly respected institution, which reassured him. It also maintained a very competitive atmosphere, which basically meant that the students had to outdo each other in order to gain more resources and attention from their teachers!
"It all starts in the first semester." He muttered.
Those who gained an advantage at the start immediately received more attention. Those who fell behind or were just a few steps slower would not be able to enter the more promising tracks!
Even when the hard-working ones received more focus, the competition didn't end there. They had to increase their efforts and meet higher standards in order to retain the favor of the professors.
Those who failed to endure the pressure or slipped up in their students would immediately be moved to a lesser track!
"Only Hexers could come up with a sadistic program like this! There is no time for any of the students to relax!"
Gloriana, who observed him from the side while playing with Clixie, smirked at him. "That's exactly what Hippolyta is all about. Its graduates may not be as brilliant or inventive as the mech designers who studied at Kelma University or the Artemis Institute, but they are the best in working under pressure and under less-than-ideal conditions! That makes them a lot more suitable for the military!"
That made sense. The professors at Hippolyta didn't play all these games because they liked to torture the next generation. They sought to challenge and push their students so that they unearthed more of their potential.
In a way, Ves was reminded of the market-based competition system imposed by the Leemar Institution of Technology. The LIT sought to stimulate its students as well by forcing them to apply their newly-learned skills to do all sorts of jobs to the other people in the campus.
Regardless of the structure these universities adopted, the attrition was doubtlessly severe! The amount of dropouts from Leemar was staggering and Hippolyta was almost just as cutthroat! The schools had no use for those who stumbled or failed! There were so many eager students who wanted to study at them that they never ran out of replacements!
As much as Ves found Hippolyta's teaching methods distasteful, he had to admit that the pressure they exerted on their students simulated reality quite well.
Ves would have probably been a lot better off if he successfully managed to pass this kind of rigorous program!
When Ves gazed at the two girls he was about to send off to one of the strictest universities of the Hegemony, he began to reconsider one of his rules.
After Carlos, after his traitor of an exobiologist, Ves vowed to refrain from bestowing his Attribute Candies to someone else.
While they always did as promised, there was no way they came without side effects!
Yet.. it wasn't as if other forms of augmentations were devoid of side effects either. Right now, it was very troublesome to fit the two Larkinson seeds with augmentations when they were so close to beginning their studies.
After warring within himself, he eventually gave in to the urgency of the situation.
If he wanted to set up his Larkinson seeds for success, then he needed to stop holding back.
The future of Maisie and Rennie was at stake. As third-raters, they were already significantly behind their Hexer peers. While Ves wanted them to endure some hardships in order to set them up for success, he didn't want them to hit a wall!
He sighed. He stood up from his terminal and approached the group of teenagers. They all fell silent as soon as he approached.
"Patriarch."
"Patriarch."
"Patriarch."
"Patriarch."
He disliked being addressed by this title in the design lab, but they insisted on it. Ves meant far too much to the Larkinsons these days to be referred to on a casual basis!
Ves observed the four closely. He especially took the time to inspect their bonds to the spiritual network.
Just like any other clansmen, their bonds were healthy and hale. There was no sign the Golden Cat disliked them or anything. That meant that Ves could probably trust them to keep a secret.
"Maise, Rennie, since the two of you are about to begin your studies in the Hegemony, I'd like to impart you with some.. gifts. They'll help you keep up with the Hexers, though you still need to maintain a very demanding work ethic in order to excel."
The two girls immediately looked eager at what he was about to give! With his power and wealth, he could bestow them with all kinds of useful gifts that could make their time at Hippolyta easier!
"What about us, patriarch?" Maikel meekly asked.
Ves turned to the two boys and saw that they distinctly felt as if they were being left out.
Since he intended to keep Maikel and Zanthar by his side, the two didn't strictly need his gifts. He could tailor their curriculum to their level and make sure they were challenged but not overstressed.
Yet.. if he bestowed them with the same benefits as the girls, their learning efficiency would likely soar as well. That meant that Ves would have to spend less time to lecture them, which meant that he would have more time left to work on his own projects!
This reason alone was enough for him to change his mind yet again!
"The four of you, please come with me. Let's get you somewhere comfortable. Tell me, do you like candy?"
"Huh? Candy?" Maikel looked confused.
A half hour later, the four Larkinson seeds exited his office with the biggest headache of their lives! They groaned and all dragged their bodies out of the design lab as if they had just completed an arduous exam!
Ves watched them go with a smile. When he directed his System vision at them, they all returned the same results.
[Maikel Larkinson]
Intelligence: 1.6
Creativity: 1.4
Concentration: 1.8
[Zanthar Larkinson]
Intelligence: 1.6
Creativity: 1.4
Concentration: 1.8
[Maisie Ann Larkinson]
Intelligence: 1.6
Creativity: 1.4
Concentration: 1.8
[Rennie Larkinson]
Intelligence: 1.6
Creativity: 1.4
Concentration: 1.8
Though he had to sacrifice some precious DP to procure all of the Attribute Candies from the System, it was worth it in his opinion.
Ves did not go overboard with upgrading their mental attributes this time. He already learned first-hand that too much of a boost would lead to much more severe side effects!
He dialed back on the Intelligence and Creativity Candies in order to make sure the four kids were still sufficiently grounded.
In fact, he already took into account that their Intelligence would likely be boosted in the future when they received their future augmentations. Putting their current score at 1.6 was a nice starting point.
As for Concentration, he was a bit more generous with that because it would help immensely in increasing the efficiency of their studies without making it too effortless.
Besides, Ves suspected that Concentration was one of the critical attributes related to spiritual potential!
"This is a pretty nice experiment." Ves grinned as he stroked his smooth-shaven chin.
Though the four kids were more than just a set of numbers, their cognitive abilities should still be similar enough to allow for comparisons!
In any case, with four different test subjects, Ves could tweak and alter their individual conditions in order to figure out the best way to teach his students!
Chapter 2034 The Lady of Plants
The Larkinsons weren't the only people who made good use of their stay in the Cinach System.
Though the Hexers hadn't attracted any publicity aside from their remarkable identity, they hadn't been sitting idle.
For example, the Glory Battalion surreptitiously borrowed some of the best mech servicing facilities on the planet to restore and repair the mechs that got wrecked during the Battle of Kesseling VIII. They hadn't been able to restore them during the voyage to the Sentinel Kingdom, but it was different now that they had access to proper industrial machines.
The Penitent Sisters hadn't attracted any attention either, but their presence still loomed heavily over the planet. Able to field hundreds of mechs on land and in the air, they were definitely the most powerful non-military force in the star system!
Certainly, the local noble houses could probably defeat them if they pooled all of their household troops. Yet the cost would be ruinous. Not only would they lose thousands of mechs and mech pilots to achieve a pyrrhic victory, but also completely ruin their relationship with the local dominant power in this side of the star sector!
There was no way the nobles would be stupid enough to try anything funny! In fact, if even a single descendant of their uttered such madness, they would instantly be muffled and be taken somewhere very far away where they would never be seen again!
These what-ifs scenarios described the enormous regard the Sentinels attached to the Hexers.
No matter how much the Sentinels tried to take pride in themselves, they couldn't change the inescapable fact that the Komodo Star Sector only had room for two second-rate states.
The resource endowment that often served as the basis of a state's potential was not that remarkable in the territories of the Sentinel Kingdom.
In fact, it wasn't much better off than the Bright Republic and the Vesian Kingdom!
The only difference that allowed the Sentinel Kingdom to develop further than other third-rate states was its access to some of the resource endowments of the Nyxian Gap!
Though infested by pirates, the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association often ventured to the Nyxian Gap and returned with a number of bounties and rare exotics!
These activities may have increased the strength and prosperity of Sentinel over the years, but a true second-rate state like the Hegemony still dwarved over it to an overwhelming degree!
Within the heart of every Sentinel, they knew they were ultimately subordinate to the Hexers. If their patron state ever won the Komodo War, then the locals knew they were in for a lot of changes in the way they treated their men and women!
A sense of helplessness suffused the Sentinels with regards to this uncertainty. Many of them, especially the men, secretly rooted for the Friday Coalition to win the war!
Yet even if they held such treacherous thoughts, they never dared to voice them out loud.
For their part, the Hexers didn't care what the lesser states thought. There would be plenty of time after they won the Komodo War to reshape the Komodo Star Sector in their image!
Until then, it was best to maintain a light presence and treat the lesser people with at least some cordiality.
It was for this reason that Dr. Ranya didn't insist on entering the marketplace of the local branc of the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association straight away.
Instead, she made a modest request and went through all of the procedures before receiving permission.
As an exobiologist, she studied the wonders of life and biological systems. What delighted people of her profession the most was encountering exotic new lifeforms that had evolved under very rare conditions!
This meant that an anomalous region like the Nyxian Gap always held more attraction to her than a normal ecosystem. Why would she waste her time on something boring when the galaxy was filled with unknowns just waiting to be explored?
To advance her research and achieve unique results, she needed to move beyond the confines of the mundane.
The thought of taking a close look at all of the varied exoplants and rare exotics that the Peacekeepers retrieved from the Nyxian Gap made her incredibly excited!
For this visit, she invited both Gloriana and Brutus to accompany her to the Peacekeeper branch.
Though both of them were considerably busy with their own responsibilities, they nonetheless accepted her offer.
The three Wodins along with a number of bodyguards quickly boarded the Serendipity to travel from Cinach VI to Cinach XII.
Situated much further away from the local sun, Cinach XII was not exactly the hottest planet in the star system.
Still, through clever terraforming, the global climate was still within human tolerance!
As their shuttle was just about to reach the campus of the Peacekeepers, the two female Wodins comfortably chatted while Brutus remained stoically silent.
"It's rare to see you out of your design labs these days."
"Designing mechs isn't easy, Ranya. While one of our projects is easy enough to leave to our assistants, the other mech is considerably harder to pull off. Ves and I still have to exert the utmost of our design capabilities to ensure its performance remains within acceptable bounds!"
"That's the Hexer mech project you were talking about, right?"
Gloriana beamed. "Even though Ves is in charge of the project, I think it holds a lot of potential! While many of his mech ideas sound outlandish, I have to admit that the one we are currently working for truly possesses the potential to swing the war! The only issue is to make our mech gain acceptable by the Hex Army. That's something that will largely depend on whether my boyfriend can make good on his claims about the potential of our mech."
Ranya regarded her cousin with a suspicious look. "Why do I get the feeling that your mech has the potential to spark an upheaval in our state? Look at what Ves has already done. Whether directly or indirectly, his intervention ultimately trashed the Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate!"
"He's not that bad, Ranya. The two states you've mentioned got exactly what was coming for them for siding with the Fridaymen! Our state won't make that mistake because we are smarter!"
Ranya nodded in agreement. By now, even she fully recognized the incredible value that Ves could bring. Gloriana did the Hegemony a great service by snatching him away from the influence of the Fridaymen!
As the two continued to chat, Gloriana inquired about her latest research.
"I haven't achieved much results." Ranya admitted with a sigh as she raked her hand through her plant-like green hair. "I spent almost half a year preparing for your boyfriend's stupid implant operation. Not only that, he now expects to prepare over a dozen full augmentation plans for his assistants and his students! That will take forever to complete!"
"Are you angry that you are taking orders from a boy?"
Ranya shook her head. "Not as much. I'm already getting used to the way the galaxy outside of Hegemony space works. It's just infuriating that I'm always expected to complete these errands just because I'm the most qualified exobiologist in the fleet!"
"Well, ever since Ves' pet exobiologist attempted to kill him, we haven't been able to hire a replacement, so you're the only one available."
That was a pretty ugly event. Ranya had been in the same operation room when the betrayal happened, and she had no clue that something like this could occur!
"We need more dedicated geneticists and implant surgeons to take over my workload. While I have managed to pass on some work to the medical specialists of the Glory Battalion, they are mostly trained to treat battlefield injuries and various afflictions, so they're of limited use in procedures that involve improving humans. A lot still rests on my shoulders, and I have a feeling that Ves will want to augment a lot more people aside from his mech designers!"
"Don't worry about that." Gloriana reassured her cousin. "From what Ves has told me, the clan is already in the process of hiring some promising biotech experts. It will take a long time to entrust them with greater responsibilities, but you'll soon be able to get back to your pet projects."
"No offense, but the specialists from the Sentinel Kingdom won't be as good as me. Ves expects his chosen people to receive the same treatment that Hexers enjoy, so I am still expected to play an essential role in the augmentation process."
"I'll discuss the matter with Ves a bit further, but I think it would be hard for us to hire a geneticist and implant surgeon that is up to standard."
"We've arrived, ladies." Brutus suddenly announced.
The shuttle landed in the VIP section in the middle of the campus. The three Wodins emerged from the shuttle and showed no hint of appreciation of the architecture and scenery of the local branch of the Peacekeepers.
A female public relations director from the Peacekeepers personally came up to greet the Hexers.
"Honored guests, on behalf of the Sentinel Peacekeeper Association, we welcome you to our premises. While our humble branch doesn't offer a lot of amenities, we shall do our best to accommodate your needs."
"We're not interested in anything else aside from the goods that you have to offer."
The director already expected this request. "Please allow me to guide you to the trading halls. While our branch doesn't offer the largest selection of Nyxian goods, we have already been authorized to open our internal stores for you. Regular guests aren't allowed to enter our most coveted halls where the Peacekeepers trade between themselves."
When Ves visited the branch during his first visit to Sentinel, he already guessed the Peacekeepers kept the best goods to themselves. Only when the Peacekeepers and the nobles affiliated with them got their pick would the remaining goods be offered to the public.
When Gloriana and Ranya entered the first internal trading hall, their eyes instantly lit up! Gloriana became interested in the weird and unidentified chunks of minerals lying around while Ranya immediately turned her gaze towards the small but very varied collection of exotic plants!
Since this was Ranya's initiative, they visited the plant section first. A lot of the plant organisms retrieved from the Nyxian Gap had already died, but there were plenty of them that were kept alive by storing them in precisely-configured self-contained climate chambers.
Though she was only at the start of her career, Ranya could already imagine the possibilities when she studied the brief details of the items on offer.
From space-faring purple vines that extracted nutrients from asteroid to leafy black trees that absorbed energy from radiation, the diversity of exoplants on offer already dazzled her! Only the Exobiology Department of Kelma University dwarfed the current selection, but she never received permission to work with those valuable samples.
Right now, that wasn't the case! Every product obtained by the Peacekeepers was for sale! As long as she paid enough hex credits, she could get any exoplant she wanted!
Her breath started to heave as she tried to pick out the plants that would be useful to her ambitious research. She had never even seen some of the plants at her alma mater!
"Don't go overboard." Gloriana warned. "Right now, our financial situation isn't as healthy as it used to be. I'll only allow you to purchase a few valuable goods."
"Aw. Can't you give me some slack, cousin?"
Gloriana shook her head. "The clan still needs most of the money to pay all of its bills. I won't allow you to spend our money frivolously either. You need to explain to me what you want to do with the plants you want to buy. Your purchase has to benefit the clan in some way."
Ranya's face soured. "That's ridiculous! I am still at the beginning stages of my career! I have to perform a lot of basic and fundamental research before I can delve into the finer applications of my work! It can take years before I develop a useful plant-based augmentation!"
"Who holds the purse? Me." Gloriana smirked. "Remember who you work for. If you don't like it, you are welcome to walk away and start your own business!"
"It's fine." Ranya grumbled.
Chapter 2035 Students of Ves
While Gloriana had taken a day off to go on an excursion to Cinach XII, Ves expected to enjoy a day without his girlfriend breathing down his neck.
Metaphorically, of course.
He spent some time seeing Maisie and Rennie off. They cried when they said goodbye to their parents before boarding a shuttle that would take them into orbit.
Ves had already reserved passage on a series of passenger liners that would slowly take them to Hippolyta War College where they would arrive in time to start the next semester.
When Maikel and Zanthar saw their female cousins depart, their expressions grew mixed.
None of the four knew who would become the best after they reunited again.
In a way, the girls exerted a considerable amount of pressure to the boys, ahem, adolescent men that remained.
Even though there were more reputable schools in the Hegemony, the graduates of Hippolyta were never weak! As the mainstays of the Hex Army, its alumni had earned a reputation for competence under pressure!
"I think the Hippolyta War College is a much better choice for them than the so-called better schools." Ves deliberately said to the conflicted two young men. "Kelma University is considered to be one of the premier universities and the Artemis Institute isn't that far off. However, they mainly produce mech designers like Gloriana. They're excellent when they are able to exercise their craft in the comfort of their well-guarded labs and workshops, but they're a lot more frail once they get caught up in the middle of a battlefield."
Zanthar frowned. "We're mech designers, patriarch. Aren't we supposed to be as far away from the fighting as possible."
"Technically you're right, but don't forget who we are. We are Larkinsons. We never take the easiest option. While it doesn't seem apparent to you now, a mech designer can gain much when they are closer to the action than many of our colleagues are comfortable with! My experiences during the latest Bright-Vesia War has defined me as a mech designer, and I hope you'll be able to grow through various crises as well! Since you accepted my tutelage, you should be prepared to learn how to work with mechs in a much more hands-on fashion than normal!"
The two young men paled. They had an inkling that Ves had a lot of challenges in store for them! Just studying his public record was enough to know that Ves survived all manner of dangers through his career!
"Can't we.. learn how to design mechs the normal way?" Maikel squeaked.
Ves gently shook his head. "The normal way is too boring. I don't want to turn you into a pair of boring and uninspiring mech designers. I want my students to excel! As your teacher, it is my responsibility to unearth all of the potential that you contain in your bodies! The candies I fed you should have already laid the right foundation. Don't think that your expanded learning capacities is enough to breeze past my training. I know exactly what you are capable of, and I won't hesitate to push you to the utmost!"
The two Larkinsons looked at Ves with despair! They already had a taste of his exacting demands and didn't relish more!
"We can't keep up!" One of them whined.
Ves straightforwardly bonked both of the Larkinsons in the head.
"No more of that! Don't complain. Do you think the girls who have just left will have it any easier? Hippolyta will push them to the extreme! As long as they can keep up, they'll return half a decade later as completely different Larkinsons! Now tell yourself. Will you let Maise and Rennie trample all over you with their Hexer-acquired heels, or will you act like a man and stand up to their oppression?"
"Do you mean the same way you 'stand up' to Miss Gloriana?"
Slap!
"Ouch!"
"No more talk like that from the two of you! While you are slated to receive additional augmentations, that doesn't mean you are on vacation. As far as I'm concerned, your study program has already started!"
Ves grinned and pointed his thumb at a Bright Warrior that stood dormant in the corner of the rented base.
"See that mech there? I want you to go take it to a workshop and disassemble it down to its individual nuts and bolts. Then I want you to put it all together in exactly the same condition!"
"What does that have to do with mech design, patriarch?!"
"Call me teacher." Ves crossed his arms. "And it has everything to do with mech design. How can you possibly visualize your own mech designs to a high degree of accuracy if you have rarely if ever touched the components of a mech with your own hands? My assistant mech designers have already done the same and their work has become considerably more grounded to reality as a result!"
The two students still looked daunted at this request!
"We can't! We don't know how to work all of the tools!"
"You should put your new smarts to good use. Read the manuals. Ask the mech technicians to guide you. Figure it out through trial and error. However you do it, I expect you to flawlessly disassemble and reassemble the Bright Warrior by the end of the week!"
"That's too short! We'll never be able to restore the mech to mint condition!"
Ves glowered at them. "All I hear are excuses. Do you think reality will take it easy on you? One day, you'll probably be asked to perform something similar in only a single day! If you take any longer, some of the lives of your comrades might be forfeit!"
It took a while to get his point across. While he had handed over a daunting task to the prospective mech designers, Ves didn't expect them to succeed in the first place. Without even completing their first year of mech design studies, there was no way they could pick up a wrench and dissect a mech without damaging something! It was even less likelier for them to put it back together without causing a major mishap!
In order to make sure his two students didn't trigger an accident that got themselves killed, he called for a chief technician to supervise their efforts.
"Don't tell them anything except how to use the tools and machines at their disposal." He told the grizzled chief. "Just let them monkey around and realize slowly how out of depth they are and how much effort is required to service a mech, let alone design them from scratch."
The chief technician wearing the yellow-and-white uniform of the Avatars looked concerned. "I'm not so sure I can keep them safe, sir. These kids look like they never held a multitool in their life."
"I don't think it's that bad, but you're mostly right. Just pull them away if they look like they are about to screw up pretty big."
"What about the mech? It's a shame to ruin a good Bright Warrior."
"It's a tough mech. It can take some dents. I should know, since I designed it in the first place. At most, the more fragile internal components need to be repaired, but that is just a few days of work for your crew."
After passing on this instruction, he turned around and left the grounds.
There was a very good reason why he started Maikel and Zanthar's study program by getting their hands dirty on an advanced mech.
With their upgraded Intelligence and Concentration scores, there shouldn't be any problem with their theoretical studies. Any decent mech designer could pour a lot of knowledge down the throats of students who were this smart!
The true challenge laid in shaping their principles, their work ethic, their mentality and their perspective towards mech design.
These were his true concerns as his teacher! Normally, a proper university utilized excellent teachers and various institutional tools to shape these intangible properties.
