The Mech Touch

The Larkinson Clan entered into a calm period of time.

With all of the excitement surrounding the wedding over now, the Larkinsons all readied themselves for the most important event of their lives.

The grand expedition.

The dream started by Ves had become an obsession for the entire clan. Hardly any clansmen did not look forward to escaping the corner of the galactic rim and venture out to explore what the rest of the multiverse had to offer!

Reaching the Red Ocean was a dream to many, but the Larkinson Clan already possessed enough confidence to reach it. With the enormous amount of MTA merits in the patriarch's pocket, there was no way they were missing this ride!

As Ves busied himself with managing the upcoming deliveries of second-class ships, mechs and other assets, many other Larkinsons got busy as well.

For example, ever since the Larkinsons set up the Hall of Heroes, every expert pilot became occupied with establishing themselves as a semi-autonomous unit.

This was quite rough for a number of expert pilots. Commander Rosa Orfan and Commander Dise were no longer allowed to lead the Flagrant Vandals and Swordmaidens.

It took quite a lot of placating to make them accept the new reality.

Lieutenant-Commander Abis Firelight took over as the new leader of the Flagrant Vandals. He already ran the Vandals for the most part as Venerable Orfan wasn't known for being a diligent administrator.

In the meantime, Venerable Orfan set up an elite spearman squad within the Hall of Heroes. She recruited some of her closest Vandals and a few other Larkinson mech pilots who excelled in piloting spear-wielding mechs to join her Radiant Hoplites.

Lieutenant Sendra took over for Venerable Dise as the new commander of the Swordmaidens. Despite her promotion, everyone knew that she was merely a stand-in for the true leader in the hearts of many Swordmaidens. Venerable Dise's prestige was secondary to the legendary founder of their mech force!

As the spiritual leader of the Swordmaidens, Venerable Dise still favored her sisterhood very much. To fill up her new Blade Mistresses squad, she hand-picked a handful of younger Swordmaiden mech pilots and also snatched up some other promising swordsman mech pilots from the Avatars of Myth. She initially didn't want to, but the Hall of Heroes awarded plenty of Larkinson merits should she succeed in mentoring more mech pilots into powerful warriors.

Venerable Davia Stark was a rather odd existence within the Hall of Heroes. She had emphatically refused to join the Larkinson Clan, yet she promised to fight on behalf of the Larkinsons.

Clansmen or not, Venerable Davia was not only a powerful expert pilot, but also one the few within the Hall of Heroes who excelled in piloting ranged mechs!

Under Commandant Cristoph Larkinson's urging, she reluctantly set up the Lost Soldiers to mentor other Larkinson mech pilots in improving their marksmanship.

Unlike the other expert pilots who either sought companions among their own circle or from the elites, Venerable Davia solely recruited Living Sentinels.

Perhaps she took pity on them or thought they shared something in common with her, but the Sentinels were highly enthused that such a powerful figure was willing to shower them with attention!

The Sentinels experienced a lot of changes lately. Commander Magdalena resigned her leadership position within the beaten and demoralized mech force and moved on to work directly under Major Verle.

Unlike the other mech forces that went through a leadership change, the Sentinels did not have a strong and proven officer at hand who were immediately suited to become the next commander.

Whoever took over the Sentinels had to clean house and right the ship. No average leader would be able to infuse some vitality in a mech force that had just lost a horrendous amount of mech pilots in the Nyxian Gap!

Some people even suggested that the Sentinels needed to look outward in order to find their new commander. Various suggestions circulated within the Larkinson Clan. After being led by an old and grizzled war veteran, many Sentinels actually favored being led by someone younger.

They wanted to be led by someone with a fresh perspective and who wasn't rigid. The Sentinels considered various options ranging from Commander Melkor to Lieutenant Dietrich Krotz.

Neither of those choices were suitable. Melkor had been with the Avatars from the start and would be like a fish out of water if he suddenly took charge of the Sentinels. Lieutenant Dietrich Krotz had only just received a promotion and was too unproven to lead thousands of mech pilots.

As Major Verle became increasingly more distressed about finding a suitable leader, a surprising figure volunteered to turn the Sentinels around.

Captain Casella Ingvar of the Avatars of Myth applied to take over as commander. As soon as this news became known, everyone was floored!

She led the Second Spaceborn Mech Company of the Avatars. Not only that, she had just advanced to expert candidate and was expected to dedicate herself to training in order to become an expert pilot as fast as possible.

For her to take on the difficult and time-consuming work of leading the largest mech force of the Larkinson Clan made little sense!

The hopeful new commander met with Ves and Major Verle in order to explain her decision in person.

Two people along with two pets entered the conference room of the Scarlet Rose.

Ves was already familiar with the Ingvar siblings. He paid more attention to the pets they decided to adopt.

Captain Casella opted to adopt a small goldfinch. The little bird rested happily on the female expert candidate's shoulder.

However, as soon as the little bird spotted the two cats in the compartment, she flapped her wings in a warning manner.

"Meow?"

"Chirp!"