Those means weren't available right now, so Ves had to make up for their absence with his own methods.
His intent in throwing challenges to Maikel and Zanthar was to find out if they were suited to follow in his direction. His ultimate goal in teaching them was to see if they were capable of designing mechs with spiritual properties!
He didn't expect them to perform spiritual engineering. They lacked the spiritual perception that was central to his own design philosophy.
What Ves wanted to find out was if it was possible that they could still excel in some sort of specialty that applied spirituality in a more deliberate and conscious manner!
To do so, Ves needed them to appreciate mechs in a different manner from the industry standard. Hopefully, they would come to see mechs as living entities or at least machines with greater potential!
Speaking about guiding the next generation, his only student so far had also decided to return.
Ketis looked changed. She looked uncomfortable in her blue-and-white LMC uniform that every mech designer wore. Her familiar CFgrade sword hovered quietly behind her back in its floating scabbard.
"Meow!"
Lucky seemed ecstatic to meet her again! He jumped from Ves' shoulders and landed in her warm grasp!
"I missed you too, Lucky! Oh, you look better than ever! Did Ves feed you well?"
"Meow!"
"Did you have a good time with Raella?" Ves gently asked.
"I did." Ketis smiled without any inkling of discomfort. "I really enjoyed my time with her. She's very fun to be with and she has helped me sort out my life. I know what I want to do, now. I want to design mechs! The Swordmaidens need mechs designed by someone who understands them, and I'm the only one who can do that!"
Ves was very glad to hear her conviction. He knew that her feelings had turned into a mess when she decided to go to Bentheim, but it seemed that her experiences during the Sand War and the flight from persecution did much to temper her conviction!
Since the Swordmaidens were now part of the Black Cats, there was no reason for Ketis to stay away from the LMC and Ves anymore.
"While I appreciate your enthusiasm, you should still contribute to our current projects. No one in the LMC works for free. Are you prepared to join a design team?"
She nodded. "I can do that. I work best with melee mechs, though."
"It's fine. You're not the only mech designer with an unusual restriction. You'll just be working on the parts that every mech have in common if you have to work on a ranged mech."
While Ketis played with Lucky, Ves began to quiz her in order to understand her current progress.
As one of his unfortunate test subjects who received enough candies to elevate her Intelligence and Concentration to 2.0, she had turned into a frighteningly voracious devourer of knowledge!
Ves looked surprised when he realized that Ketis had already reached and even surpassed the standard of an Apprentice! In certain fields such as metallurgy and mechanics, she had already reached the level of a Journeyman!
The only issue was that she didn't really have a single completed mech design to her name.
"I do have a lot of projects in an advanced stage, but…"
"Your study progress has already surpassed the level of your work, right?" Ves guessed.
She nodded. "I feel ashamed whenever I look at one of my old works. Every day, I learn something new that could have been applied to one of my works."
"You know that isn't good, right? Mech designers progress by practicing their craft. I always impressed upon you that accumulating book knowledge without ever putting it to use is no good!"
"I know, but.. I was never this smart before." She explained herself. "What took years for me to learn only takes a few weeks now! It's addicting!"
Ves groaned and palmed his face. That sounded just like him a few years ago!
His eyes sharpened as he gazed towards his first student. It looked like he needed to give her some extra guidance!
Her eyes suddenly brightened as she gently threw Lucky into the air. "Oh, there's also something else! While I haven't made much progress on my designs, I think I fleshed my design philosophy a bit! I even learned a cool trick! Watch this!"
She put her hand into her uniform pocket and retrieved a standard butter knife. Its edge was sharp enough to cut through meat, but not much more.
While Ves tried to figure out if there was something special about the knife, she retrieved a small bar of steel from her other pocket and threw it into the air.
Swish!
With a masterful one-handed sword stroke, Ketis chopped the butter knife through the metal bar!
Instead of colliding against the bar, the knife instead cut through it was if it was a cake!
The two separated pieces clattered to the ground while Ketis grinned at her mentor.
"Did you see! I finally developed my own superpower!"
Ves looked slack jawed!
"..What?"
Chapter 2036 Uneven Progress
When Ketis showed off her 'superpower', Ves quickly guided her to an empty office in the base.
What she had just shown off was not something she should reveal so casually!
"Since when were you able to perform this trick?" Ves asked.
"Just a month ago!" She grinned! "During the flight to Sentinel, there wasn't any work for me aboard the ship I was on. Aside from studying and polishing my swordsmanship, I didn't have anything else to do, so I began to see if I could develop my own superpower!"
"Superpowers don't exist, at least not in the way you think." Ves frowned.
Ketis tilted her head. "Didn't I just show off something that no one else could do?"
"That's not a superpower! That's just a side effect!" Ves insisted. "Could you demonstrate it for me again? I didn't pay enough attention the first time. I need to confirm something."
"Okay, but my power can't cut through anything." She warned as he pulled out another steel bar.
It seemed that she had already come prepared.
This time, she placed the small metal bar on a table. When she raised the hand holding her butter knife, Ves keenly studied her with his spiritual vision.
Just as he suspected, through some method, Ketis somehow drew out a considerable portion of her spiritual potential and coated it around the edge of the butter knife!
As soon as her cutting implement was fully enveloped by her spiritual energy, she chopped it down!
Ves paid very careful attention to the metal bar. It parted in half when it met the spiritually-enhanced blade.
It was as if Ketis wasn't a human, but an expert mech that employed true resonance to enhance the sharpness of its blade!
Yet that was impossible. Ketis was not an expert mech, and her application of spirituality diverged significantly from true resonance!
Clunk!
The blade she used to chop the bar continued to cut through the surface of the metal table until it suddenly something that was too hard to continue!
The spirituality surrounding the blade had completely exhausted itself. This must be the limit that Ketis was talking about.
"What are the rules governing your superpower?" Ves probed without shame.
Fortunately, Ketis trusted Ves enough to reveal the details of her newly-developed ability without reserve. "I call it Imbue Sharpness. I can impart an edge on any blade I hold. However, when I tried it out with my greatsword, I quickly learned that the cutting power rapidly dilutes over a longer edge. That's why I can only show off this power with a butter knife. Anything larger quickly causes the additional sharpness to grow weaker."
These rules were easy to understand to Ves, especially since he had seen her ability at work with his spiritual vision.
Right now, her spiritual potential is still within the range of an Apprentice, which wasn't all that much. Perhaps she might be able to empower an actual sword once she advanced to Journeyman, but until then the energy she was able to draw from her mind remained limited.
"What about the duration of this ability?" Ves asked.
"The sharpening effect only lasts as long as I keep concentrating. It's easy to interrupt the effect if I get distracted. Furthermore, my blade can only cut through normal objects. A piece of steel like this bar is still doable, but as soon as I try to cut into the armor of a mech, my sharpness effect instantly runs out! I don't have the strength to cut through harder materials as of yet, but I'll surely do better in the future!"
Everything followed a rule. The energy she was able to channel in her ability could only last for so long. Cutting the small, hand-sized steel bar was no challenge at all, but as soon as her blade cut through the table underneath, her imparted energy rapidly depleted itself because the table was made of a more durable alloy!
After a bit more elaboration, Ves fully understood the gist of her ability.
"It's not a superpower." Ves corrected her. "It's a side effect of your design philosophy."
"Isn't that the same thing?" Ketis frowned in confusion. "I worked really hard to develop my understanding of sharpness! This superpower is the culmination of all of my efforts in the past few months!"
Ves felt like he was talking to Gloriana. Ketis was so convinced that her own framework was right that she simply refused to accept alternative explanations!
"Mech designers." He muttered. "We're just as stubborn as expert pilots."
"What was that, Ves?"
"Oh, nothing. I need to study you a bit. Could you sit down so that I can look into your head? I need to observe something."
"Okay."
Though she was wondering what he was doing, she still sat down so that her head was within his reach.
He placed his hands on her head and tried to peer inside her mind with his spiritual senses.
"Ouch!"
He immediately encountered her mental defenses! It was as if he bumped into a wall of blades!
"Could you relax a bit, Ketis? Just imagine as if you are opening yourself up to me. I want to sense something in you, but to do that, you need to trust me. Can you do that?"
"Uhm.. okay."
Though she began to harbor some doubts, she still followed his instruction, though with some difficulty.
Once her mind cleared up enough for Ves to peek in her mind, he only observed long enough to understand her progress.
Just as he suspected, her nascent design philosophy was incredibly pure!
Not only that, but it had developed to an advanced state! This was not the design philosophy of a Novice or an inexperienced Apprentice. This degree of development was more typical to those who were within reach of advancing to Journeyman! Not even Miles Tovar was this far ahead!
"You have progressed enormously!" Ves gasped. "What did you do in the past year?"
"I already told you. I studied like a demon, I designed a couple of incomplete mechs and I spent months servicing the mechs that belonged to Raella's unit."
All of that sounded simple, but that made her accomplishment all the more remarkable!
For a long time, Ves always thought that Ketis held a lot of promise, but it would take a lot of time for her to exhibit her value.
Yet now, despite not having finished a single mech design, she was already within range to advance to Journeyman!
"This is crazy! This is impossible!"
Compared to an Apprentice, Ketis possessed a lot of theoretical and hands-on experience with mechs. She overpowered in these areas.
Yet just like Ves in the past, she didn't possess enough design experience! The number one purpose of a mech designer was to design mechs. There was no way that Ketis should have been able to progress her design philosophy that quickly without spending enough time on her core activity.
As Ves continued to gaze at Ketis in confusion, he tried to figure out why she bucked the trend.
Her spiritual attributes might hold some clues. He had already studied them and found out that her mentality was remarkably more pure than the average mech designer!
Whereas people like Ves possessed a lot of emotions and other junk in his mind, Ketis was almost as strong-willed and single-minded as an elite mech pilot! Her Swordmaiden training shaped her personality in a way that caused her to obsessively dedicate herself in any pursuit related to swords and swordsmanship!
This tendency along with her extremely-pronounced Concentration score likely caused her to unconsciously excite and channel her spiritual potential until she succeeded in creating her own 'superpower'!
Ves realized that Ketis had somehow turned a misunderstanding into truth. Through crooked means and mistaken assumptions, she exerted her concentration in a manner that should have resulted in nothing but actually managed to warp her spiritual potential into a completely unprecedented application!
Not only that, but her constant mental efforts also honed her mentality and purified her spiritual attributes! The amount of effort she put into her inadvertent spiritual manipulation should be the actual reason why her design philosophy progressed so quickly despite her lack of design experience.
She managed to deepen her perspective and understanding of sharpness through an alternate method!
The implications of these realizations were very profound, though difficult to put to use. All Ves knew was that Ketis suddenly possessed a lot more promise in his eyes!
In fact, she might currently be the mech designer under his employ that was closest to advancing to Journeyman!
His plans for her changed considerably!
"I see you're wearing the uniform of the LMC. Have you joined the clan?"
She nodded. "The Swordmaidens have all pledged to become Larkinsons. How could I not follow suit? I'm still not used to it, though. For a long time, I was a daughter of the frontier. It's hard to shake off my roots. I still consider myself to be both."
"That's okay."
He didn't need to ask whether she became a Larkinson. He could already see that she possessed an active bond to the Golden Cat.
Knowing that Ketis took her oaths seriously like any other Swordmaiden, Ves was completely assured of her loyalty to him and the clan. There was no way she would do anything to betray the Larkinsons!
This made him feel much more reassured about his intention to facilitate her growth. Even without his help, she probably would have found a way to advance on her own, but with his ability to judge her state, he could probably speed it up by a couple of years!
"From now on, I'll be setting your tasks in person. My first order is to cease your studies. You already know more than most Apprentices. There is no need for you to waste anymore time in reading books at your stage."
"Hey!"
Ves crossed his arms. "I'm serious! Too much study without putting all of your knowledge into practice is bad for you! Haven't you realized that already when you never finished your mech designs? In fact, that will be your focus for the next couple of months. I want you to transfer all of your design files to me so that I can study your work. I will then instruct you to finish every single design you started."
Ketis looked scandalized!
"I can't! They're outdated! Most of them are lastgen mechs even!"
"I know you're embarrassed of your old work, but you need to finish what you started. These incomplete projects will always hang over your head as long as you leave them incomplete!"
"B-B-But they're too bad!"
"You won't embarrass yourself." Ves spoke in a softer tone. "I won't judge your work as long as they are earnest expressions of your passion. Everyone has to start somewhere. I would feel ashamed of my earliest work as well, but that doesn't mean I feel proud of what I managed to accomplish at the time."
What Ketis truly needed was to develop the appropriate mindset towards her project. Starting new projects but abandoning them halfway was a bad habit that could easily lead to a lifelong pattern of half-hearted effort.
This could not take root in his first student!
What Ketis needed to learn was that not every project had to be perfect. It was fine to make some compromises in order to meet a deadline or finish her work quickly. Expediency was just a factor of their profession as thoroughness.
Besides, once Ketis had some completed mech designs under her belt, Ves believed that her design philosophy would progress a lot closer to the eventual formation of her design seed!
When Ves finished passing on his instructions to her, she departed the office to perform her new tasks.
Ves looked back at the parted pieces of metal and hummed. He looked around the office and noted that it probably belonged to a chief technician.
He rummaged through a few drawers until he finally found a small knife designed to cut miscellaneous objects.
While it was sharper than a butter knife, it still wasn't capable of cutting through a metal bar.
"This is good enough."
He held the knife in a firm grip and raised it above his head. He concentrated his mind and tried to emulate the same trick that Ketis pulled off.
After some time, he managed to form a spiritual projection that wrapped around the blade in the same fashion that Ketis had managed to do. While there were a couple of differences, it was close enough to suit his purposes.
He took a few deep breaths as he shifted his eyes to one of the halves of the metal bar. While it was smaller than the original object, it was still large enough to use as target practice.
"Cut!"
He swung the blade down, only to meet immediate resistance!
Clank!
Despite his enhanced strength, the knife only dug a shallow groove before spinning away from his grasp!
"Damn."
It didn't work!
"My domain and attributes are too different. I can't replicate her superpower." He glumly concluded.
Chapter 2037 Journeyman Candidates
The return of Ketis to the design teams was met with considerable fanfare. Despite her Swordmaiden pedigree and unusually athletic and half-alien appearance, she had already proved her design prowess to the other assistant mech designers!
Ketis knew she was good. Developing her own 'superpower' infused her with an immeasurable amount of confidence, and the greatsword floating behind her back only emphasized her strength even further!
This was a mech designer who could fight! This was the mech designer groomed by both Ves and the Swordmaidens!
No one made the mistake of looking down on her due to her irregular background!
The most peculiar reaction came from the two boys, ahem, adolescent men. Both Maikel and Zanthar gazed at Ketis with admiration and hero worship. They seemed to think they would become just as strong and competent as Ketis once they received Ves' personal tutoring!
Oh, how naive. A mech designer like Ketis was one of a kind. Besides, Ves had a very different trajectory in mind for the two Larkinson seeds!
Perhaps the only other peculiar reaction that Ves picked up was that of Merrill O'Brian-Larkinson. Due to her former pirate adventures, she knew what pirates were really like.
As a mech designer who was highly inclined towards rationalism, Ves never really knew what Merrill was really thinking. At the very least, she shouldn't be plotting anything bad considering that she successfully gained the Golden Cat's approval.
When they finished the meet and greet, Ves made some announcements.
"Right now, there are two mech designers among us who have made a lot of progress recently. After evaluating Ketis and Miles, I believe that they are within reach of reaching their critical moments. In order to facilitate their progress, I have decided to pull them out of the design teams to guide them on an individual basis. They will spend most of their time designing their own mechs."
The man and women in question stepped aside. Already they received admiring glances from the remaining assistants.
Everyone here knew that the two might very well become the next Journeymen of the Larkinson Clan! The collective design prowess of the LMC would practically double at that time, thereby turning into a truly formidable mech company at the sector level!
After handing out the daily assignments for the design teams, Ves and Gloriana both pulled Ketis and Miles aside.
"Both of you are very promising, but that does not mean that you are already set to become a Journeyman." Ves warned. "There are plenty of Apprentices who stalled despite continuing to design lots of mechs. The only guarantee I can give you is that as long as you maintain your passion, your chances of advancing will be considerable. Don't lose heart. Don't lose your motivation. Keep chasing after your ambition and don't hesitate to design something radical. Dare to design!"
"Dare to design!" The two younger mech designers echoed with fervent eyes!
Ves grinned. He was becoming better and better at motivating people.
That said, nothing was set in stone. Though his spiritual vision already revealed that their nascent design philosophies had stimulated their spiritual potential, he had seen plenty of people in the same condition. Not all of them managed to realize their potential.
The main issue was that Ves wasn't sure what conditions they needed to meet in order to trigger the formation of their design seeds. All he could do was to encourage them to design a lot of mechs, hoping that this stupid but proven method of exercising their craft would help them break through the extraordinary threshold!
In his mind, Ves already considered Ketis and Miles to be Journeyman candidates. This wasn't a common term in the mech industry because unlike expert candidates, highly-advanced Apprentices didn't generate any resonance.
Perhaps Masters possessed an intuitive ability to detect promising mech designers, but there was no technological equivalent to the reliable resonance meter!
Miles raised his hand. "I have a question, teacher. If… if we ever succeed in our advancement, what will be our role in the LMC?"
That was a very important question. Ves still wanted to make use of their distinctive specialties, but he couldn't treat them as his obedient slaves anymore.
Journeymen deserved better. As mech designers who were capable of imparting extraordinary power to their work, their value was countless times greater than an Apprentice!
If mech companies could choose between employing a million Apprentices or a single Journeyman, they would always choose the latter without any hesitation!
This was because the Apprentices were ultimately constrained by the technical limitations of the natural laws. Only Journeymen and higher were capable of designing mechs that clearly outperformed the mechs designed by AIs!
Even though both of the Journeyman candidates had pledged their loyalty to the Larkinson Clan, that did not mean that Ves could mistreat or exploit them at will.
As the patriarch of the Larkinson Clan, he owed it to the two mech designers to continue to foster their growth. In exchange, they would pay back everything that Ves and the clan invested in them by contributing back to the clan!
The real question was how much autonomy he should give them. As Journeymen, it was important for them to design their own mechs. Yet Ves feared that the qualities of their products wouldn't match the profile expected of LMC mechs.
The key qualities that every LMC-branded product had in common was their glows and their high compatibility with their target audience!
So far, Ves had mainly collaborated with Gloriana, who mostly followed his lead in most projects.
He couldn't continue this pattern. Hogging all of the pivotal design choices would only deprive his other collaborators with an opportunity to exercise their creativity.
"In the future, we'll change the way we manage our mech design projects." Ves eventually promised. "Every Journeyman should have the opportunity to design the mechs of their dreams. With more Journeymen, we can also increase the amount of projects we are working on at the same time. Don't forget that we are already recruiting a lot of assistant mech designers as well. We'll be holding some trials soon to decide the most suitable additions to our design teams."
This might possibly be the biggest wave of recruitment for some time. Ves intended to expand his Design Department considerably in order to increase the pace of development at his mech company.
The time where he would only be pumping out one or two mech designs per cycle would soon be over!
Ves already resigned himself to taking on a more supervisory role in less important projects.
Strictly speaking, he only needed to be involved just enough to imbue the upcoming mech designs with glows.
Of course, he shouldn't take it too far and lean back all the time. He still planned to involve himself more extensively in more important projects.
One thing was for sure, though. Ves had to manage his time well! There was way too much work and far too little time to devote equal attention to everything! He needed to set priorities and compromise on a lot of lesser matters if he wanted to make sure the LMC remained as productive as possible!
Ves gazed deeply at the expressions shown by Ketis and Miles.
Though both of them clearly knew that Ves and Gloriana would always maintain their primacy in the Design Department, they didn't show any signs of challenging this power dynamic.
Good. As much as Ves was willing to delegate more responsibilities to any new Journeyman, he was determined to stay on top! The LMC was still his mech company as far as he was concerned, and it should always operate in a way that facilitated his own development!
"There is a bit of a peculiarity in the mechs you prefer to design, right?" He continued. "Ketis, you still intend to specialize in swordsman mechs, right?"
"Any mech that wields a bladed weapon will do." She clarified. "My main goal is to design the best mechs for the Swordmaidens. To be honest, I don't feel any passion when I design other mechs."
That sounded fairly limiting to Ves, but at least it was better than before. While Ketis still preferred to design swordsman mechs, she could also design a knight mech if necessary!
"I'll need your help in improving the offensive capabilities of our Hexer mech project. While it isn't very strong at beating other mechs, it at least needs to hold its ground."
"Alright." Ketis nodded.
Ves turned to Miles. "As for you, our mech company hasn't produced any aerial mechs so far, but I hope we can change that. If you do well, I'll put you in charge of any mech that falls within your specialty."
"Thank you, teacher."
"Don't thank me yet. We'll revisit this topic again when you succeed in your advancement."
He only revealed some of his future plans in order to give them hope and motivate them further. As long as they heard that they would be able to lead their own design projects, they would work extra hard to shed their status as Apprentices!
Strictly speaking, Ketis possessed a lot more potential than Miles. She was considerably younger than Miles and had a good chance of becoming a Journeyman before she reached thirty years old!
As for the former Tovar family member, his extensive experience and systematic upbringing meant that his chances of advancing should be higher. However, Ves didn't expect Miles to make a lot of progress quickly because his design philosophy was a lot more muddled!
Ketis and Miles were fundamentally different people.
The former not only enjoyed an unorthodox upbringing, but also pursued her passion to the extreme! Her Swordmaiden habits along with Ves' teachings all fueled her obsessiveness to a level where she even brute-forced her way into developing her own superpower!
As for the latter, Miles was the typical example of an elite mech designer who studied at an excellent school such as Ansel or the DCTI.
Though both universities existed no more since the sandmen swept through Bentheim, the reputation and pedigree that Miles enjoyed was not something that should be discounted!
The only problem was that his systematic learning trajectory was a bit deficient in terms of daring and rule-breaking. Miles still respected the natural laws too much to imagine bending them in order to design the mechs of his dreams.
Ves needed to find a way to foster his passion and encourage him to refine his nascent design philosophy further.
"Gloriana and I will be reviewing your private designs before advising you on how to proceed. Both of you need to temper your developing design philosophies by applying the principles and ideals that you have theorized in your mind. Remember, a mech designer is not strictly a researcher! A mech designer is a product maker! Making mechs is the best way for us to improve!"
Fires burned in their eyes as they agreed with this statement.
The two candidates weren't resigned to remain in the category of low-ranking mech designers any longer! Witnessing the success and achievements of Ves and Gloriana fueled their desire to catch up to their idols!
Gloriana smiled in satisfaction. "I concur with my boyfriend. The LMC and the Larkinson Clan stands to become something greater when you ascend to our level. There are a lot more mechs we can design with your assistance! The key is to work together and pool our talents so that we can achieve the greatest level of synergy possible."
Currently, the Larkinson Clan mainly depended on Ves to remain prominent. This was rather precarious as his sudden absence would instantly cause the clan to lose its relevance!
Both expert pilots and Journeymen were vital to the Larkinsons. Only when they began to produce both in abundance would their clan gain recognition as an independent power!
The future of the Larkinson Clan did not solely rest on Ves' shoulders anymore. While he would still play the most dominant role, he did not have to carry the burden on his own anymore!
Chapter 2038 Fear Machine
A month after reaching Cinach, the Larkinson Clan continued to expand and consolidate its strength.
The Clan of the Golden Cat became more and more formidable during this time! The quantity and quality of ships, mechs and manpower constantly improved with each passing day!
The only downside was the increased strain to the clan's financial health. Much more cash flowed out of its coffers than the other way around!
The pressure this worsening trend exerted on Ves increased. It became more important than ever to generate new revenue sources for the clan!
Right now, Ves could only rest his hopes on his upcoming striker mech project. Though it was merely a third-class mech design, it had the potential to become a very big seller!
As the project progressed rapidly during the last few weeks, the mech came close to reaching its prototype testing phase.
While Ves did not involve himself too closely in its design process, he spent a considerable amount of time and effort on preparing its spiritual foundation.
He already decided to imbue the design with Zeigra's spiritual fragment, but it needed a considerable amount of treatment before the striker mech's glow became menacing enough to achieve its intended effect.
Ves wanted his flamethrower-wielding mech to be able to scare away enemy mech pilots with its glow alone!
"This is the solution to the capacity problem!" He concluded.
He spent way too much time in trying to resolve this critical shortcoming. His striker mech boasted a decent amount of armor and a considerable punch, but its endurance and longevity on the battlefield never reached a satisfactory standard!
Ves had already tried and failed to come up with an alternate configuration to its humanoid mech shape. At its current budget and tech level, there weren't any good solutions to the fundamental problem that his striker mech risked running out of propellant a bit too quickly.
"However, my mech doesn't necessarily have to burn its opponents to a crisp in order to complete its mission."
He expressly designed his mech to act as a deterrent to massed attacks. While it would be best for his mechs to destroy any enemies entering its reach, scaring them away was the next-best outcome!
There were multiple ways to fulfill this second objective. Previously, Ves focused most of his design efforts in integrating and optimizing the cooperation between the mech frame and the 34F Enison Spreader flamethrower model.
"The simplest way to deter incoming enemies is to throw a lot of firepower in their direction."
With the Enison Spreader as the central focus, Ves designed everything else about the mech around the weapon. He even planned out its glow to compliment the fear factor of putting up a wall of flames!
It was only later on that his perspective started to shift.
The glow for the mech needed to play more than just a complimentary role. It had to be able to become frightening enough to deter approaching enemies even if the mech wasn't engaging in active area denial!
When Gloriana heard his reasoning, she didn't look convinced.
"I understand what you are getting at, Ves." She began. "As much as I have faith in your glows, your proto-gods aren't strong enough to carry a battle by themselves. Not at their current level of development. We always designed this mech with the assumption that the glow and the flamethrower would work in unison to achieve the effect we want. By themselves, neither of them are as effective as we would like."
A suppressive glow mainly affected the mentality of the opposing mech pilot. However, there were so many variables which affected the success rate of relying on a glow to fulfill one of the mech's objectives.
Against an outfit with overwhelming numbers or excellent training, it was hard for a glow to affect their morale and composure! The confidence that mech pilots gained in their material advantages vastly outweighed any vague mental influences!
Still, Ves didn't give up on his dream. "I think it should still be possible to rely on psychological pressure alone to keep enemies at a distance. I just have to spice up the spiritual composition of our mech design. Zeigra alone can't do it alone."
The former Crown Cat turned spiritual entity was truly a strong and frightening being. Whether he was dead or alive, his notable spiritual prowess which emerged as a coincidence was something that Ves had already made use of in the Kinslayer and Prideful Soldier designs!
However, it was exactly because of his familiarity with Zeigra's glow that Ves held little confidence in the huge cat.
Properly speaking, Zeigra excelled in devouring and corrosion. When he used to be alive, the Crown Cat was notorious for degrading the integrity of enemy mechs and consuming the opponents he downed!
The intimidation factor he possessed was mainly a side effect of his desire to prey on others. The cat constantly regarded everyone and everything else as its food!
Though this was very disconcerting, Zeigra would much rather maul and munch on its prey than scaring it to death!
"I'm running out of time." He whispered to himself. "Soon, we'll test out the prototypes and optimize the design even further. I can't introduce major changes while the project has reached an advanced stage."
He began to run through his options. Which design spirit or spiritual entity could he choose from to turn his striker mech into a fear machine?
Only one possibility remained.
"I need to visit the Scarlet Rose's vault." He told Gloriana.
"Can I come with you?" She asked.
"No. I don't need your help."
He took Lucky and departed the design lab.
For the past month, more than half of the clan was working and living on solid ground. To many Larkinsons, the return to normality that living on a terrestrial planet provided was very essential in restoring their mental states!
Even Ves, who was determined to make his fleet his home, still wasn't used to spending so many months in space!
"Meow."
"Just one more month to go before we are ready to depart. We'll be saying goodbye to the Larkinson Family at that time."
"Meow?"
"I don't know, Lucky. It depends on the opportunities I can find. I'm still on the lookout for lucrative missions that can earn me lots of credits, but most of them are only suitable for teams."
He had been dropping into the Rim Exchange every other day. Each time his Apollo Radiant avatar entered the Merit Hall, he gained numerous offers, each of which he ignored.
He didn't want to split his mission rewards!
Unfortunately, the missions suitable for individuals rewarded far too little merits in proportion to the risk and time commitment they demanded.
Sure, earning 2 million merits after completing a single mission sounded nice.
What was not so nice was that he would have to venture at least two years into the interior of the Nyxian Gap before spending another two years to exit the region!
Ves began to lose hope of finding a suitable mission. The Rim Guardians may be generous, but they weren't running a charity! Its merit rewards never came easily, especially to Journeymen whose capabilities were limited compared to Masters!
"I'd have to be a Master myself in order to become eligible for the most lucrative missions!"
He even thought up the crazy notion of impersonating a Master before instantly stamping it out!
"It will never work! The MTA and the Rim Guardians can never be fooled so easily!"
Yet aside from this insane stunt, how else could he gain access to the most lucrative missions?
"Maybe.. I can suck up to one of the high-ranking associates of the Rim Guardians."
This meant he needed to find a patron within the Rim Exchange, which wasn't easy. Journeymen were very limited in the perspective of Masters! There was no way that Ves could earn enough recognition to obtain more than a miniscule share of every mission he completed with a patron!
Still, out of all of the available options, this hail mary option was the realistic one out of the bunch. Ves just needed to find a receptive Master and trade something of value.
"For example.. I can offer to impart my glows to their mechs."
One of the more profound but neglected advantages of his specialty was its lack of conflict with nearly every other design philosophy!
Unless another mech designer specialized in something that worked directly with spirituality, then Ves was very confident he could blend his specialty in the works of other mech designers!
No matter how weird their products turned out to be, Ves could always add some value to them by infusing them with a spiritual foundation or imbuing them with a living design spirit!
His eyes burned a bit brighter. This was actually a viable option!
His enthusiasm quickly died down, though.
"I just have to prove my value to Masters."
That was not easy. Masters had access to an enormous talent pool. A huge amount of mech designers wished to work for them. They were practically spoiled when it came to adding complimentary specialties to their design teams!
Still, Ves believed his glows had reached a level where they could significantly improve the effectiveness of any mech!
His existing mech designs should already be sufficient to prove his worth, but Ves feared that it would take more to attract the attention of Masters.
"They don't necessarily care about third-class mechs." He muttered. "While my striker mech design will undoubtedly be able to raise a lot of eyebrows if I succeed, it will be my Hexer mech which will truly put me on the map!"
The landbound support knight mech was a bit further off from completion. Its complexity still perplexed Ves and Gloriana on a regular basis.
Still, its promise in terms of impact was greater than that of his striker mech! Not only would it be his first proper second-class mech design, his Hexer mech had the potential to capture the attention of the entire star sector if it succeeded in making a difference in the huge and pivotal Komodo War!
If that ever happened, Ves would finally have the capital to negotiate with Masters!
After a short trip, he reached the location in the base where his crew parked the mobile supply frigate.
He entered the former Fridayman vessel and passed through numerous security checkpoints until he reached her vault.
As usual, Ves left all of his bodyguards behind barring Nitaa. The bodyguard immediately frowned upon entering.
The air within the vault was rather unsettling.
"Meow!"
Even Lucky showed signs of vigilance!
"Oh, damnit!"
Ves cursed under his breath as he strode to a certain area of the vault. He opened a secure storage section and pulled out the Ancient Sarcophagus that was the source of the unsettling feeling!
Right now, the alien coffin looked a lot more active than his last visit to the vault!
"Nyxie!"
The ancient alien spiritual entity was roiling with fury! His potent spiritual energy was colliding against the bonds of his ancient prison. He wanted to escape!
"Oh no you don't!"
Ves only intended to harvest a small spiritual mote from Nyxie in order to enhance the intimidation factor of his striker mech.
Right now, he couldn't afford to act with restraint. Nyxie had restored some strength and was using it to erode his prison even further! A minor cut wasn't enough to suppress the dangerous spiritual entity!
"I need my F-stone!"
Fortunately, he stored all of the necessary tools in the same vault. He retrieved his B-stone lockbox and put it over his head in order to shield his mind. He also made sure to reinforce the basic spiritual shield he projected around his mind.
After that, he retrieved his F-stone, drew out some of its offensive charge, and cut out a decent-sized spiritual fragment from Nyxie!
Having done this multiple times, Ves proficiently wounded the ancient alien tyrant without exposing himself to any counterattacks!
Soon, the furious Nyxie subsided as he lost too much strength all of a sudden. The Ancient Sarcophagus no longer appeared active as its bonds finally managed to contain the weakened outburst of its prisoner.
While Ves had managed to succeed this time, he didn't look happy.
"What if I didn't come? Would Nyxie have been able to succeed in breaking out his prison?"
That would have been a catastrophe to Ves and the clan!
Chapter 2039 Surrogate Shopping
Ves studied the only F-stone in his possession and sighed. The exotic's offensive charge diminished every time he drew on it. While its ability to enhance the offensive power of his spiritual projections was invaluable, he would eventually run out of it if he couldn't find another F-stone!
It wasn't as if he tried. He already instructed Calabast to discreetly search for more spiritually-reactive materials.
He had some hopes of gaining more P-stones, F-stones and B-stones during his stay in Cinach. After all, he obtained much of his initial samples from the local branch of the Peacekeepers and the mysterious Circle of Mota!
Yet even after a month had passed, the Black Cats still hadn't brought any goodies.
Had Ves cleaned out decades worth of accumulating of spiritually-reactive materials in his previous visit?
Were others buying them up as soon as they entered the market?
Whatever the case, Ves couldn't rely on replacement for his current F-stone. He had to operate on the assumption that he could only rely on his current sample.
All the while, Nyxie was restoring his strength. Each time he woke up a bit more, he seemed to be able to leverage more and more strength!
Ves felt as if he was on a time limit. Cutting pieces of him to use as ingredients was unsustainable.
If Ves failed to grow strong enough to negate his reliance on his F-stone, he would eventually lose his ability to defeat the formidable entity!
Fortunately, the problem wasn't acute at this moment. He still possessed plenty of charge to cut Nyxie down to size a dozen or so times. Before he reached this point, he could always grow stronger or find some other way to limit the restoration of the tyrannical spiritual entity.
"Did he grow stronger due to receiving spiritual feedback?"
This issue concerned him a lot. The spiritual products derived from Nyxie's spiritual fragments had the potential of feeding spiritual energy back to their 'parents', but Ves made sure to block this interaction.
Ves took the time to inspect and inquire Bravo and the Solemn Guardian. Neither of them had broken his rule as far as he was aware of. In their current state, they weren't capable of withholding information from him. They were being completely truthful!
"Did he get something from Silent William?"
He couldn't help but recall the spiritual surgery he performed on the Urbesh clansman. While the operation succeeded in turning him into an expert candidate, it also generated plenty of side effects!
Right now, Ves didn't have access to William. He pretty much disappeared after Ves sent him back to the Rim Guardians. It would probably take some time for Silent William to return to the Urbesh Clan in the Vicious Mountain Star Sector.
"Maybe I should pay a visit to him if I ever pass through Vicious Mountain." He hummed.
He wrapped up his session in the vault and stowed away all of the materials. He made sure to store Nyxie's spiritual fragment inside a P-stone before locking it inside his B-stone lockbox.
"If there is any material I need the most, it's the B-stone." He concluded. "As long as I have enough blocking material, I can surround the coffin with an even greater cage!"
He could also use B-stone for other purposes like crafting more lockboxes and building a spiritually-impervious suit of armor!
"Meow."
Ves glared at his cat. "No! This is not your food! I have too few spiritually-reactive exotics for you to treat them like your personal snacks!"
"Meow!"
His cat angrily turned around. Lucky still remembered the unique flavor of a P-stone!
Though Lucky eventually produced the Accumulation of Spirit gem that played an invaluable role in turning the Quint into a masterwork mech, Ves couldn't afford to sustain this consumption.
While he currently held seventeen P-stones, each of which contained a spiritual fragment or some of his spare spiritual energy, that might be all he had to work with for the foreseeable time!
The worst possibility that Ves had to take into account that he wouldn't be able to find any more spiritually-reactive exotics, especially if he traveled to a different star sector or galaxy! The current materials he managed to obtain might be exclusive to the Komodo Star Sector or the Nyxian Gap!
While Ves didn't believe that spiritually-reactive exotics only showed up in a single region, who knew what other letters he had to use to describe newer materials with different effects.
"Maybe I need to make another anonymous stop to the Circle of Mota." He muttered.
"I would advise against that, sir." Nitaa suddenly spoke up. It was rare for her to take the initiative to react to him! "The last time we visited the Circle of Mota in this star system, we encountered a suspect agent from the cult. You even speculated that the Circle might be one of its fronts."
That was right. The last time he visited its black market, they randomly encountered someone with the same kind of enhanced nose as his bodyguard!
He frowned. The most suitable way to avoid exposing his special nature to the Five Scrolls Compact was to send a surrogate to do his illicit shopping.
The problem was that no one else could do what he could do and detect the spiritual reactivity of the exotics for sale!
"Meow!"
As if he knew what he was thinking, Lucky returned to his side and attracted his attention.
"You? Hah! You'll probably buy the yummiest exotics for sale if I let you be in charge! No way!"
"Meow meow meow!"
Ves supposed his cat was right. Aside from him, Lucky should also be able to detect the exotics he wanted. If nothing else, his cat had already learned the distinctive properties of P-stones, F-stones and B-stones, so he should be able to pick out any of these three materials in any market!
"Hmmm.."
Maybe sending out a surrogate would work after all. As long as he sent someone trustworthy and take along Lucky in disguise, they might be able to shop at the most promising venue.
Of course, that was assuming the Circle of Mota still remained active in this star system. For all he knew they had already packed their bags and left the star system.
In fact, even finding them was an issue because he lacked someone like Lady Miralix of House Laterna to vouch for him and introduce him to one of the Circle's black markets!
That said, he still possessed the contact information for Finlay, but thinking about the mysterious noble contact instantly soured his mood.
"That bastard lied to me! My doom crawlers are only supposed to be used against pirates!"
He mistakenly thought that their low-gravity configuration prevented them to be used on standard planets in civilized space.
Evidently, he was wrong. The faction that stood behind Finlay probably harbored greater plans for the local region than throwing a couple of pirate organizations in chaos! Their conspiracy even encompassed the Sentinel Kingdom!
To Ves, these conspiracies were all child's play to him. No matter which group of nobles came out on top with their power plays, eventually the Fridaymen or Hexers would come and sweep their entire order!
"Their sights are set too low. They can't look beyond their local region!" He muttered.
What happened in the rest of the star sector affected the Sentinel Kingdom. What happened in the star cluster affected the star sector, and so on. From the moment the MTA announced the invasion of the Red Ocean, every single corner of human space shifted in a different direction!
"Let's go, Lucky. We're done here."
Later that day, he requested a meeting with Calabast. He first passed on his request to dispatch someone to shop for spiritually-reactive exotics with Lucky's help.
She looked dubiously at his pet.
currently preoccupied with munching on some scrap that used to belong to a CRC mech. Ves had to placate his hungry cat in some way, and ordinary exotics didn't work!
"He's rather eye-catching, you know. It will be difficult to prevent people from associating him with you. After all, there are countless recordings and images of you and your distinctive-looking mechanical pet on the galactic net."
Ves smirked. "Don't underestimate Lucky's ability to hide. He's quite difficult to detect when he wants to hide! I bet he can even sneak up on you without alerting you! Who do you think is responsible for the theft at Kesseling VIII years ago?"
"That harebrained scheme of yours almost got you killed, remember?" Calabast scowled.
In the end, she acquiesced to his demand. She promised to find the Circle of Mota's marketplace and dispatch an operative paired with Lucky to scour it for spiritually-reactive exotics.
There were a couple of problems, though. Aside from lacking the contacts that could introduce them to the Circle of Mota, they were also short on the most essential resource of all, money!
"What's our budget?" She asked bluntly.
Ves winced. "Not that much. While I can give you more, it will be difficult to hide so much cash moving around. I also need to maintain a sufficient reserve to sustain my current fleet."
"I know." She said. "I've been supervising the Penitent Sisters on your behalf for a while. It's immediately obvious that they are proving to be a greater burden on your upkeep than all of your other assets put together. When are you going to solve the money problem?"
"I'm working on it! You don't have to hound me as if you are a mother trying to make me do my homework! If you have been keeping an eye on my activities, then you should know that my commercial striker mech design is weeks away from completion. If it's as promising as I think it is, the LMC will soon obtain another cash cow besides the Desolate Soldier! That should solve our immediate liquidity concerns."
The spy looked skeptical. "I don't know, Ves. While I don't know mechs as much as you, I understand the way societies and economies are run. Right now, the market for striker mechs isn't booming, especially spaceborn ones."
That was because the market for spaceborn striker mechs was highly correlated to major wars.
While the Komodo Star Sector was engulfed by the growing ripples of the Komodo War, that was mainly a struggle between two superior powers. The surrounding third-rate states had nothing to do with the fighting up to now! Aside from some rare incidents, the lesser states mostly stood aside and tried their best to catch as little attention as possible!
"I think that will change soon enough." Ves ominously predicted. "If hostilities ever break out between numerous third-rate states, the scale and frequency of battles will skyrocket! The demand for an aredenial mech that can hold off an entire group of mechs will become more relevant than ever! Besides, even if that's not the case, I think the inherent value of my next product is enough to turn it into a bestseller!"
Though Calabast still remained skeptical, it didn't matter. If demand for his product wasn't sufficient, then he planned to generate it! There was no way a mech as useful as his striker mech should remain obscure!
They eventually moved on to another topic.
"How are the Penitent Sisters?"
"Keeping them in line is tiring me out." Calabast glowered at Ves. "Sorting out their many issues is becoming increasingly more difficult. The Penitent Sisters aren't people who are content with sitting around and doing nothing. They expected to themselves at the Fridaymen, not rot away in the periphery of the star sector. You should really talk to Commander Chancy and come to some sort of according with the Sisters."