"Ah, sorry about that, sir. Mirrie isn't used to all of the cats in the Larkinson Clan."

"It's okay." Ves waved away the issue. "Being surrounded by so many natural predators can make any bird nervous."

Nothing would come to harm to Casella's pet. Every pet in the Larkinson Clan was sentient, so they shouldn't go out of control.

"Woof!"

An eager-looking hound padded forward. Imon Ingvar had come as well along with his wagging dog.

"You are not invited to this conversation." Major Verle remarked.

As one of the Senior Larkinsons within the clan, he too sought to adopt a pet as soon as he returned from the Nyxian Gap.

"Meuw."

A cat that resembled a traditional British shorthair lazily laid on the desk next to Major Verle's data pad. Hayden was a rather docile cat. Just like almost every other cat adopted by the Larkinson, he was a high-end designer cat who originated from Felixia.

Ves clapped his hands. "As lovely as it is to bring your pets to work, let's get to business."

Each of the animals behaved and restrained themselves. Just because the Larkinsons allowed people to bring their pets to work didn't mean they were allowed to run wild!

Once Casella and Imon sat down, Major Verle went straight to the point.

"Captain Ingvar, I admit that I am surprised at your request. You have fought well in the Nyxian Gap and managed to become an expert candidate along with your brother. Most people in your place would choose to lessen their burdens so that they can devote more time towards training. Why do you want to become the commander of the Living Sentinels?"

"I am a leader." The Avatar Captain replied. Her confidence and aristocratic bearing conveyed a lot of certainty. "Before all of this, I have led the household troops of my former house. I have to admit that I was not the best at leading my troops back then. With the collapse of House Ingvar, my own subordinates rebelled and took over everything."

Her failure caused her and her brother to become stranded in Kinner space. They were in their lowest moments at the time.

"I know what it is like to fail. I am very grateful to our patriarch for giving my brother and I a chance to pick ourselves up. I worked tirelessly to learn from my lessons and relearn how to lead a unit when Commander Melkor entrusted a mech company to me. While leading 40 mech pilots is incomparable to taking charge of every Living Sentinel, my prior experience as a mech officer of House Ingvar is still helpful for me. The Sentinels may be larger than anything I have ever touched, but I am confident that I can inspire them to regain their battle spirit."

Both Ves and Major Verle sensed determination from Captain Casella. She was serious. She did not think about taking over the Sentinels on a whim, that was for sure!

Ves turned to her brother. "Mr. Imon Ingvar, what do you think about your sister's choice?"

"To be honest, I think she's stupid for running off the Sentinels. She's too good for them!" Imon bluntly said.

"Brother! We talked about this! This is what I'm meant to do. I need to prove that I can lead!"

"You just want to make up for the fact our old household troops mutinied on us! Damnit Casella, haven't you gotten over this old wound yet? We aren't nobles anymore!"

Major interrupted their argument. "Please be honest. While I agree that the Sentinels will doubtlessly welcome an expert candidate as their new commander, your brother's remarks are concerning. Is this personal to you, captain?"

The female Ingvar nodded. "It is, sir. I won't hide this from you. I feel I need to make up for my regrets. My past as a failed leader is haunting me. No matter how much I try to move on, I am still weighed down by my memories. I don't think I can achieve apotheosis with so many doubts. Venerable Jannzi told me that expert pilots must have absolute certainty in their purpose and life. I have decided that taking on this challenge is the best way for me to move on from my past and prove once and for all that I am meant to lead mech pilots into battle!"

Ves and Major Verle looked at each other. Both of them possessed some understanding of expert candidates and expert pilots.

Though the major still looked doubtful, Ves was more optimistic.

"I think most expert pilots such as Venerable Dise or Venerable Orfan aren't suited to run a large mech force." He said. "However, there are a few exceptions among high-ranking mech pilots who are driven by responsibility. My uncle, Venerable Ark Larkinson, is a good example. I see something in you, captain. Let me be clear. The Larkinson Clan doesn't want you to sacrifice your chance of reaching the rank of expert pilot. We can find more Larkinsons to lead the Living Sentinels, but we don't have as much choice when it comes to nurturing new expert pilots."

Captain Casella remained confident. "I share your concerns, but I won't slow down because of this. In fact, I will be better off once I succeed."

After a lengthy discussion, Ves and Major Verle finally decided to approve her application. From now on, Commander Casella Ingvar became the new head of the Living Sentinels!

Though Imon was regretful that his sister would be moving out of the Avatars of Myth, Casella exuded a sense of purpose once Major Verle formally promoted her to her new position.

"The Living Sentinels will turn around. I will make sure of that, sir."

"Don't be too eager yet." Verle carefully warned the mech commander. "You have a lot of problems on your hands. Don't move too quickly. While I am willing to put my trust in your decisions, it is best if you sound out your ideas to me first."

"Understood." Commander Casella replied with a serious expression. "I will keep you in the loop. I may need to draw upon additional resources in order to transform the Sentinels."

"You will have all of the support you need. We will try to oblige your requests as long as you produce results."