He looked confused. "Why didn't you do it yourself?"
"They have quite the grudge against normal Hexers like me." Calabast crossed her arms. "The Hegemony single-handedly crushed their cult and forced them to make unpalatable oaths. While I'm not exactly a representative of the Hegemony, to them I'm still an enemy."
"I'm a man, though. Shouldn't that even be a greater obstacle to gaining their cooperation."
"Not necessarily." Calabast shook her head. "While their original ideology did call for killing you and every other male in human space, they have already sworn to disavow it. While a lot of hatred still exist, the Sisters will never break their oaths to teach you a lesson. As long as they realize that there is no point in antagonizing you, I expect they'll cooperate. Just talk to them, Ves."
His expression turned flat. He didn't relish the idea of talking to the most extreme man-haters the Hegemony had ever produced! He had already met them once before and his impressions were anything but positive!
Chapter 2040 Led Astray
The striker mech project came one step closer to completion. After Ves and Gloriana temporarily halted their work on the Hexer mech project in order to hasten the progress of their commercial mech design, it finally reached the testing and iteration phase!
As usual, Ves left the fabrication and testing of the prototypes over to his design teams. He was already fairly confident that the testing shouldn't generate many surprises. The mech was a fairly simple third-class mech whose primary armament was a relatively low-tech flamethrower.
Perhaps some fiddly parameters might deviate such as the distribution of heat or the efficiency of the Enison Spreader, but those were minor issues that just needed some optimization to mitigate.
The smooth progress of this project made Ves appreciate the value of his design teams. While they didn't consist of brilliant mech designers like Gloriana and himself, their competence was more than enough to design adequate mechs that had the potential to be a success on the market!
As long as someone better provided direction and lent their distinctive specialties to a mech design, most of the hard work could easily be performed by Apprentices who knew what they were doing!
He looked forward to expanding the LMC's Design Department. Once he had double or triple the amount of design teams, his productivity would doubtlessly soar despite not putting more hours in his work!
Finishing his principal work in the primary design phase of the striker mech project gave Ves enough time to address some other priorities.
For example, Ves scheduled a visit to the flagship of the Penitent Sisters. Calabast was insistent that he should involve himself more thoroughly in their affairs!
This was why he was currently sitting in a shuttle that was ascending into orbit. The Penitent Sisters were parked in high orbit and well away from any other ships and space stations.
No one wanted to stray too close to these powerful madwomen!
Aside from Lucky and his bodyguards, Calabast was also present.
"I'm here to make sure you don't do anything that causes the Penitent Sisters to break their oaths and chop off your head."
Ves glared at his partner. "I'm not that bad!"
"Tell that to the Friday Coalition."
"It was their fault for kidnapping me and provoking me at every turn!"
"While the Penitent Sisters have been told to behave themselves, I'm not sure they can hold themselves in. You don't take well to provocations sometimes."
"I'm just a mech designer." Ves helplessly grumbled.
As they snarkily bantered, the shuttle soon reached the hangar bay of the most central vessel in the Penitent Sister fleet.
Aside from her name, the Surly Cockatrice looked impressive. She started off as a Hexer combat carrier built for mercenaries. After several decades of service, the mercenary corps in question put it on the second-hand market before the Temple of Hexism finally bought her to be used as the flagship of the Penitent Sisters.
As a punishment unit, the Penitent Sisters didn't get to have the best. That said, there was no point in giving them cheap third-rate trash either. The six-hundred mech pilots and thousands of support personnel were all highly-trained soldiers and professionals!
If not for their extreme ideology, they would have served as a powerful weapon for the Hegemony!
While the matriarchs in charge of the Hegemony liked to be in control, they were fairly practical when it came to efficiency. Wasting valuable resources was not in their habit. Otherwise, they wouldn't have allowed boys to pilot mechs and serve in the Hex Army, if only in a diminished capacity.
Eventually, they stepped out of the shuttle. The bodyguards accompanying them became a little more alert due to the obvious hostility their arrival attracted.
The mech technicians and mech pilots lingering in the hangar bay glared at Ves with such animosity that he would have already been killed if their eyes held power!
"What a cheerful greeting." Ves dryly remarked. "They haven't even prepared a greeting party for us. I can already tell I'll have a jolly time on this ship."
The interior of the Surly Cockatrice was typically Hexer. In this star sector, only the Hegemony built ships with hexagon-shaped corridors and objects.
In addition, it also became clear that the Temple of Hexism had a hand in renovating the combat carrier as there were several altars and religious iconography based on the orthodox interpretation of hexism.
All in all, the interior of the Surly Cockatrice looked as if Gloriana would feel right at home if not for one major flaw.
As Ves looked around, there was no way he could escape the ubiquitous symbol!
Not a single Penitent Sister could avoid this iconic male symbol unless they closed their eyes! While the symbol didn't flood the ship, it was damn near everywhere!
Calabast carefully observed Ves as he took in the extreme lengths the Temple of Hexism had gone to humiliate the Penitent Sisters!
"The Penitent Sisters used to serve in a martial order to a cult." She explained. "They are both soldiers and devout worshippers, and that makes for a very strong combination. Matters of pride, belief and conviction are very important to the Sisters. The Temple of Hexism knows this and deliberately shaped their punishment in a way that crushes their dignity."
"Is that why the women here are so angry all the time?" Ves asked while hugging Lucky.
He needed some comfort to shield him from the near-universal hostility on this Hexer ship!
"Even with the indignity of seeing the symbol of Mars on a daily basis, the Sisters still would have taken offence at your presence. While they have disavowed their extreme beliefs, old habits die hard."
Without anyone to greet them, they eventually decided to stride forward. They passed a number of old but very powerful second-class mechs.
Ves had already studied the models in detail in his free time. Most of the mechs consisted of last-gen castoffs that the Temple of Hexism probably snapped from the second-hand market with hardly any concern for coordination or logistical burdens. The sheer variety of models meant that the Penitent Sisters had to buy a lot of different materials and spare parts to keep their mechs running, and all of that cost money which Ves was responsible for paying!
He grimaced even further as he counted the sheer variety of mechs in this single hangar bay. If the Penitent Sisters used just six or less mech models throughout their entire mech roster, then Ves would probably be able to slash their annual upkeep by half!
"What are you thinking about?" Calabast asked.
"I'm thinking that I need to push forward my plans to replace the mechs of the Penitent Sisters with my own design as soon as possible. I think I'll design the mechs with an eye towards uniformity and ease of maintenance. While I'm grateful to have the power of the Penitent Sisters at my disposal, I'm less enthused about the burden to my bank accounts."
The spy smirked. "Power doesn't come cheap. I'm glad you realize this lesson, kid."
"Couldn't you ask DIVA or the Hegemony to take the burden of their upkeep off my hands?" Ves whined. "The cost of maintaining the Penitent Sisters is probably a drop in the bucket for the likes of them! Why do I need to pay for all of this stuff?!"
"You're asking for too much. You're already lucky you get to enjoy the services of the Penitent Sisters in the first place. You need to show that you deserve this privilege. If you can't even pay their bills, then you're too useless!"
"Don't Hexers believe all boys are useless?"
Calabast glanced at Ves with a dour expression. "Your stereotyping Hexers too much. We are not caricatures, Ves. We still recognize the complexity of life and reality."
He doubted that statement, but there was no need to poke Calabast further.
They briefly halted when they neared a group of Penitent Sisters kneeling devotedly to a six-sided altar installed in an alcove built in the bulkheads. The altar rotated slowly along its axis in order to give the Sisters an opportunity to worship all six phases of existence in a single prayer sesion.
"While the Sisters deviated from orthodoxy, they are still devoted to hexism." Calabast whispered. "From their youth, they lived a life of training and religious worship. They didn't get to enjoy a normal life like regular Hexers. Their entire lives are centered around their professions and their beliefs."
This pattern reminded Ves of the Kronons of the Ylvaine Dynasty. Their elites too eschewed mundane pleasures in order to increase their dedication to their service.
Ves found it rather distasteful. Duty and devotion both compliment each other, but demanded a lot of sacrifices. Holy Warriors completely dedicated themselves to their faith, leaving precious little room to live a well-rounded life.
That was something that the original Larkinson Family always eschewed. They put a lot of emphasis on living a balanced life and starting your own families. While devotion was a good way to resist the cruelty and horror of war, the Larkinsons believed it was better to rely on the joys of life!
Ves inspected the kneeling Sisters carefully. They didn't stir or interrupt their prayer session in order to scowl at Ves. Their sincerity and devotion was so apparent that he didn't even need to employ his spiritual senses to glean more clues!
"Their faith is strong." Calabast whispered. "It is unfortunate their cult leaders led them astray. They could have become well-meaning Hexers, but…"
"Now your state pretty much treats them like damaged goods." Ves concluded.
"Yes." She didn't shy away from the truth. "Do you know what the cult they belonged to used to do to boys?"
"I take it I won't like the answer."
"I'll spare you most of the gruesome details, but you shouldn't think that the Penitent Sisters are innocent either. Their cult leaders came up with many rituals to reinforce the evils of boys. They used to sacrifice their lives in order to bathe altars like this in their blood!"
"What?!"
Ves was so startled that he disturbed quite a few Sisters from their prayers. Their fury was hot enough to scorn him if they held any power, but too bad they were under strict orders to do nothing towards their new 'master'!
"It's only the priests and cult leaders who engaged in these sordid crimes." Calabast pulled him away. "The Penitent Sisters are largely followers. It is not completely their fault they came to believe in a warped interpretation of hexism. If you lead them well enough, they can become something more than damaged goods to us. This is why it's important for you to visit the Sisters and show that you care."
He coughed. "It's hard to care about the fate about those who like to murder innocent boys."
While he didn't know why Calabast wanted him to value these Sisters, he stuck by his decision to make his own judgement.
So far, Ves didn't see anything that was particularly to his liking. To him, the Sisters were only useful as a stopgap until the Larkinson Clan transitioned into a proper second-class entity.
Once the Avatars and Sentinels fully transitioned their mech rosters to higher-classed machines, the Larkinson Clan no longer required the protection of the Sisters.
If they were still around, Ves would find some way to make them extinct. There was no need for him to entertain the presence of dangerous, supposedly-reformed cultists!
"Mr. Larkinson." An acid female tone sounded from the other side of the corridor.
"Miss Juliet Stameros." Ves greeted back with an impassive face. "Where is Commander Chancy?"
The young-ish head designer of the Penitent Sisters shook her head. "She's indisposed. I've been sent to accompany you in her stead. I hope you can understand our difficulties."
Calabast snorted. "Commander Chancy is provoking you, Ves. Show the Sisters who's in charge. Whatever the Penitent Commander is doing shouldn't be as important as meeting their new master!"
Ves raised his hand to stop Calabast's grandstanding. "Enough of that. These power plays are stupid and immature. I won't forget Commander Chanchy's slight, but I won't bother with making a fuss out of something so unimportant either. I prefer to talk to mech designers anyway. At least we can speak the same language."
"You are no kin of mine, boy." Juliet hissed.
What a pleasant mech designer.
Chapter 2041 Juliet Stameros
Before meeting Juliet Stameros, Calabast tried her best to shape his views on the Penitent Sisters.
According to her, the Penitent Sisters were victims and deluded sheep. The true masterminds responsible for committing all of the atrocities were the evil cult leaders who originally devised the doctrine that the phase of damnation represented boys!
Those at the bottom only did as they were told and learned everything the cult passed on. The insular, restrictive upbringing of the Penitent Sisters prevented them from learning any alternative interpretations. Critical thinking was something completely alien to these devoted worshippers!
Ves was well aware of what Calabast tried to do. He didn't buy into her story. Not completely.
At the very least, he refused to equate the Penitent Sisters as victims. Even if it was true that they were deluded and led astray, their continued anger and resentment at his existence made it clear they hadn't really forgotten about their original beliefs!
The hostility oozing from Juliet contained none of the mutual respect that mech designers harbored towards their own kind.
In fact, Juliet should be regarding a young and accomplished Journeyman like Ves with admiration or at least some jealousy!
Yet all Ves sensed from Juliet was a complete disregard of his rank. It was as if his status as a boy was so egregiously awful that it overshadowed everything else about him! In the eyes of a Penitent Sister like her, boys were all the same!
Though Ves felt offended by her lack of respect, a part of him took it as a challenge.
He didn't really care about the rest of the Penitent Sisters, but he couldn't stand the thought of a fellow colleague of his looking down on him despite her inferior qualifications!
The mech industry abided by its own rules! As a fellow professional, Juliet Stameros should have shown more respect to the hierarchy of mech designers!
"Juliet, since you are here, could you please show us around?"
"Very well, sir." Juliet squeezed out of her angry lips. "I'm not a ship officer, so I won't be able to show you around the bridge or the engineering bay. I know my mechs fairly well, though."
"That's fine. I'm not that interested in the ship either." Ves lied. "Please show me the mech workshop first."
They strode towards the mech workshop compartment where all of the more intensive repairs and servicing took place.
When they entered it, Ves immediately noticed that the compartment in question was several times bigger than that of the Scarlet Rose. That made sense as the Surly Cockatrice was a lot larger in order to accommodate forty mechs at a time.
Several crews of female mech technicians crawled all over the partially-disassembled mechs in order to perform some preventative maintenance.
"We're well aware that our mechs are rather old and worn." Juliet explained in a perfunctory tone. "Instead of waiting for the mechs to break down or malfunction in the middle of the battle, we prefer to nip as many problems as possible in the bud. We've been replacing and repairing parts before they reached their limits."
"That is a prudent decision."
"Anything to give my Sisters a chance to survive."
As the head designer of the Penitent Sisters, Juliet must have pushed this decision.
On the surface, Ves recognized that preventative maintenance was the best way to extend the longevity of the mechs of the Penitent Sisters.
Since they were forced to leave the Hegemony, the Sisters didn't have any way of procuring new second-class mechs on their own. They had to depend on either Ves or themselves to keep up their fighting strength.
"The mechs may not seem like much, and their performance isn't on par with the modern new-generation mechs that have rolled out in Hegemony space." Juliet elaborated as they observed the work on the second-class mechs. "Yet they are honest mechs designed by great Hexer mech designers. The machines have served the Hexers before us well, and it falls to us to honor these machines and treat them with the reverence they deserve."
While Ves was very pleased to hear that Juliet and the rest of the Sisters valued their mechs despite their relative age and condition, he was not as pleased with their reasoning.
Her condescending tone directly rubbed the supposed superiority of female mech designers in his face. It was as if there was no doubt that anything proper female Hexer mech designers came up with was leagues better than his own mech designs!
"Meow."
"Yeah, I don't like it either, Lucky." He whispered to his cat.
Though none of the Hexers glared at the mechanical cat that accompanied his owner, Lucky was a boy as well! Even he started to hate the open discrimination exhibited by the Penitent Sisters!
At least with Gloriana, her expression of female supremacy was relatively tame and well-meaning. She had also become more adopt at accommodating him by refraining from
The tour continued. Ves learned a lot how a second-class combat carrier like the Surly Cockatrice serviced her mechs. The tools and capabilities the mech technicians had at their disposal were very impressive, but so were the mechs. Their complexity and difficult construction made it very challenging to keep them in good condition!
The Hexer mech technicians were leagues above the mech technicians that Ves was used to working with. The impressive sight before him reminded Ves that he shouldn't be putting all of his attention on upgrading the mechs and mech pilots of the Larkinson Clan.
The infrastructure around them needed to keep up as well! Third-class mech workshops and third-class mech technicians weren't sufficient in keeping the advanced mechs in adequate condition.
Ves had already heard that the Avatars already started to experience a lot of strain in their attempts to service the new Bright Warriors. This mech model was only a bridge mech, so the problem would definitely become a lot more severe in the future once Ves designed more second-class mechs!
They exited the mech workshop and visited the stables where a lot of mechs were safely stashed. Protective braces and other measures ensured the heavy machines wouldn't tumble down the long hall and squash numerous Penitent Sisters flat if the Surly Cockatrice suffered a heavy attack.
Though Ves had been paying quite a bit of attention to the state of every individual mech, he was more interested in the people around them. He observed and recorded the behavior of every single Penitent Sister he came across.
Whether he would do something with all of these recordings was another thing, but at least he had some materials stored in the vast storage space of his implant.
Currently, Ves paid the most attention to Juliet Stameros. He didn't hide his interest in her, and that made her even more resentful. She hated being stared at by a boy! She probably wished nothing more than to poke his eyes for sullying her in this manner!
There was a very good reason why Ves maintained his interest in her. While he wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with the Penitent Sisters, if he ever wanted to convert them, he had to find an opening.
Right now, earning Juliet's seemed like his best bet. Ves always believed he understood other mech designers the best.
"So, Juliet. You've shown me around and described all of the Penitent Sister's mechs to me. You haven't told me anything about yourself, though."
"What do you want to know, sir?" She growled.
"For a start, where did you study?"
"I was.. homeschooled."
"Did a high-ranking mech designer tutor you until you reached the standard of Novice?"
She shook her head. "My teachers arranged me to study at the Artemis Institute. While I disliked my stay there, I learned about mech design. I successfully graduated from Artemis and returned to my comrades right afterwards."
"She disguised her true beliefs while she blended in with the student body of Artemis." Calabast enlightened Ves.
"I see."
This meant that while she was still a cultist, she at least enjoyed some of the best orthodox mech design education of the Hegemony!
The Artemis Institute ranked close to the top of mech design schools of the Evern Matriarchal Dynasty. The Hexers even respected it more than Hippolyta War College!
His respect for Juliet increased, which was rather strange considering that she still absolutely hated his guts.
Regardless of her views, Ves still respected mech designers who loved their profession and worked hard to make great achievements.
It was too bad that Juliet didn't possess any notable spiritual potential as far as he could tell. According to her profile, she was 35 years old, which meant that the chance of waking her spiritual potential became increasingly smaller.
While Ves hadn't researched a lot about this topic, in his opinion, a person's best chance of developing spiritual potential was in their younger years. As long as someone was younger than twenty-five or thirty years old, they always had a chance of opening up their spiritual opportunities!
That didn't color his views on Juliet. A mech designer was a mech designer, and each one dedicated their lives and pursuit towards developing better mechs!
As he continued to quiz Juliet's history and background, he learned there wasn't much else to the woman. Whenever she didn't work, she prayed. Whenever she worked, she prayed regardless, but in a way that didn't hinder her responsibilities.
"My faith is my life." She stated to Ves. "Women are superior and that needs to be acknowledged. We should have been the foremost proponents of women in the Hegemony!"
"Err… okay."
Ves wanted to impress her with his design prowess, but he couldn't figure out any means at the moment. Her bias against boys like him was so strong that he needed to shock her right away!
Any other means he managed to come up with didn't sound impressive enough to change her views on him. That said, he did come up with one idea that might transform her views on him, but it would take some time to enact that plan.
Until then, Ves had to bide his time and do his best to prevent his relations with the Penitent Sisters from worsening.
"I've been wondering." Ves spoke. "What is it you Penitent Sisters are working towards? I get it that your situation is rather awful, but what keeps you going? What are your goals?"
The other mech designer paused and fell silent. Since Juliet refused to talk, Calabast felt the need to answer in her stead.
"The Penitent Sisters want to be proven right."
Ves frowned. "That's impossible."
"I know." Calabast crossed her arms. "They can never have what they want, so I suppose they will have to make do with less. From my analysis, the Penitent Sisters seek acknowledgement and redemption. Though they hate the Hexadric Hegemony, they still consider themselves to be loyal Hexers at heart. It hurt them very badly when our state turned against them and told them that their beliefs were wrong. While they resent this treatment, they still want to regain their honor."
"I see. They're still redeemable, then." Ves concluded.
"As you have already seen, it won't be easy. The Penitent Sisters are strong and proud despite the restrictions foisted upon them. They will never be truly yours so long as they remain the same."
"We only follow your orders because we have to, boy." Juliet hissed, thereby affirming Calabast's statement.
Hexers always gave him a headache. Ves had enough of the Penitent Sisters for one day. He had seen enough to expand his judgement and form some ideas on how to engage them. Yet before he could do so, he needed to make some preparations.
One way or another, the Penitent Sisters would kneel in front him! He could never tolerate an uncontrolled force in his midst!
During the shuttle ride back to the surface of Cinach VI, Ves continued to immerse himself in his delusions.
Calabast observed him with an incredulous expression. She turned to Lucky who was floating in the air.
"Is Ves always like this?"
"Meow!"
Chapter 2042 Old Comrades
A few days after his visit to the Surly Cockatrice, Ves received a very unexpected surprise.
A new group of Brighters arrived in the Cinach System. This time, they consisted of some very familiar comrades!
As soon as Ves heard the news, he immediately rearranged his schedule so that he would be ready to greet the new arrivals when they reached Cinach VI.
Soon enough, three war-scarred combat carriers and a small number of logistical ships arrived in orbit.
Ves re-read their names and studied their appearances as if to confirm they matched the ones in his past!
The Princely Jackal. The Shield of Hispania. The Gorgon's Gaze. All three of them were very familiar to Ves. He even spent a lot of time on one of them during his time in the Mech Corps!
The three vessels didn't immediately descend on the surface. Instead, the Princely Jackal dispatched just a single shuttle and a modest escort of mechs towards the temporary base of the Larkinson Clan.
After some time, the shuttle alongside some familiar looking mechs emerged at the landing zone designated for their arrival.
"So they still make use of Inheritors and Hellcats." Ves muttered as his eyes clouded with nostalgia.
The Inheritor light skirmisher mech was the mainstay of the Flagrant Vandals. It was cheap, disposable but formidable in its own right. Ves still admired its design even as he criticized its lack of investment.
The Hellcat hybrid knight was a much more impressive spaceborn mech. Though it exhibited a lot of strain as it got closer to the gravity well of the planet, it was still a relatively powerful mech. One of the machines cost at least ten times as much as an Inheritor!
Both mechs hadn't been updated in years, which clued Ves in that the Flagrant Vandals never found a replacement for Professor Velten. The sole Senior who kept the mech regiment's exclusive mech designs up to date had already passed on, with no one left to continue her legacy.
Ves quietly mourned her passing as the shuttle finally touched the ground.
Before the shuttle doors even opened up, one of the Hellcats showed some activity first! Its mech pilot practically hopped out of the cockpit and used a rappel to descend to the ground as fast as possible!
"Ves! Nice to see you again!"
"Captain Orfan."
Rosa Orfan looked a bit haunted, but tried to put up a cheerful front. The Flagrant Vandals obviously hadn't left the Bright Republic under their own accord. As a former soldier of the Mech Corps, such a decision obviously troubled her at night.
With strong, exuberant steps, the mech captain rushed up to Ves, ignored his bodyguards, and swept him in a hug!
"Hahaha, I missed having you around all day! You were by far the most interesting mech designers to serve with the Vandals for a very long time!"
Ves didn't recall her being so friendly towards him. Perhaps the long time of separation caused her to color her memories of him. In any case, he could clearly sense that she was an expert candidate of notable strength, so he tried his best to play along!
"I'm glad to see you alive and well after that mess at Bentheim. Did you…"
Her face dropped. "The 'Battle of Bentheim' as everyone called it was a disaster from beginning to end. No one knew what the sandmen were truly like. It was like they suckered us in the biggest trap of their making. Even the MTA couldn't stop the sand storm."
Neither of them liked to spoil the mood, so they quickly turned to another topic.
"How is your progression?" Ves curiously asked. "The way you advanced to expert candidate was very unusual. Commander Dise, who experienced the same bonding ceremony with Qilanxo as you, has been stuck in a bottleneck for a while."
"I know." She said. "I kept in touch with her. I'm in a similar position as her. If I ever manage to find a way to get over the hurdle, she'll be quick to follow suit!"
In his spiritual vision, Ves observed a similar conflict between her aggressive tendencies and her imparted spiritual strength.
When Dise and Orfan both became the chosen beast riders of Qilanxo, they developed a symbiotic bond with each other. Of course, due to the disparity in strength between the sacred god and the human mech pilots, this bond was far from perfect.
Before they could speak any further, Commander Dise just arrived!
She immediately locked stares with the former officer of the Mech Corps. Despite their radically different backgrounds, there was only kinship in their expressions!
"We are finally reunited with each other." Dise spoke.
"Yeah." Orfan said. "Now that we're back together, I don't regret leaving the Bright Republic as much."
The pair merrily walked away in order to celebrate their reunion elsewhere.
As for the shuttle, another familiar face finally showed up. Still wearing his uniform, Major Verle calmly stepped up to Ves with a smile.
"Thank you for accepting us, Mr. Larkinson. We weren't sure whether you were willing to host a bunch of deserters like us. We went through a lot of twists and turns until we reached this star system."
Ves smiled back and shook the other man's hand. "It is no issue. You took care of me while I was serving with the Vandals. Now it's my turn to shelter you and the Vandals. Let's head inside where we can talk."
They exchanged some light stories as they slowly walked to one of the office buildings. After entering a small conference room, Major Verle sat down opposite to Ves and laid down the score.
"There are many reasons for our decisions to depart the Bright Republic." He began. "First, the Bright Republic's future is very much in doubt. While the Friday Coalition forced the Ylvaine Protectorate and the Vesia Kingdom to subsidize its reconstruction, their influence is already being felt. Even if they didn't find some excuse to break up and annex the territories of our Republic, they would have certainly become the de-facto rulers of the occupied regions!"
"That's not necessarily a reason to leave, major. The mission of the Mech Corps has always been to protect the state and its citizens. Perhaps you can't perform the former, but you can still perform the latter."
Major Verle sighed and shook his head. "Our Vandals are pariahs under the new order. The infamy we garnered during the previous Bright-Vesia War and our inconvenient association with another pariah like you has made us the target of a lot of retaliation. Both the Protectorate and the Kingdom have a bone to pick with us, Ves. On top of that, our secret affiliation with Flashlight has also become a liability?"
"How so?"
"Unlike Spotlight, Flashlight has always been on the side of you and the Tovars. We didn't join the manhunt on your relatives. In fact, we hindered and obstructed Spotlight and the other pursuers as best as possible. This has landed Flashlight in hot waters in the post-Sand War reality. The current administration of the Bright Republic doesn't appreciate Flashlight at all! There is even talk of abolishing the spy agency!"
"Ah. I see now why you are so eager to leave."
Major Verle used to be part of the Firestarters, which was a division under Flashlight. He would be the first person to get in trouble due to the hats he wore!
"Both Flashlight and the Vandals have already left the Bright Republic in droves. We understand our home state better than others and we realize that its future as an independent state has likely come to an end. Certain pro-Fridayman factions have come into power and they are very eager to enact punitive measures against those who oppose their views. For this reason, we Vandals have quickly decided to pick up our families and definitely depart the Republic."
Obviously, they didn't receive permission for all of their actions. The Vandals didn't only desert, but also stole valuable assets of the Mech Corps in the process! The three combat carriers they currently owned didn't come cheap!
"The number of Vandals that arrived in this star system is a lot less than I expected." Ves noted. "From what I recall, your mech regiment used to be a lot larger."
"We lost most of our strength during the disaster at Bentheim." Verle ruefully smiled. "Of the survivors, a part of our group decided to seek shelter from you, while another portion split off to build a new life elsewhere. That's why we're only left with three intact combat carriers. At least look on the bright side. All of us who stuck around up until now are pretty enthusiastic about working under you! Many of our fellow Vandals still remember all you have done for us! Each of us are already convinced of your leadership."
Though Ves understood that the moods and loyalties of the Vandals were probably a lot more complex than the mech major described, he still believed in his statement.
It was rather strange to meet Major Verle in the capacity of someone who stood above him rather than the other way around.
In the past, Ves always looked up to the seasoned mech officer. In fact, he purposefully copied some of Verle's leadership style and made it his own! The intangible debt he owed to his former superior was considerable!
Yet the unexpected arrival of the Flagrant Vandals also inconvenienced him a lot. Ves already took in an abundant amount of stray groups. He really didn't know whether it was a good idea to accommodate one more, particularly one that already possessed their own strong identity!
Ves looked at Verle and decided to lay out his concerns in the open. The mech major deserved to hear the full score.
"Our Larkinson Clan is pretty full, in a sense. While I would be glad to welcome you into our ranks, friendship and past camaraderie alone is not enough. If you want us to take in your Vandals, then you will need to make a number of concessions."
Verle nodded in understanding. "We don't expect you to take us in out of charity. The ones who are left with us are more receptive to accommodations than others."
"I'm glad you understand." Ves smiled. "Let me list out my basic demands. First, while I'm willing to give your Vandals a blanket invitation to join the clan, they will still need to go through some inspections. I don't want any spies or troublemakers to disrupt our harmony."
"How strict are the inspections?"
"They're not as bad as the ones we employ to the public. Don't worry about it. As long as they are earnest and willing to play by the new rules, our clan will find a place for your boys."
"That's great."
"Don't forget that I expect their loyalty to the clan to be permanent and unquestionable. I don't want to hear any of the talk I used to hear from the Vandals when I was serving with them. Do you understand?"
"That's a given." Verle quickly responded. "I'll make sure the Vandals understand that they're in it for life if they accept this opportunity."
Ves moved on to his third and most controversial point. "Third.. I'm not sure whether it is wise to keep the identity of the Flagrant Vandals. As much as I value your martial tradition, we already have the Battle Criers that fulfills a similar role to yours. Will your Vandals be willing to let the Battle Criers subsume your Vandals?"
To his credit, Major Verle didn't shout his objection to this proposal. Yet the discoloration in his face made it very clear that he deeply disliked it! Letting the Battle Criers absorb the Flagrant Vandals would mean the death knell of all of its heritage and martial tradition! The Vandals would no longer exist except in record and footage!
To the proud Vandals who always took pride in their distinctive identities, this was a deeply unacceptable move! At least half of the Vandals would outright leave if Ves voiced his intentions!
"Are you testing us, Ves?"
He smiled back. "You're a smart person, Major Verle. I've seen you in action enough times to know that you are partially putting on an act. Just because we used to fight alongside each other doesn't mean I am willing to neglect my responsibilities to my clan!"
If the Vandals thought they could take advantage of him and the clan, they were sadly mistaken! He was not about to let Major Verle employ his social manipulation on him and gain passage to the Larkinson Clan for free!
Chapter 2043 Inglorious Bastards
Ves spent a lot of time under Major Verle. The mech officer wore the hat of both the Mech Corps and Flashlight.
Someone who was part of both the military and a notoriously ruthless intelligence agency should not be treated as someone average!
As one of the leadership examples that Ves always looked up to, Major Verle was someone who was very adept at social manipulation. The man was a maestro at using words to sway people into doing what he wanted.
Though he didn't acquire a fancy nickname for it, Ves always considered Major Verle to be the true Devil Tongue!
Unlike Ves who employed spiritual manipulation to augment his social manipulation, Major Verle didn't depend on this advantage!
The Brighter mech officer was highly capable of establishing his authority through mortal means alone!
This advantage alone meant that Major Verle was a very highly-prized asset.
One of his persistent concerns about running the Larkinson Clan was the overall leadership deficit at the top. People like Melkor Larkinson and Magdalena Larkinson possessed a lot of mid-level leadership experience, but there were scant few clansmen who could truly command a force of thousands of mechs!
With someone as experienced, capable and tested as Major Verle at the top, Ves could feel relieved his mech forces weren't mismanaged.
The fact that he wasn't a trueborn Larkinson would also insert some much-needed diversity and differences in perspectives at the command level. So far, the senior leadership of the clan was still vastly slanted towards the trueborn.
Was this bad? Not necessarily. At least Ves and his bloodline still remained in firm control over the clan. Yet the lack of different backgrounds meant that many of the biases held by the Larkinsons would go unchecked. Too much harmony wasn't always a boon!
Yet there was more to Major Verle than met the eye. He also held a position in the Firestarters, a secret action group of Flashlight. While Ves wasn't sure what kind of role Verle played, he was far more similar to Calabast than he appeared on the surface!
Ves never liked spooks. They were duplicitous, treacherous and dishonorable. It was fine if he was the one that hoodwinked others, but it was far from ideal if he was on the receiving end of this behavior!
Right now, just because he and Major Verle were war buddies didn't mean that they were on the same side!
Both of them had cut their ties to the Bright Republic. Both of them became independent. For all intents and purposes, there was no intrinsic reason that the Larkinson Clan and the Flagrant Vandals should move together.
Everything depended upon the negotiations that took place at this very moment. Ves couldn't afford to go too soft on Major Verle just because he considered the other man a friend!
Ves crossed his arms while Lucky hovered nearby while stared curiously at Major Verle.
"Major, please understand my position. As the leader of the Larkinson Clan, I have a duty to be very careful about the people I bring into our midst. Do you know how many citizens of the Sentinel Kingdom have been knocking on my doors these days? Some of them even possess similar backgrounds to yours, but our clan has rejected their entry. Do you know why?"
"They're not trustworthy enough?" Verle guessed.
"That is one of the reasons. Another important reason is that the rejected applicants don't bring enough value to the table. Your Vandals.. if you came as a complete mech regiment, then we would be having a completely different conversation. As it is.. How many mechs do you have? 120?"
"A bit more than that." Major Verle responded. "The Princely Jackal can hold more than a standard mech company. Our combat carriers may not be the most cutting-edge vessels of the Mech Corps, but they are all capable of dropping into hazardous war zones. Our military pedigree is also something that shouldn't be discounted. Our tactics, discipline and use of formation is not something that regular mercenary corps can match!"
"All of that is true, but my Avatars come pretty close. Don't forget that much of my relatives are veterans. They have passed on all of their training and know-how to the mech forces of my clan. Even if we can't match the qualities of a professional military unit, we can still come close!"
Besides, with mechs like the Bright Warrior and other upcoming machines, the comprehensive battle power of his Avatars and other mech troops would undergo a complete transformation in the future!
The two continued to trade various remarks. Ves constantly tried to press down the worth of the Flagrant Vandals and made it clear that it was not a unique and indispensable asset.
For his part, Major Verle did his best to parry the attacks on his boys and emphasize the benefits that the Vandals could bring to the clan.
Eventually, they ran out of arguments. Rather than circle around and repeat the same points, Ves cut to the chase.
"My point stands, major. I already have a well-rounded force composition. The Avatars of Myth is my elite mech troop. The Living Sentinels is good for general-purpose combat. My Battle Criers can perform many of the same errands as your Vandals. If discretion is paramount, then I can turn to the Black Cats and the Swordmaidens. Let me ask you again. What reason do I have to invite your Flagrant Vandals into the Larkinson Clan as a package deal?"
After all of the arguments that Ves had made, there shouldn't be any. Major Verle looked vexed. He probably never expected Ves to be too strict with regards to their requests to join.
It wasn't as if Ves enjoyed it either. The Larkinson Clan was growing bigger every day, so as clan patriarch he had to become a lot more selective about the people he added to the ranks.
Major Verle sighed. "We have an expert candidate. Captain Orfan may be rough around the edges, but she is a true warrior. She also gets along very well with Commander Dise of your Swordmaidens. Aside from that, our boys are true Brighters, which is something that your Larkinson Clan is sorely lacking."
As an intelligence operative, Verle's intelligence was on point. He did his homework, at least.
"All of that is true." Ves responded. "That makes them worthy of individual recruitment. Yet that is not enough for me to retain your Vandals as a single organizational entity. While I admire the spunk of your former mech regiment, there are plenty of customs that I would rather do away with. When it comes down to it, your Vandals are partially feral."
"That is mostly due to the neglect and ill treatment that we have received from high command. As long as your clan understands our needs and treats us with respect, I'm sure my boys can be relied upon."
"That's not enough."
A brief pause ensued after Ves made that declaration. He patiently waited for Major Verle to finish his internal deliberations.
Whether Verle was putting up an act to give Ves the illusion that he was in control, it didn't matter.
Only one person in the conference room held all the cards, and it wasn't the visitor!
Having sparred with the likes of Calabast and the Living Prophet, Ves no longer dared to underestimate socially-adept individuals. The barriers that he put up shouldn't stump Major Verle.
The major eventually made an impactful decision.
"I have one more reason that might persuade you otherwise." The Brighter mech officer said with a disarming smile. "Do you remember the Aeon Corona Mission?"
What kind of question was that? He thought back on this long and harrowing adventure every day!
"I do." Ves mildly responded. "It's difficult to forget how many times I've brushed past death during a mission I never signed up for. I'm still peeved that we lost all of those Vandals and Swordmaidens just so that Senator Tovar can live an extra hundred years."
"That's the plight of small fellows like us. We were merely pawns of the state back then." Major Verle shrugged. "Fortunately, it's different now. Our Vandals, what is left of us, are no longer an arm of the state. You on the other hand are well on your way to become your own power!"
"While I enjoy the flattery, I'm not here to reminiscence about old times. My time is very valuable, so please get to the point."
"Very well, Ves. It's like this. While Captain Orfan and the few Vandals that have managed to enter the Starlight Megalodon haven't managed to accomplish much, they did manage to raid the vault of the battleship in the end. Despite the losses that we have suffered, the mission was deemed a success."
"I know that. Senator Tovar wouldn't have been ecstatic if we came back empty handed. He even made sure to award me with a bunch of shiny medals."
Major Verle looked around the conference room and noted Nitaa's quiet presence. "What I am about to tell you next needs to be told in absolute privacy."
"Nitaa can be trusted with everything you say." Ves quickly responded, affirming his trust in her discretion.
Her recent adoption in the clan made him even more reassured of her loyalty!
The room wasn't entirely secure, but that was easily solved. He activated his jamming device, enveloping them in an interference field that should be capable of blocking nearly every form of surveillance.
"It's safe to talk now."
Major Verle was very familiar with jamming devices. He felt the strength of Ves' self-built jamming device and was satisfied with its efficacy.
"Alright." The older man took a deep breath. "When we retrieved a container bearing the precious high-grade life-prolonging serum from the Starlight Megalodon, we didn't hand all of its contents over to the government. In truth.. we held one dose to ourselves."
A very profound silence ensued after Major Verle made his shocking declaration! Ves couldn't help but widen his eyes at his former superior!
"You.. absolute madmen.. you inglorious bastards! Do you know the value of what you claim to hold?! You can buy an entire star system in the Sentinel Kingdom with what you have! An entire line of decrepit old geezers will form in front of you as soon as you put up the serum for sale!"
The amount of leverage the Vandals held was a thousand times more value than Ves expected!
At most, he thought that Major Verle would boast about his connections to the remnants of Flashlight, or show off his access to some secret black ops bank accounts.
Never in his imagination did Ves expect that the Flagrant Vandals actually withheld an incredibly valuable dose that was capable of extending the life of someone who already extended their lives beforehand!
In fact, Major Verle took an enormous risk by revealing this explosive news to someone else. If Ves was unscrupulous enough, he could order the Penitent Sisters to storm the Vandals and take over their ships in order to search for the serum!
While Ves felt tempted to enact this plan, he quickly set this notion aside. Major Verle wasn't stupid enough to leave something so valuable within reach. He probably had some means to destroy the serum if Ves tried to steal it or simply stashed it in another star system.
"What are your terms?" Ves asked plainly after he regained his composure.
"We won't ask for much." Major Verle replied in a disarming tone. "My priorities remain the same. We want nothing more than to retain the existence of the Flagrant Vandals and be treated with respect. We don't require any pampering or favored treatment. Simply treating us fairly like you do with any other clansmen is sufficient to keep us happy."
That.. sounded remarkably mild for someone who held the key to longevity! Major Verle was massively undercutting his demands, and that immediately aroused Ves' suspicions!
Nothing came for free! The greater the value, the greater the price! That was always an adage that Ves abided by! There was no way that Major Verle was ignorant enough to give out something so valuable without a commensurate reward in return!
"I'm not as gullible as I used to be." Ves stated with a serious expression. "What's the catch?"
Major Verle smiled and crossed his arms. He successfully regained the initiative in this negotiation!
Chapter 2044 Two Great Minds
Everything that happened before was just a precursor for this moment. Now that Major Verle finally revealed his trump card, it was his turn to set the tone for this conversation!
Ves expected the major to list out a host of demands.
Yet despite holding the upper hand in this negotiation, Verle refused to press his advantage!
"I'm being serious." He spoke with a confident smile that belied his soft approach. "We don't want special treatment. As long as our unit can continue to maintain our martial tradition under the banner of your clan, we will be willing to serve as both Larkinsons and Vandals!"
"That.. is not what I expected." Ves muttered with amazement. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Is there something.. wrong.. with the life-prolonging serum you claim to have retained?"
"It's safe." Major Verle quickly clarified. "Only a handful of people from my inner circle are even aware of its existence. They have all kept their mouths shut as far as I can tell. Even if they have leaked the news, hardly anyone would believe it. Just to be sure, our fleet doesn't carry the serum. I made sure to stash it somewhere very secret and very secure."
Ves frowned deeper. "Just to be clear, are you actually offering the serum to me? As much as I acknowledge its worth, it's pointless for me to take it into consideration if it doesn't fall into my hands."
Certainly, he really wanted to obtain the serum. Seeing how even the oldest and wisest power players went crazy as soon as they believed they had a chance of obtaining it, Ves would be a fool to push it away!
While he was still at a very tender age, at some point he would grow old enough that his remaining lifespan became a very important concern.
Though Ves had some confidence that he'd be able to earn the merits to redeem a high-grade serum through his own efforts, he still needed to spend decades or longer in order to obtain it! If he could get one early, he would be able to make much better use of his time!
Major Verle should know that as well, so it was a mystery why he didn't play hardball.
The man seemed to enjoy the confusion he generated. His smirk grew wider.
"You have just explained your situation. Let me explain mine so that you can understand why I have decided to stick to my demands. First, it is not so simple to sell or auction the serum. Do you think we'd be able to keep our gains if we submit it to an auction or approach a black market organization?"
Of course not! Even Ves could see how those parties would instantly turn on the Vandals and steal the serum at any cost! It was simply too valuable to be left in the hands of a bunch of deserters!
"You can still leverage its value if you approach the right people such as myself." Ves retorted.
"That's true. I trust you to treat us fairly, and so far you have met my expectations. It is exactly because I trust you that I have modulated our demands with an eye towards long-term gains as opposed to more immediate benefits."
"You'll have to explain that, major."
"It's quite simple. If I demand special treatment, our Vandals will always be different from the rest of your clan. The other Larkinsons will no doubt question why you treat us with so much favor. Over time, this can be very harmful towards our integration into your clan."
While that sounded plausible, it wasn't enough of a reason to forgo the riches that the Vandals could receive in exchange for handing in the serum.
"What else?"
"According to the profile we've constructed of you, we can state with a reasonable amount of confidence that your gratitude is countless times more valuable than an astronomical amount of credits or a whole host of top-grade mechs. No amount of material benefits we can ask is worth more than your enduring appreciation!"
That is a very honest and revealing assessment. Ordinarily, people would hold this back. Not Verle. He deliberately exposed this reasoning in order to come across as transparent.
Ves happened to be very appreciative towards people who were open and didn't try to hide things from him. Despite knowing that he was being manipulated, he still gained a more favorable impression of the mech officer and his Vandals.
"I.. think I understand."
The major was betting on his honesty and goodwill. As long as Ves accepted the serum at little cost, he would definitely think favorably of the Vandals for a very long time!
This gift was so profound that Ves would feel incredibly guilty if he didn't do enough to take care of the Vandals!
This essentially meant that Ves would always find ways to accommodate the Vandals in various ways while making sure they weren't being mistreated.
While the Vandals still needed to pull their own weight, at the very least Ves would always make sure to keep them content.
Still.. Ves wasn't very comfortable about this proposal. Something about it smelled rather fishy, and he never liked it when someone else held the upper hand in a negotiation.
Verle recognized his concerns and tried to allay them. "Let me be clear. We won't be asking for an early retirement or anything like that. Our Vandals would just turn into useless leeches if we lose our edge. We will fight when necessary and won't shy away just because we have suffered some casualties. In truth, hardly anyone will know about this deal except for you, me and a handful of trusted Vandals. To everyone else, our relationship will appear normal."
Ves narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying you want to make a private deal?"
"Partially." The major admitted. "As much as I care about the Vandals, I have to look out for myself as well. I already explained that it is impossible for me or my Vandals to make use of the serum. I would rather trade it off to you and receive more attainable benefits in return. Aside from receiving your promise that you will take care of the Vandals, Captain Orfan and I would also like our lives to be extended by at least a single round."
This was a much more sensible demand to Ves, but still an unequal one as far as he was concerned.
A typical baseline human lived up to 130 years. Extending it to 230 years was fairly doable to most Seniors from a third-rate state.
Yet trying to prolong it further was at least ten times more difficult! The jump in lifespan from 230 years to 330 years was a much more ruinous price!
The serum that Senator Tovar made use of was even greater in value! As far as Ves was aware of, the Senator was close to 290 years old, which meant he already enjoyed two rounds of life-prolonging treatment!
This meant that the third round was astronomically more expensive, so much so that he didn't hesitate to sacrifice thousands of soldiers to be able to live up to 430 years!
"What grade is the serum, exactly?" Ves quizzed.
"Third round. You can live up to four centuries if you make effective use of it. We have already confirmed its authenticity."
So Major Verle wasn't exaggerating. Such a serum was truly a prize worth fighting for! Regardless of how prosperous Ves and the clan would grow into the future, obtaining this serum right away was a massive advantage!
He could use it for himself to ensure he would have enough time to realize his ambitions.
He could pass it on to Gloriana so that she wouldn't be burdened by her aging.
He could pass it on to his children or descendants if he thought they were worth such a lavish benefit.
He could even try and sell it in exchange for a factory ship and many other valuable goods and services!
Perhaps he could even find a way to convert it into MTA merits, thereby bringing him substantially closer to purchasing a fleet beyonder ticket!
Whatever the case, something with so much value that even the citizens from the galactic center would fight tooth and nail to obtain it was intimately valuable!
And all Major Verle asked in return was to extend his life and Captain Orfan's life by a modest century. Oh, he also wanted to make sure that Ves would maintain his gratitude towards the Vandals.
"Is my appreciation worth that much?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who thinks that way." Verle grinned. "Your future potential is very clear to see. Out of every Journeyman Mech Designer in this star sector, you are one of the most brilliant who isn't already a part of the MTA. Others may believe that you still need to prove yourself, but we have been observing your career for many years. We know that you are more than a flash in the pan. You are on the up-and-up. As long as we invest in you early, our gains in the future will definitely surpass the value of a mere high-grade life-prolonging serum!"
Ves understood. Major Verle took the same long-term investment approach as Calabast!
"Two great minds think alike." He muttered.
Similar to Major Verle, Calabast once gained a position of advantage over Ves. Instead of using her leverage to blackmail Ves or turn him into her slave or something, she settled for becoming his partner.
She made the right choice. If she pushed her advantage harder, she would only piss him off, thereby risking his retribution! Though she would doubtlessly gain amazing benefits in the short-term, his hatred for her would make her future very uncertain!
As it was, Ves had reluctantly gotten used to her presence. He didn't even object to her adoption into the Larkinson Clan.
Major Verle must be making a similar calculation. As a former member of Flashlight, he must be well aware of the tradeoffs between a short-term approach and a long-term approach.
Right now, the Vandals would doubtlessly benefit from either approaches. Verle just had to make a consideration if he wanted more modest gains in the short term or much greater gains in the future.
The fact that he chose the latter meant that he placed a lot of faith in Ves and his clan. Just like Calabast, Verle too believed that Ves would one day become a very great figure in the galactic mech community! The amount of analysis that Flashlight had conducted on Ves should have certainly hinted at such, but even with it Verle was shrewd enough to know what was best!
Two great minds think alike. Ves smiled sardonically at the surviving leader of the Vandals. People like Calabast and Verle were too astute!
"Alright." He eventually said. "I accept. Your offer is too attractive to me and your terms are very reasonable."
"I knew you would accept." Verle smiled in satisfaction.
The two men shook hands. For this type of agreement, there was no need to sign a formal contract. In fact, it was best to put as little in writing as possible, as Ves did not wish for the existence of the high-grade life-prolonging serum to be leaked!
As soon as they finished the handshake, they became comrades-in-arms once more! Ves felt strangely warm now that he gained another dependable group of helpers.
"Welcome to the clan." Ves announced as he deactivated his jamming device and stowed it away. "I will personally induct you all into the clan as soon as we make the arrangements. Your men will still need to be vetted, but I trust that they will pass all of our checks without problem."
"How do you plan to slot us into our clan?"
"I don't know yet. As I've already mentioned, the Battle Criers are already my preferred unit of fixers." Ves paused for a moment to think. "Perhaps you can find a new purpose for the Vandals after speaking to Calabast. I'm sure you are already familiar with her and her current role in the clan. Her Black Cats already makes use of the Swordmaidens as their muscle, but they aren't as versatile and sophisticated as your Vandals."
Calabast and Verle both possessed an intelligence background. Ves believed they would get along well for that reason.
Before they left the conference room, Ves didn't forget to ask a critical question.
"Where is the 'package'?"
"It's not here, obviously." Major Verle replied. "We'll have to go out of our way to retrieve it. I advise you to treat it with great care. You don't want it to suffer any accidents, do you?"
Ves idly waved his hand. "I'll tell Calabast to work with you to retrieve it. I'm sure the two of you will do what is necessary without incident."
Though Ves looked forward to receiving the valuable serum, he would not get his hopes up until it actually landed in his hands!
Chapter 2045 Hope of Recovery
The induction of the Flagrant Vandals into the Larkinson Clan went smoothly. Ves made sure to reserve some time to hold a proper induction ceremony.
Most people thought that Ves went out of his way to honor the Vandals with a personal appearance because they were former war buddies.
That was partially true.
The benefits that Major Verle provided to Ves was the biggest reason why they received special treatment!
Ordinary candidates didn't get to place their palms on the Larkinson Mandate. They didn't receive an opportunity to swear an oath to the Larkinson Clan in front of the clan patriarch.
With how busy he was these days, the recruiters assigned by the Larkinson Clan mostly conducted the ceremonies themselves. The Bright Warrior mechs served as an adequate substitute for the Larkinson Mandate.
The fact that Ves went out of his way to eschew this perfunctory treatment and treat the Flagrant Vandals with a greater ceremony was a message in itself. He cared about the Vandals and valued them a lot higher than ordinary recruits!
No one in the clan rejected their entry. While it was true that the Flagrant Vandals deserted the Bright Republic, they fought valiantly in the previous Bright-Vesia War and the Sand War.
The fact that they held their ground in the Battle of Bentheim and lost the bulk of their comrades was enough to redeem the stain of their desertion!
From a more practical perspective, the addition of a remnant of a proper military mech regiment was very useful to the clan.
The Princely Jackal, the Shield of Hispania and the Gorgon's Gaze were all combat carriers that have proven to be resilient enough to survive several intensive battles. Though they were all banged up to an extent, their scars could easily be fixed.
While the Vandal combat carriers weren't as impressive as the ships in the possession of the Penitent Sisters, at the very least Ves had more direct control over them! He never fully trusted the Hexer punishment outfit, and the various restrictions they came with made it very difficult to make full use of their strength.
Certainly, Ves planned to replace every third-class vessel in his fleet with second-class ships in the future, but that might take years to complete. Until then, having a handful of military combat carriers at his disposal was better than nothing!
Before the arrival of the Flagrant Vandals, Ves always had a headache about the possible force composition of any excursion into the Nyxian Gap. If he wanted to complete a mission into this perilous space, then bringing a bunch of light carriers was sheer folly!
The ubiquitous asteroid that floated everywhere in this anomalous space made it trivially easy for the pirate gangs that infested the Gap to ambush any travelling fleets. Just a couple of surprise attacks was enough to cripple a lightly-armored light carrier!
Even with the protection of the Penitent Sisters, they only needed to expose a single hole in their defenses to cripple the weakest vessels in the fleet!
Ves wouldn't have to worry so much if he could limit his selection to armored vessels. While that might mean that he would have to leave the bulk of his Avatars and Sentinels behind, at the very least he wouldn't need to worry too much about incurring an excessive amount of losses.
Aside from the assets they brought, the military heritage they retained and the immediate battle power in the form of trained, disciplined mech pilots who spent years honing their coordination was of great value!
The clan became a bit more confident in its ability to repel attacks.
Even if the Larkinsons looked down on the modest number of Vandals, there was one more reason why they didn't look down on the new additions.
"Another expert candidate has joined our clan!"
"Who is Captain Orfan?"
"I heard some mixed stories about her when I was still serving in the Mech Corps. I don't think they matter anymore now that she has become an expert candidate. We can never have too many of them! I'm looking forward to the day our clan gains our first expert pilot!"
With the Golden Cat bestowing her personal approval to Major Verle, Captain Orfan and the rest, Ves became fully reassured that the Vandals weren't pulling the wool over his eyes.
Goldie would have said something to him if Verle had tried to scam him with a non-existent serum!
Once the Vandals became a part of the clan, he let Calabast and the other leaders of the clan take charge of the follow-up arrangements.
Right now, it seemed that Major Quinlist Verle-Larkinson would likely retain his rank and occupy a senior military position in the hierarchy.
Captain Rosa Orfan-Larkinson on the other hand would take charge of the diminished number of Vandals. They had grown small enough that it wasn't necessary for someone as competent as Major Verle-Larkinson to lead them in person.
"All of these compound names sound rather ugly." Ves complained.
"It gets better over time." Gavin told him during a briefing. "In case we can never get used to them, we can just adopt a different solution. There are plenty of proponents to the idea of turning everyone's last name into Larkinson."
That was not so ideal either. Everyone would probably have to resort to serial numbers to refer to the correct Larkinson!
Just as Ves thought he was done with current affairs, yet another incident demanded his attention.
Brutus Wodin made a personal visit to Ves. When an expert pilot went out of his way to knock on his doors, then something truly important must be happening!
To his surprise, Brutus didn't come alone.
His companion wasn't who he expected, either. Instead of bringing his sister or Ranya, he instead came with a completely different woman.
"Davia Stark." Ves greeted. "I hope the clan has accommodated you well. I apologise for my lack of visits to you. I was too busy to spare time on you. I hope you understand."
With everything that was going on, trying to help a broken expert pilot sat rather low on his list of priorities! He was especially disinclined to waste his time on her when she was barely functional as a human!
So far, Ves had been content to leave her in the hands of Clinton Larkinson and the various doctors and specialists of the clan.
"It is no issue." Davia softly responded.
Ves looked taken aback at her response! Though the sense of gloom and malaise was very evident on her, the fact that she actually spoke like a normal human being was a substantial leap in progress!
Ves studied Davia a bit more thoroughly. He concentrated his mind and tried to observe her through his spiritual vision.
What he observed utterly surprised him! The protective force of will that Brutus often liked to drape on his sister and close family now nestled protectively around Davia's fragile and broken will!
This strange interaction must have been responsible for Davia's transformation. Her force of will, though still broken, looked like it was starting to piece back together!
While Ves didn't know how difficult it was for her to regain her original strength as an expert pilot, at the very least the odds were significantly greater than before!
His entire stance on her changed. Her importance shot up in priority now that there was actual hope of her recovery.
"Congratulations on your improvement. You look a lot better than before."
Davia didn't respond. Instead, she turned towards Brutus, who spoke on her behalf.
"Do you remember our previous request?"
"I remember." Ves responded. "You wanted to divert our fleet to the former capital of the Vindmar Republic. I rejected it because our entire fleet was desperate to reach safe harbor. I can't afford to frustrate the interests of tens of thousands of people just to accommodate a single wounded veteran of the Sand War."
Brutus smiled as if he didn't take offense. "We understand. Your choice is the most proper one. However, now that you have reached the Cinach System, you are doing quite well these days. Not only have you consolidated your clan, you have also expanded your forces and recruited a large number of skilled recruits. The recent addition of the Flagrant Vandals has increased your strength even further."
"What is it that you are getting at, Brutus?" Ves frowned.
"I plan to take Miss Stark to the border state which she hailed from on the Serendipity. At this time, the dust of the Sand War has sufficiently settled. While it is not entirely safe to travel to the destroyed state, I'm confident that I alone can fend off any opportunistic scavengers."
The tone that Brutus adopted made it clear that he wasn't asking for permission. He was stating his intentions as a courtesy. There was nothing Ve could do to retain Brutus in the fleet and enjoy his protection!
That was bad news to Ves. As much as he could depend on his own forces and the Penitent Sisters for protection, the presence of Brutus alone was a very powerful deterrent!
Expert pilots enjoyed a lot of respect, more than any other average mech pilot! A second-class expert pilot like Brutus was of immense value to Ves. He was like a lucky talisman that ensured that no one would have any funny ideas!
Ves could react in two different ways. He could try to talk Brutus out of this inconvenient excursion, or he could roll over and support the expert pilot's decision.
Short of persuading Gloriana to hold her brother back, there was nothing Ves could do to force Brutus to stay! Instead of coming across as selfish, Ves decided it was better to acquiesce.
In any case, Brutus wasn't wrong. He enjoyed plenty of protection even without a powerful expert pilot presiding over the fleet.
Ves smiled charitably at Brutus and Davia. "How long do you intend to take?"
"It depends. My Serendipity is quite a fast ship, so it can take as little as three weeks to make a round trip. The former Vindmar Republic isn't that far away from the Sentinel Kingdom. We might incur some delays. Perhaps Davia wishes to visit some other star systems along the way."
"I think.. I need to visit the site of my defeat as well." She whispered while keeping her eyes down. "I never.. properly said goodbye to my mercenary commander."
"A month." Brutus declared. "We won't take more than a month. Even if you have already departed the Sentinel Kingdom, my ship is fast enough to catch up. Don't worry. I am still committed to protecting my sister."
Considering that Ves had no intentions of leaving the Cinach System within a month, that sounded entirely reasonable. During their entire stay in this star system, Ves and the Larkinson Clan encountered no meaningful threat to their safety.
This deep in the Sentinel Kingdom, the Friday Coalition should never be able to assault this star system!
Of course, the Nyxian pirates were a different story, but Ves didn't worry about them too much. Their strength couldn't compare against a second-rate state. The most they could do was launch futile raids and terrorist attacks.
"Very well." Ves smiled. "I wish the two of you good luck on your endeavors. As a Larkinson, I respect every mech pilot who has answered the call of duty. You deserve another chance to fight on behalf of humanity."
"It is a pity… I was not able to fight against the sandmen one last time."
Regret suffused her tone and her crushed expression. If she recovered faster, she might have been able to take part in the Battle of Bentheim!
As it was, she was completely useless now. She wasn't even in a state to pilot a mech in a normal fashion, let alone exhibit the strength of an expert pilot!
Ves tried to console her. "The sandmen are hardly the only threat to humanity. There are more enemies out there who dream of nothing but slaughtering innocent people. Your fight is not over yet, Miss Stark."
She didn't respond as she and Brutus rose up from their seats.
As the pair of exceptional mech pilots departed, Ves frowned. Even if Davia recovered, he wasn't sure whether he would be able to retain her. There was hardly anything tying her to the Larkinson Clan. To be honest, Brutus did much more to help her recover than he ever did during the months she stayed in the fleet!
Chapter 2046 Military Bureau
The departure of Brutus Wodin and his charity case didn't affect the Larkinson Clan. Ves felt almost just as secure as before.
Certainly, the emergence of an enemy expert pilot would definitely inflict a lot of pain. Without one of his own constraining such a powerful actor, a single powerful mech could wreak untold havoc in his ranks.
While the Larkinson veterans and the Flagrant Vandals received training on how to resist the aggression of an expert pilot, it was easier said than done to put it into practice!
The natural awe and fear towards expert pilots was a huge detriment to the effectiveness of such massed tactics.
Cases where a single expert pilot managed to disintegrate a force consisting of a thousand mechs weren't unheard of in the galaxy!
If all of those regular mech pilots kept their composure and worked together to surround and tire out the expert mech, then the latter would not be able to achieve much results before being taken down by sheer numbers.
Yet this was not always the case in practice! The success rate of these plans often hinged on the discipline and training of the mech pilots. As long as they didn't trust each other to cover their backs or possessed the will to sacrifice their lives for a greater purpose, the selfish mech pilots would always back off and try to avoid being included in the list of casualties!
Larkinson Network or not, Ves did not believe that most of his clansmen had reached the point of dying for the clan. Due to their training and unique characteristics, the Avatars of Myth and the Battle Criers came close, but Ves knew they still fell short in this area and many other areas.
Having an experienced mech officer who once commanded half of a mech regiment at his side turned out to be a very useful boon.
Major Verle-Larkinson was an all-round asset, possessing a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and insight in military matters. Not only that, he also possessed a dash of intelligence experience. From sabotage, kidnapping, wetwork and other unsavory activities, Verle-Larkinson had done it all throughout his decades-long career.
"Calling you Verle-Larkinson all the time is getting really tired." Ves complained during a meeting with the latest member of his inner circle. "Can I call you Quinlist?"
The major's mouth twitched. Evidently, he did not like his first name! "You can just call me Verle or Major Verle if that is what you prefer. Others in the clan have already reverted to ignoring the compound name."
The name Larkinson consisted of three syllables, and it was a lot of trouble to recite this name all of the time! Even the clansmen who proudly wore this name eventually got tired of saying it in rapid succession!
Ves palmed his face. "We need to find a better solution to this stupid naming problem."
"It's not a major issue, Ves. Just forget about it and let your clansmen sort it out by themselves."
It didn't matter too much anyway. Ves could see through his spiritual vision that Major Verle was already integrating deeper into the spiritual network centered around the Larkinson Mandate. So long as this bond remained healthy, Verle could be trusted to act in the interests of the clan!
"Alright. Let's get back to the topic at hand. What was it you said about the organization of our mech forces?"
The major coughed. "As I was saying, I have comprehensively inspected each and every force that is under your direct and indirect command. I even paid a visit to the Penitent Sisters, though they have been understandable reluctant to show me around."
"That must have been quite an ordeal." Ves smirked.
"I count myself lucky I managed to leave alive." Verle laughed. "In any case, after I have taken stock of your combat assets, I have ascertained many shortcomings and inefficiencies. While the various forces such as the Avatars and my Flagrant Vandals are individually well-run, at the strategic level there is a dangerous lack of cooperation and coordination."
Ves blinked at this answer. "Please explain."
"Hmm.. let's take the Mech Corps as a model. In a very simplified overview, the Mech Corps consists of three basic layers. At the bottom, there are the individual mech regiments which do all of the fighting as cohesive units with distinctive specialties. At the middle, there is the mech division level which gathers a number of diverse mech regiments together to achieve a strategic goal in a war theater. Above this level is HQ which manages the military at the state level."
It didn't take long for Ves to understand what Verle was getting at. "We are lacking in layers, is that what you are saying?"
Verle nodded. "Headquarters isn't just a place where the brass makes all of the big decisions. It also functions as an administrative center, much like the headquarters of your mech company. Countless policies, standards and other aspects are constantly being updated by one of its many offices and departments."
"I can understand that." Ves rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. "So far, the Avatars, Sentinels and other forces run their own affairs as self-contained silos. That is fine if they are only expected to operate by themselves, but the truth is that they will likely be asked to fight alongside other forces. Some conflict and friction is inevitable."
"I've reviewed the after-action reports of the Battle of Kesseling VIII." Major Verle stated. "It's obvious that the problems I've mentioned have already started to become evident during that time. The unexpected and uncoordinated reinforcements from the Swordmaidens and the Ylvainan defectors may have saved your clan from defeat, but the lack of coordination in their movements has led to an excessive number of preventable casualties."
"You're saying that a lot less mech pilots would have fallen if our forces all cooperated better?"
"Yes."
That was a very harsh statement. The truth hurt sometimes, and Ves felt very remorseful for not doing enough to deepen the integration between the Avatars, Sentinels, Battle Criers and Glory Battalion.
The major noted the effect he had on his audience. "It's okay, Ves. Your forces did their best. None of you expected to face an attack at that time and place. Let's move forward and establish a plan to address our shortcomings so that we won't be caught so flat-footed the next time."
"Let's do that. What is your proposal?"
Verle activated his comm and quickly sent a document to Ves. "I have already taken the liberty to write out a series of steps on what we need to do. The gist of my plan is to establish an office called the Military Bureau to make the beginning steps towards greater coordination and cooperation between the forces."
While the major spoke, Ves connected to his comm via his implant and rapidly scanned through the document in his mind.
"It sounds like you are working towards establishing a headquarters." He noted with surprise. "Why not create one straight-away?"
"It's not necessary, Ves. Starting too big will not only lead to a lot of disruption, but also attract a lot of animosity from your troops. I don't intend to replicate the flaws of the Mech Corps in the Larkinson Clan. You have already witnessed and suffered from the great disconnect between high command and the soldiers doing all of the fighting, right?"
Ves immediately nodded. He had no good opinion of the leadership of the Mech Corps!
"So the purpose of establishing a modest-sounding Military Bureau is to begin with a light touch, is that right?"
"Right. The Bureau will initially concern itself with establishing some common standards and protocols between the different forces. There are plenty of areas that need to be standardized, such as recruitment, wages and transfers. Once we get up to speed in matters related to human resources, we can move on to harmonizing certain rules and regulations in order to establish a common law between all of the forces. After that, we can tackle something more substantial as standardizing the technological specifications of most of their hardware."
All of this sounded very beneficial, but Ves also understood that this would be a huge endeavor. It might take years for all of these measures to make a difference!
Still, considering that the Larkinson Clan would only grow larger in the future, it was best to address these matters early when it was still easy to enact these kinds of changes.
"You have my permission to establish a Military Bureau and enact the changes which the clan deems necessary." Ves officially declared. "While I am willing to afford your Bureau a certain degree of independence, I want you to regularly report your findings and your actions to someone higher-up in the clan. For now, that includes both me and the Executive Council. Is that clear?"
"Looks like you are developing your Larkinson Clan into a state-like entity." Verle cleverly observed.
"Do you approve?"
He shrugged. "All of this is a bit new to me. I don't exactly have the best impression of spaceborn clans. They can be rather snobbish and elitist. I hope you won't steer your clan in the same direction."
"We'll see."
Before they ended the meeting, Verle brought up one more topic.
"Aside from establishing the Military Bureau, I also wanted to talk about the evolution direction of your forces."
"What is your opinion?"
"So far, their roles are fairly clear. I think it is best to continue their development in their chosen directions, but with a greater eye towards specialization so that they can better complement each other. With a true combined arms approach, our clan can handle any crisis."
"What will be the role of each force if you had your way?"
Verle listed out his views. "The Avatars of Myth can stay as our elite mech force. The Living Sentinels should specialize in defensive warfare. The Battle Criers are suited for irregular operations. The Swordmaidens are already transitioning into a black ops unit. As for the Flagrant Vandals, I think it is best to turn them into a raiding and reconnaissance force."
"The mech roster of the Vandals don't reflect this role." Ves pointed out. "You have plenty of medium mechs and even a couple of heavy mechs, right?"
"We can slowly phase them out. Since you have served with us for some time, you already know that we already employ light mechs extensively. We can deepen our use of light mechs while acquiring some medium mech models that all feature great mobility. Once we complete this transformation, our Vandals will become fully capable of fulfilling the scouting function that your other mech troops aren't as suited to perform."
That sounded quite logical. Ves was glad that Major Verle was able to find a place for the Flagrant Vandals in the clan.
"What about the possibility of operating in the auspices of the Black Cats?"
"I've already spoken to Madame Calabast. We both came to the conclusion that it is best for my Vandals to steer clear of her Black Cats." Verle admitted. "While I do possess an intelligence background, most of our Vandals are not. They are honest soldiers. Deep down, they all wish to prove themselves on the battlefield in an upright and honorable manner. I think we owe it to them to give them the chance the Mech Corps has denied them for too long."
"The Larkinson Clan will be happy to give them this opportunity." Ves smiled in acceptance. "The Larkinson Family has always valued honor, and our clan is no different. I'm sure your Vandals will acquit themselves well in their new role."
As soon as Major Verle received the green light for his proposals, he departed from Ves' office. His first step after establishing the Military Bureau was to pull in Fleet Coordinator Ophelia Kronon-Larkinson.
In a way, Ophelia already played the role that Verle described. She constantly kept an eye on the ships of the Larkinson Clan and suggested ways to increase their coordination.
Placing her in the newly-established Military Bureau would cement her role and allow her to act with greater authority with the mandate she gained.
Chapter 2047 Burning Red
The addition of the Flagrant Vandals to the Larkinson Clan proceeded smoothly, all things considered. Their military pedigree and their Brighter heritage meant that they were already very compatible with the ideals of the Larkinson Clan.
Though they were a little rough around the edges, they were hardly the worst in this aspect.
With Major Verle-Larkinson and Fleet Coordinator Ophelia Kronon-Larkinson banding together to form the nucleus of the Military Bureau, a lot of changes were in store.
Hopefully, the various combat units of the Larkinson Clan would soon be able to function alongside each other as parts of a greater whole.
In a way, what Major Verle started was much like designing a mech. The Larkinson Clan already possessed different parts which could fulfill their functions by themselves. Yet in order to transform their strength to a level where they could meet any crisis with confidence, it was essential to combine them together into a single design that brought out the most of the specialized components!
The undercurrent of the Larkinson Clan surged even further. Though not every Larkinson accepted Major Verle's sudden elevation in leadership, the former Brighter proved to be a quick worker.
Much of his work entailed convincing other people to accept his suggestions. This was something that Major Verle was particularly good at. After meeting Commander Melkor, Commander Magdalena and Commander Cinnabar on a regular basis, he soon managed to come to an accord with each of them. Every commander became willing to accept his suggestions!
While all of these movements took place, Ves could finally devote himself fully to his mech design projects.
Though they had already been chugging along in his absence, his personal attention was still essential.
He not only conducted marathon design sessions with Gloriana in order to speed up the progress of their Hexer mech design project, but also supervised his design teams as they fumbled with the testing of the prototypes of the striker mech.
As a project that was much closer to completion, Ves paid an increasing amount of attention to the final stretch of development of the striker mech.
During the second round of prototype testing, he even took Maikel and Zanthar on a little excursion into space.
At one of the Cinach System's asteroid belts, a fair number of spaceborn testing grounds had been set up. Cinach VI was the home to a large number of mech companies, each of which constantly developed new products that needed to be tested.
Right now, the LMC booked one of these testing grounds in order to comprehensively examine the performance of the current iteration of the striker mech under real conditions.
The sight was very spectacular. Thick, armored mechs flew steadily across an obstacle course while firing their large and slightly-oversized flamethrowers at various groups of targets along the way!
The test pilots skillfully increased the spread of the Enison Spreaders to engulf entire squads of projected mechs in flames.
Against a single, more distant target, the pilots narrowed the cone of their flamethrowers in order to increase their range and concentration of energy.
The striker mechs expended a huge amount of propellant and oxidizers. Both of these substances were stored in the storage tanks attached to the Enison Spreaders and integrated in the frame of the machines.
While Ves had contemplated attaching the storage tanks to the exterior of the mech, they were far too vulnerable if left exposed!
A traditional striker mech had to be able to withstand a lot of hits. The carefully-planned tests exquisitely pushed the limits of the prototypes by subjecting them to precisely-calculated attacks.
It hurt Ves a bit to see one of the prototypes being blasted by laser drones from every direction. Yet despite the barrage, the armor system of the striker mech held up exactly as its specifications allowed!
To the two boys, ahem, adolescent men, seeing the mechs in action with their very own eyes was an unforgettable experience!
Even though they were Larkinsons, their only opportunities to see mechs in action was when they attended the mech games in their old lives. Aside from that, they never got the opportunity to see an actual mech in action outside of footage and drama programs!
They even missed out the opportunity to watch the Battle of Kesseling VIII unfold because they had been among the first clansmen to be evacuated!
"Wow." Maikel sighed as he practically pressed his entire face against the transparent screen of the space station. His eyes continued to follow the maneuvers of the nearest prototype as it spread its unnatural hellfire red flames in precise bursts. "I've seen the projections of the simulated tests, but they're not even close to the real thing!"
Ves smiled. "We aren't playing a video game, Maikel. We are mech designers. Just because we sit behind terminals in order to manipulate projections all day doesn't mean that our work has real consequences. The machines we design are just like this prototype, capable of unleashing an unimaginable amount of destruction in the right circumstances!"
Though Ves had already lectured them about this topic before, theory was different from practice. Now that they finally witnessed the outcome of the effort that Ves and the rest of the design teams put into their striker mech design, the Larkinson seeds gained a clearer idea on what their profession entailed!
Mech designers mainly created war machines that killed!
The flames unleashed by the huge machines that could tower over many buildings could burn an entire town if left unchecked!
The scalding hot flames possessed a rather sticky quality that allowed them to continue to burn in space for a number of seconds. If the flames ever landed on a mech, then it would continue to burn it down!
The main reason for this was the special propellant used. Not only did it burn longer, the Enison Spreader also released in a higher density.
The purpose of doing so was to enhance its area denial role by allowing it to continue to block off portions of space with longer-lasting flames.
The downside to this was the faster depletion of the propellant tanks. In most cases, the striker mech lasted from ten to thirty minutes before needing to return to resupply.
To Ves, this was barely adequate and far from ideal. He had never been able to solve the fundamental capacity problem of his striker mech design. The consequence was that he had to accept the fact that his upcoming product would be shipping with average endurance at best compared to the industry standard!
Of course, none of that affected the cool factor of his product. Both Maikel and Zanthar hadn't progressed enough to look beneath the surface of a mech. All they saw was big machines burning everything in their way in an awesome fashion! They were still kids at heart!
Not that this was anything bad. Every mech designer started off with a shallow fascination of mechs in their youth. People like Ves simply retained their admiration for these machines into their adulthood and centered their entire lives around designing better models!
"How hot do these flames burn?" Zanthar asked. "Why are the flames so red? Aren't hotter flames supposed to be blue?"
Ves gently shook his head. "The color of the flames isn't necessarily correlated by the energy being released. While it's true that a more energetic thermal reaction can result in the release of higher frequencies of electromagnetic radiation or light, in practice it's always a mix. The propellant formula contains a lot of different substances that each emit a varying amount of energy in the form of heat and energy."
"So why are the flames released by your striker mech so red?"
"It's a cosmetic design choice." Ves admitted. "It fits the overall theme of my design. The mech already comes with a red-brown coating by default. Giving it the illusion of spitting hellfire will likely evoke all sorts of frightening associations to approaching enemies."
"I don't know, teacher. I think blue flames are scarier." Zanthar commented.
"I watched a drama once where a squad of striker mechs burned an entire street with purple flames!" Maikel shouted.
Ves chuckled in a good-natured manner. "As long as you work hard and study well, you can design a striker mech that releases flames in any color you like. Until then, you better learn honestly and keep up with my demands."
Their motivation was still as high as ever, especially after viewing the impressive striker mechs in action with their own two eyes!
While Ves enjoyed witnessing his prototype in action, he wasn't looking at them in the perspective of a child.
While there weren't any control panels in front of him, his implant was receiving a lot of data. His implant quickly processed them and analyzed the patterns.
The test results largely met his expectations.
He felt a little disappointed at that. Though his striker mech was a functionally-sound product, it didn't perform notably better than the other offerings on the market.
Ves could only rely on the glow he planned to impart on his striker mech design to make the crucial difference!
Sometimes, a boy was a boy, a Hexer was a Hexer and a striker mech was a striker mech.
Ves tried his best to square the circle and surpass the limitations inherent to this mech type, to no avail. Reality could be bent, but not to this extent!
Aside from opening his wallet and breaking his budget, there was no way to develop a striker mech that was completely to his liking.
It was worse now that Ves had a taste of second-class mech design.
Before he designed the Bright Warrior and embarked on the Hexer mech design project, Ves was fully grounded in third-class mechs. He almost never had the opportunity to design something better, which meant that his horizons had never been widened.
It was a lot easier to design third-class mechs back then. Ignorance was bliss and Ves had closed his eyes to the greater possibilities that second-class mech designers like Gloriana regularly took for granted!
That was not possible anymore. Once he was promoted to a second-class mech designer, Ves would never be able to stop his mind from imagining the endless possibilities if he just stuffed an expensive component or material in his third-class mech designs!
"Urgh! It's torture sometimes!"
Despite these complaints, Ves still believed in his end product. A mech was more than the numbers on a spec sheet. Throughout his entire career, he had become increasingly more dependent on his glows to augment his mechs.
The material performance of his products didn't matter as much as the combination of the tangible and intangible properties of the mechs!
Unfortunately, Ves didn't get to see the full potential of his striker mech design yet. Only when he was finally ready to formulate the glow of the mech would he truly be able realize his vision. The weak spiritual foundation that the prototypes currently conveyed was just a pale shadow of what was to come.
"Let's go, students." He said. "The testing will proceed for at least three more days. That's far too much time to be wasted on seeing mechs burn empty space. There's a lot more homework in store for you once we return to Cinach VI!"
"Awww!"
While his striker mech already performed well enough to be competitive on the market, Ves had already made the decision to subject it to iterate on it for at least another round.
While he wanted to finish this project as fast as possible, he couldn't rush the project too much. Ves noticed plenty of details that required further optimization in order to receive good reviews from industry outlets.
This was not the time where he was in the middle in a crisis and in a hurry to publish a new mech design! The circumstances surrounding the development of the Desolate Soldier was completely different from his current project!
"I won't tolerate as much sloppiness this time!"
Chapter 2048 Most Honest Mech Designer
While the striker mech project underwent its third round of iteration, the Hexer mech project also made a lot of progress.
As long as he wasn't distracted by clan affairs, he achieved a lot of progress. The support-oriented knight mech became more complete after every session.
Both Ves and Gloriana cuddled together after pulling their minds out of another exhausting mental design session.
Linking their implants together and designing their mechs under accelerated time perception was very productive, but also very straining.
Their mental and spiritual strength didn't play a role in this aspect. Only the physical resilience of their brains determined how far they could push this mode of mech design!
This was why Gloriana always ended up better off after they completed a session. While Ves was stuffed with genetic and biological augmentations, their effects were mostly scattered or leaned more in the direction of enhancing his physical attributes.
Gloriana on the other hand enjoyed more modest augmentations planned by her mother Constance.
Unlike the haphazard improvements applied to Ves, his girlfriend mainly received upgrades that focused on improving her cognitive functions!
The only physical augmentations she received mostly pertained to improving her health, enhancing her beauty, increasing her resilience to diseases and certain other matters pertaining exclusively to women.
As a result, she was much more suited to become a mech designer like Ves. This had always been something of a pet peeve of his. If Dr. Jutland didn't go crazy on his body, he would have lived his life as a normal mech designer!
On the other hand, if he didn't possess the Jutland organ, then he would have died by now!
If Ves had to choose between death and life as a suboptimal mech designer, he would definitely settle on the latter!
"Are you satisfied with our work so far, Ves?" Gloriana asked.
A projection of their current progress spun in front them. The landbound knight mech looked quite hefty, but its formidable appearance was partially an illusion.
Much of the bulk inside was made up of energy cells, heat sinks and energy transmission systems. All of that capacity could have been allocated towards improving the defensive aspects of his mech.
If Ves had a choice, he would have outfitted his mech with an energy shielding system, but that was a bit too expensive and impractical for their current budget!
Besides, male Hexer mechs were rarely equipped with shields.
"I know what you are thinking about." She said as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Just forget about it, Ves. Women in our state always hog the best assets for themselves. Mech-grade energy shield modules are quite expensive, so the Hex Army has to allocate them wisely. They are much more needed in our female mechs as they are expected to brave a lot of danger. A lot more women would have died by now in the Komodo War if their mechs lack these crucial shields!"
While Ves acknowledged the logic behind this decision, he still thought it was rather upside down to deny a knight mech more defensive tools.
Still, an energy shield wasn't as important as the extensive energy reserves and energy transmission systems they managed to stuff inside the frame of their mech.
This ensured that their mech would not only be able to support the efforts of female mechs during the beginning of their assaults, but also prolong their utility by siphoning energy from fallen mechs and other energy sources!
"This mech is best suited to operate in urban and developed environments." Ves remarked. "While I designed its extra appendages to pierce through the open cavities or weak points of a wreck, they can also dig into the power network of a building to recharge its energy cells. As long as the city has an intact power grid or enough backup power, our knight mech can keep supplying a continuous amount of energy to the rest of its squad!"
Gloriana nodded, causing her hair to brush against his clothes. "That sounds very useful. A lot of the fighting so far takes place in fortified, highly-urbanized planets. The Komodo War won't budge any further before either side makes it through all of the defenses that they prepared in the centuries leading up to this struggle."
The war slowed down but the casualties continued to mount. No matter how the Coalition and the Hegemony tried to tout their successes on the galactic net, Ves saw precious little movement on the map. The lines budged in either direction at a glacial pace, yet the greater states continued to pour more mechs into these disputed war zones!
This would be a good time for a supportive knight mech optimized for urban combat to make its entry. Sadly, Ves and Gloriana still required more time to finalize their mech design. They hadn't even tested the first prototype up to this point!
Fortunately, it looked as if the stalemate would probably persist for at least a year if nothing drastic happened. That left plenty of time for the Hexers to try out his revolutionary new mech and deploy it on a wider scale!
Gloriana stirred again. "I'm not so sure about the development of its divine nature, though. We're obviously making a mech for male mech pilots. Sometimes, I get the feeling we are doing a huge disservice by attempting to instill it with a female proto-god."
To be honest, this fact bothered him as well. If he had a choice, he would have rather paired his upcoming design spirit with a female mech, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"The gender of the mech doesn't have to correlate with the gender of its design spirit. The relationship between the two can be as close or as loose as we like. For example, the Aurora Titan is clearly a masculine mech design, but I linked it with Qilanxo without any issue. The Bright Warrior is vaguely male in its configurations, but it also meshes well with the Golden Cat."
"Those are non-Hexer designs, Ves. I can understand why you chose not to pay attention to the gender of the mechs and their proto-gods, but this is different. Gender matters a lot."
This was something Ves hadn't fully considered. Unlike her, he didn't think about the significance of something gender all the time.
"How do you think the Hexers will react to our end product?"
"That's the scary part. I don't know." She paused for a moment. "From what I understand, you are trying to create a motherly proto-god for our mech design, right?"
He nodded. "The design spirit derived from the Idol of the Superior Mother and.. other ingredients.. will be unquestionably female. She'll likely act like a nurturing mother to the mech pilot and a fierce guardian against opponents."
That wasn't all. He still wanted to give the design spirit more dimensions by imparting it with the different meanings of the six phases of existence, but that was a work in progress.
Just because he could break some spiritual fragments and merge them back together didn't mean he always got what he wanted. He still needed to guide the entire process and make sure it didn't go off the rails.
The last thing he wanted to do was to create an abomination and waste all of the ingredients he used!
The spiritual residue from the Idol of the Superior Mother was irreplaceable to Ves. He only had one shot to create the right design spirit, so he had to make sure to exert enough control over the process.
Gloriana would be lending her help as well, and each time she did so, she exhausted herself. It would take at least a month before she could do something like this again!
"I'm actually rather reluctant to proceed." She said. "I'm afraid my peers back in the Hegemony will tear me apart with their criticism for designing something that may be deemed heretical!"
Though Ves could sense that Gloriana truly feared this outcome, he was a lot more nonchalant about this issue.
"So what if a bunch of close-minded Hexers think our product is heresy? As long as you stay with me and accompany me on my travels, you won't have to bother yourself with those useless women. As long as our mech fulfills its purpose and swings the war in our favor, what does it matter if it offends someone's sensibilities?"
"But Ves! Those people are my friends! My colleagues! Maybe even my family!"
He placed his arm around her shoulder. "You're not entirely a Hexer anymore. It's okay to take some liberties. In mech design, we shouldn't let societal constraints hinder us if it gets in the way of designing the mechs of our dreams."
"Hmph! I'm still a Hexer!" She resisted. "You may not care for my state, but I still do. Any trouble I incur will also reflect on my mother and the rest of the Wodin Dynasty. I don't want to bring them any trouble."
Urgh. That was a good point. Gloriana essentially faced the same situation as Ves when he landed on the bad side of the Friday Coalition.
As a result of his conflict with the Fridaymen, they went after his family.
Now, Gloriana risked something similar, but from her very own state this time!
Even so.. Ves was very reluctant to alter his design because of external pressure! He was convinced that his current vision was the best one they should pursue! He was not willing to neuter his design just so he wouldn't step on the toes of some rabid female supremacists!
"Gloriana, it's really bad if we change the direction of our mech design project at this advanced state. We would have to throw out at least thirty percent of our work if we change our mind. Let's just keep building up our mech design until it's finished and decide from there. As long as we confirm its performance and the value it can bring to the Hegemony, I'm certain that you'll change your mind!"
"If you say so. I'm willing to give it a shot, but only because of you. If my co-designer was anyone else, I would have long pulled the plug on this project!"
Ves believed it wouldn't come to that. Only he possessed a complete picture of the vision of this mech. The design spirit he had in mind for this mech would be so profound that he was convinced that he could sway every Hexer into supporting his product!
As the two enjoyed their loving moment, his hand that was resting on her shoulder gradually swept lower and lower. Just as it started to inch towards a more sensitive part of her body, it soon bumped into an obstacle!
"Miaow miaow miaow!"
Clixie angrily woke up from her doze and climbed up to Gloriana's chest to block the intruder!
"Uhm, Gloriana, could you please move your cat away?" He pleaded.
"No."
"Why not?"
"We're at work, Ves!" She replied in an exasperated tone! "Aren't you the one who said that we should always stay professional while we are at our workplace?"
"I did? Wow, I must have been very stupid back then."
She giggled. "I think you're quite cute, Ves."
"So about your cat.."
"No. This is not the time."
"What about tonight?" Ves hopefully asked.
"You only get a reward if you've been good." Gloriana stated with a tone of finality. "Right now, it seems you've been quite naughty so far, so it looks like you won't be getting your fun tonight!"
She pushed herself away from her side and stood up. She continued to hug Clixie as she started to head towards the exit.
"Ves.. I really hope your plan works out for our Hexer mech design. If not, I'll be the first to punish you! I won't tolerate any attempt at mocking my beliefs!"
He innocently threw up his hands. "It's not like that! My mech will truly pay tribute to the greatness of Hexer culture and the truths of hexism, I swear!"
"Really?"
"I am the most honest mech designer in the galaxy! Have I ever broken my principles?"
Gloriana looked suspiciously at him, and so did her cat!
"Miaow!"
Chapter 2049 The Big Preparation
After several months, the striker mech project neared completion.
After a third round of iteration and prototype testing, hardly any surprises emerged. The few unexpected deviations didn't meaningfully affect the performance of the mech.
Of course, performance nerds still cared a lot about these small discrepancies. Any instances of inefficiencies and lack of optimization had to be worked away with entirely before they were remotely satisfied with their work!
Fortunately for Ves, he was the one who decided when to drop the curtains on the project. Though his girlfriend still demanded extra time to refine the design even further, he resolutely blocked her requests!
She may have the upper hand on him in bed, but he would be damned if he let her take charge of the design lab as well! This was his most important bastion and the source of his confidence!
Besides, they already agreed that Ves had the final word on mass-production mech designs. When they designed a custom mech, then Gloriana possessed the biggest say, but their striker mech was anything but a product tailored to a single customer!
"We don't have the time to iterate further." Ves put his foot down. "Our Larkinson Clan is bleeding cash left and right and will likely deplete all of our savings in less than a year. On top of that, the LMC hasn't published a new product that possesses wide appeal since the start of the Sand War! With all of the disruption that has happened in the Komodo Star Sector, all kinds of pirates and scum are already pouring into the space devastated by the sandmen. A mech that can proficiently deal with hordes of low-quality mechs will be incredibly valuable to many outfits looking to pick the ruins!"
His personal analysis of the market situation concurred with the market reports compiled by the LMC's Marketing Department. Everyone saw that his product would likely sell well if it fulfilled its role!
While its technical performance didn't particularly exceed other spaceborn striker mechs, its promised fear-inducing glow was something that might completely revolutionize everyone's views on this mech type!
The Living Mech Corporation needed to strike while the iron was hot! Not only did Ves want to take advantage of the current market trend, he also wanted his mech company to show up on the news again! The company's hard-earned reputation was already eroding due to its lack of activity because the market's attention span was too short!
"Are we truly ready?" Gloriana asked with doubt. "This isn't the Sand War anymore. While the Komodo War is still raging in the center of the star sector, many of the lesser states are in the process of accumulating their strength."
He shook his head. "Even with some minor inefficiencies, our striker mech is still competitive compared to the competition. Besides, what you are talking about mostly concerns state actors. Our striker mech is a purely commercial product that is targeted towards security companies, mercenary corps and other private outfits. Their procurement patterns aren't as sensitive towards generational shifts."
States possessed a high sensitivity towards new generation shifts. Their mech militaries abhorred fielding outdated mechs. Even a ten percent difference in performance between the generations was enough to shift the outcome of a war against a rival state!
For this reason, ever since the new generation rolled in, practically any state that wasn't destitute or in collapse had undergone a very broad renewal process.
Their mech militaries gradually recycled as many mechs as possible and built new generation mechs as fast as their military industrial capacity allowed.
Of course, they mostly procured mechs designed in-house or in partnership with certain trusted Seniors.
As for the regular outfits, they tended to cling onto their older mechs for a longer time. Their financial situation usually didn't afford them the luxury of exchanging their mechs as if they were clothes.
While the more prudent outfits saved enough money in the past to invest in new war machines, even they tended to be cautious and patient. The first models to enter the market were usually overpriced and underpowered.
It took several years for the product offerings to slowly ramp up their standards to an optimum level. At that time, the mech designers became fully proficient in the changes the MTA introduced in the new generation.
So far, this ramp-up pattern was still an on-going process, but the rate of improvement had already slowed down. The mech industry already familiarized itself with the most drastic changes.
This meant that more and more outfits were entering the market in waves. The actual details concerning their purchasing behavior was actually very nuanced and complex, and Ves could talk for days about this subject.
However, that didn't change his overall conclusion, and that was that this was a good time to release a new product!
"Are we really going to settle with this iteration of our design?" Gloriana asked.
"We are." Ves smiled. "Let's finalize our work. We have spent enough time on it already."
The process of finalizing a mech design was a bit more complicated than before. With the growth of the LMC and its expansion in other states, the mech company had to comply with a lot more legal and administrative demands.
The headquarters of the LMC turned into a hive of activity. Both new and old workers initiated the process of introducing the new products to a diverse range of markets.
In some states with open economies, that might be as simple as filing a simple document to a government institution.
For the more troublesome states with more regulated economies, the LMC had to submit a more elaborate application. Not only that, but the mech company also had to submit the mech design and a physical copy to the MTA for validation.
Without the Mech Trade Association's stamp of approval, there was no way those picky foreigners would allow a potentially-dangerous mech to be put on sale!
In addition to all of this regulation-related work, the LMC also needed to finish its preparation for a large, multi-state marketing campaign.
In truth, the mech company already began its marketing preparations at the start of the striker mech design project. Ves frequently fed pertinent information about the project to Gavin, who proceeded to pass it on to the Marketing Department.
Ves and the LMC both had high hopes about this new product. Most of the LMC mechs with glows had already proven successful, and this one should be no different.
The question wasn't whether the product would be a success. The true issue they worried about was whether it would sell quickly enough!
As long as the opening sales surpassed a certain threshold, the momentum generated from all of the hype about the new product release could be used to drive up even more interest!
In order to reach sales figures that were close to the numbers of the Desolate Soldier, the LMC had to go all-out and invest a lot of money to publicize the new release!
Though Ves winced at the astronomical price of the marketing campaign, he knew it would likely pay off in the end. Just because Ves and the LMC had both become famed throughout the star sector after their latest accomplishments didn't mean they could just coast on free publicity!
While all of this took place, Ves and Gloriana prepared to fabricate the first production model.
The first copy of a mech design was always a significant step to mech designers. This was usually the time when they both 'completed' their mech design and received the corresponding feedback from their design seeds.
It was also the best and most hopeful opportunity to fabricate another masterwork mech.
To Ves, this moment was even more significant.
First, he deliberately refrained from bestowing a name upon the mech design.
Second, he held off on bestowing the mech with a design spirit until the final moment.
Both of these measures served to maximize his momentum for his upcoming fabrication session!
Every member of the design team gathered at the mech workshop next to the design lab. The Tovars and the Ylvainans both looked incredibly enthusiastic at the show they were about to witness!
It was rare to see Ves and Gloriana put together a mech in person. Each time they did so, they served as an example for the others to follow. This was because their fabrication and assembly skills were some of the best in the LMC!
It was a pity they weren't allowed to assist in person, but with their lack of experience and proficiency, they would just get in the way of the lead designers. In the worst case, the clumsiness exhibited the assistant mech designers might very well spoil the creation of another masterwork mech!
Both Ves and Gloriana prepared carefully for this fabrication session. Gloriana, in a rare moment of benevolence, dismissed the guards from their stateroom the night before and allowed Ves to enjoy some much-desired fun!
The glow he exuded when he woke up the next morning was so bright that even Lucky couldn't stand its intensity!
"Meow!"
"What do you mean I smell?" Ves frowned as he began to eat his hearty breakfast. "I took an extrlong shower this morning!"
Sitting on the opposite side of the table, Gloriana partook in her breakfast as well. She grinned at her boyfriend.
"I'll give you another reward if you do well in our fabrication session." She promised with a coy smile. "I already told you, Ves. As long as I'm in a good mood, I'm open for anything! If we happen to make another masterwork mech…"
Ves gulped.
Though she didn't elaborate on what might happen, his overactive imagination was already conjuring up all kinds of heated scenarios!
"I will do my best!" He quickly coughed and tried to regain his composure. "I mean, I will endeavor to replicate our previous success and craft a mech that meets our expectations."
To be honest, Ves had a hunch that he wouldn't be getting lucky anytime soon. Making a masterwork mech was anything but guaranteed and building one consecutively right after the Quint was highly improbable!
Though Ves harbored plenty of enthusiasm for his striker mech design, it hadn't reached the level of anticipation he held towards his Hexer mech design project. The latter was a true game changer as far as he was concerned, and Ves already made more elaborate preparations in order to maximize its impact.
As for this session, he believed it was much more likely he would be getting the cold shoulder after this conclusion!
Ves tactfully refrained from voicing his doubts. There was always a chance a fluke might occur, and he never ruled out a lucky break. It was just that his intuition hinted that he should temper his expectations this time.
Before he began to bestow his mech design with a glow, he turned to the two Larkinson seeds that had been invited to the mech workshop as well. Just like his assistants, they looked forward to witnessing their idols in action!
"When you witness what we are about to do, don't focus too much on what you can see with your eyes." He advised. "Instead, feel the love and care we put into our work. Close your eyes and sense how we shape the intangible properties of our mech with our efforts. As long as you can perceive what we do on this level, there is hope that you may be able to develop a similar specialty to mine."
Both Maikel and Zanthar looked incredibly hopeful at his vague words!
Though Ves didn't outright spell it out, he basically suggested that he might pass on some of his core teachings to the Larkinson seeds!
He had no intentions on passing all of his exclusive knowledge to them both. Neither of them possessed the high degree of spiritual perception that his design philosophy depended upon. That did not mean he could steer them in a direction that enabled some forms of spiritual manipulation.
Perhaps he could raise another mech designer like Ketis, who received so much influence from him that she found a way to manipulate spirituality in her own unique way!
Chapter 2050 Spiritual Counterbalancing
Ketis watched from the sidelines along with the rest of the assistants. This time, Lucky approached her position, causing her to hold him in a hug.
"What do you think, Lucky?"
"Meow."
"I don't even know why I ask." She ruefully smiled. "I don't even know what you're saying."
Clixie soon padded over as well. She looked up to Ketis and Lucky with a curious expression.
"Miaow?"
"Do you want me to hug you as well?"
"Miaow."
Since Clixie didn't seem to refuse her suggestion, Ketis picked up the organic cat.
"Wow, you're so soft! Your fur is so fluffy! No wonder Gloriana likes to carry you around a lot!"
Both cats were incredibly adorable in their own way! For a moment, Ketis wanted to obtain her own cat!
"Stupid Ves." She grumbled. "You never did get me a pet."
"Meow."
"Miaow."
"Oh, you lovelies. At least I can cuddle with you! The two of you are so warm!"
While Ketis fooled around with the two cats, Ves temporarily withdrew himself to a private office with Gloriana and Nitaa and activated his signal jammer.
He held out his hand and accepted the Larkinson Mandate from Nitaa. The Golden Cat who resided inside looked curiously at the clan patriarch.
"I might need your help." He spoke to Goldie. "What I'm about to do is very experimental and likely very dangerous. I may have to depend on your abilities to contain the possible fallout. Can you do that?"
Nyaaaaa.
The Golden Cat eagerly nodded. She had finally stabilized her strength after the Larkinson Clan had ballooned in size. Not only that, but the constant development of clan culture and clan cohesion constantly shaped her as well. Her horizons constantly expanded due to all of the diverse people that joined the clan.
With the guidance she received from Qilanxo, she was far from simple these days!
With Goldie's reassuring aura suffusing his body, Ves felt as confident as ever in the experiment he was about to perform!
His goal? To stuff two spiritual entities of equal strengths into a single mech!
This was something that he had never really done. He vaguely did something similar with his images, but that was a different case.
His original plan for his striker mech project was to designate Zeigra as its design spirit.
This was a simple and cheap solution that cost almost no effort on his part. The reason why he settled on this choice was because he believed that Zeigra's predatory intimidation should be enough to impart his striker mech with a reasonable amount of deterrence power!
Yet when he failed to solve the capacity problem, he no longer thought that was enough. Making the striker mech's flames a little more frightening was not sufficient anymore!
In order to truly raise the value of his product, Ves concluded that he needed to amp up the fear factor of his mech!
Of all of the fearsome spiritual entities at his disposal, he could only turn on the only remaining entity that had the power to frighten everyone out of their wits as long as they came close!
For this reason, Ves turned his attention to a couple of boxes placed on the desk.
He first opened up a box containing his precious F-stone. He wanted it to be ready and within his reach should anything go wrong.
He next inspected the P-stone he retrieved from the vault that contained a reserve of spiritual energy. While he didn't anticipate expending a lot of energy this time, it was still prudent to have an extra supply within reach.
After that, he took a brief glance at the P-stone which held the spiritual entity known as Zeigra. Though the former Crown Cat hated Ves with a vengeance, it knew better than to leave its confines. Zeigra would almost certainly die if he attempted to brave the corrosive winds of the imaginary realm!
After making sure that everything was in order, he finally proceeded with the most important step. He approached the B-stone lockbox and carefully opened it up, revealing a P-stone containing a very ominous spiritual fragment!
He picked it up with his hand and tried his best not to become affected by the spiritual fragment's unsettling attributes.
Ves had already purified the fragment he carved out of Nyxie beforehand. Through a ruthless cutting process, he spiritually isolated and amputated many of the spiritual attributes that had nothing to do with what he wanted.
As a result, the fragment rapidly dropped in strength while at the same time becoming less muddled!
The final version was a spiritual fragment that contained a reasonable amount of spiritual attributes that Ves found creepy.
Ever since he opened the B-stone lockbox, the fragment's disconcerting aura already started to bleed out into the office. Both Gloriana and Nitaa paled as they sensed as if something very powerful was looking down on their existences like they were bugs that needed to be squashed!
"Goldie!"
Nyaaaa!
The Golden Cat soon began to intensify her glow. The Larkinson Mandate began to unleash an aura that spiritually counteracted the purified fragment's influence!
The altered fragment backed down a bit, but still seemed determined to scare everyone within reach!
"Is this.. what you plan to put inside our mech?" Gloriana asked with worry. "This is way too much! What stops our customers from dying from fright?!"
Though he understood her concerns, the fragment wasn't representative of the end result.
"I have a plan, Gloriana. Please be patient. The glow of our mech design will be substantially different."
Actually, Ves didn't really have a good estimate on how it will end up. This was because he was doing something new. Though he formulated a range of possibilities, even he couldn't control the process!
As he held the P-stone with the suppressed fragment, he took a deep breath.
"It's time we bestow a name to our striker mech design. As a machine that is meant to deter approaching enemies in space, it should have a name that reinforces its dominion! At the same time, its name should also reflect the terror that it is able to evoke in its foes!"
What name did Ves settle on for this ambitious new mech design?
"From now on, this mech design shall be known as the Doom Guard!"
Doom Guard!
It was a name that reflected both aspects of his vision! Gloriana's eyes widened as she contemplated her boyfriend's choice!
The word doom described the unsettling certainty that people felt whenever they came under the sway of Nyxie's frightening influence.
The word guard alluded to its defensive role. Ves designed the mech to guard a ship or defensive position with its thick armor plating and formidable flamethrower.
The slow acceleration of his mech due to its proportionally-underpowered flight system meant that it moved far too slow to participate in many offensive actions.
The moment he confirmed the name for the mech design, a small shift in mentality took place in both Ves and Gloriana. After so many months of working on their mech design, they could finally call it by its true name instead of its mech type!
Calling it the Doom Guard at this moment served a very specific purpose. Ves wanted to latch on to the meaning and connotations of this name to guide the process he was about to start!
After he concentrated his mind, he began to perform several simple acts.
First, he attempted to project Zeigra's presence into the imaginary space of the Doom Guard design.
This was a relatively familiar process to him now. Soon enough, the mech design gained a glow that was very reminiscent to the Devil Tiger!
Ves didn't need all of those properties. In order to modulate the glow, he brought out various empowered images from his mind and stuffed it into the Doom Guard design.
The spiritual foundation of the design combined with the newly-introduced images. The resulting combination exerted more influence on Zeigra's projected presence.
The glow of the Doom Guard design slowly grew weaker. At the same time, it became a bit less mixed as the images weakened the primal and cat-like qualities.
What was left was mostly a sense of restrained aggression. The glow of the Doom Guard now exuded a sense of predatory intimidation, which fell in line with his previous vision.
If Ves followed his original plan, then he would call it a day at this point.
That was not what he intended to do today. He wanted to augment the glow of Doom Guard!
If he wanted to form a proper spiritual configuration for his Doom Guard, then his normal solution was to form a new spiritual product.
This option was not on the table. Each time he created one, Gloriana exhausted herself! How could Ves ask her to make this sacrifice when their Hexer mech design was close to completion?
For this reason, Ves racked his brain for an alternate solution. He wanted a way to achieve his objective without resorting to costly methods.
Eventually, he took inspiration from the haphazard spiritual surgery he performed on Silent William. He became fascinated by the way his original spiritual potential coexisted alongside Nyxie's spiritual contamination.
Ves eventually resolved this contradiction between the two spiritual presences. He broke them apart in order to create a new spiritual product derived from both.
What if he didn't?
What if he allowed the status quo to remain in existence?
Certainly, Silent William would never be able to advance to expert candidate with a conflicted mind and spirit, but other than that, he performed quite well!
During the period where his spirituality was split in opposing sides, Silent William exhibited the traits of both his original personality and Nyxie!
This was what Ves sought! This was what Ves wanted to establish in his Doom Guard!
Despite the latent risks and the inherent instability of such a dynamic arrangement, Ves believed he could establish the same kind of split presence in a mech design!
"Besides, if anything goes wrong, I can always abort this experiment." He whispered.
If Nyxie's purified spiritual fragment suddenly went out of control, then Ves wouldn't hesitate to end its existence!
With a deep breath, Ves began to initiate the phenomenon called spiritual counterbalancing.
He took the P-stone that rested fitfully in his B-stone lockbox and mustered up his spiritual strength.
In a single, continuous motion, he yanked out Nyxie's purified fragment out of the P-stone and quickly stuffed it into the intangible space of his Doom Guard!
Introducing this weakened but still volatile spiritual fragment into a space that was already occupied by something else immediately led to an explosive clash!
Though Zeigra was pissed at being treated like a tool, at the very least he was starting to get used to his role as design spirit.
What he wasn't used to was sharing his space with a spiritual entity whose strength was on par with his own!
This was completely unacceptable to the former apex predator of Felixia I!
The prideful former Crown Cat immediately set upon the entity he regarded as an intruder!
However, his opponent wasn't so easily felled!
Though cut off and cut down from its progenitor, Nyxie's purified fragment was still very formidable! It quickly resisted Zeigra's attacks and began to counterattack!
The spiritual ripples resulting from their violent conflict began to spill over into the material realm! Ves, Gloriana, Nitaa and the Golden Cat all felt nauseous to some degree!
Nyaaaa!
Goldie quickly exuded more strength in order to suppress the spiritual ripples! The problem was that she was barely able to calm everything down at her current level of strength!
Zeigra had grown stronger after serving as the design spirit of the Devil Tiger and the Prideful Soldier!
Nyxie had always been strong, and grew even more imposing as his main spirit slowly began to emerge out of his eons-long slumber!
Their direct clashes turned out to be considerably more violent than Ves anticipated! He struggled to maintain his concentration! It was vitally important he maintained his spiritual sight in order to intervene when necessary!
He could not allow Zeigra or Nyxie to gain the upper hand and dominate each other! Once that happened, the spiritual counterbalancing that Ves attempted to achieve would fail!
