<h4>Chapter 2026 The Two Patriarchs</h4>
The sudden shift in policy towards the employees who refused to join the n came as a major shock to everyone.
While there were plenty of people who expected the Larkinson n to phase out the umitted workers in their midst, they didn''t expect it toe so soon and without transition!
Ves didn''t care. Regardless of how manyints and suggestions he received, he stood by his stance.
Considering his current prestige in his n, the Executive Council and the Larkinson Assembly didn''t dare to go against his will.
Besides.. his deration made a lot of sense. Having suffered the sting of betrayal, his nsmen were a lot more sympathetic towards the idea of relying on themselves.
A lot of departures took ce 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 n didn''t react as strongly as Ves and everyone feared. Over thest few weeks, they had already seen the new nsmen be 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 ce 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 theid-off workers and mech pilots with a generous amount of severance pay.
With the uing reunioning close, the Larkinson n quickly turned its attention back to what really mattered.
Though the amount of trueblood members in the n 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 n for the time being!
Therefore, even if most members of the n weren''t blood-rted to the Larkinson Family, they still cared a lot about the oue 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'' rtives!
However, in the best interest of preserving harmony, the n 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 yed the starring role!
Bright Warriors, ckbeaks Crystal Lords and many other mech models lined the procession of passenger shuttles from both sides. The n 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 n!
Traffic throughout the entire route had already been cordoned off by House Evenson. The local nobles showed incredible eagerness in amodating the needs of the n. Though the temporary blockades annoyed the hell out of the locals of Torze, Ves valued the safety of keeping bystanders away.
The n 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 contemted 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 n 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 ces 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 bodynguage!"
Ves grimaced as he petted Lucky resting on hisp. "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. Yourplicated rtionship 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 rtives. 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 n uniform, made a lot of sense.
He fell silent as he enjoyed the flowery scent of her perfume. Both Lucky and Clixiezily rested on their owner''sps 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 n''s exclusive spiritualwork, Ves still found it convenient to keep track of the lives and directions of every family member!
As Ves observed the spiritualwork, 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 particr note to Ves was two particr 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 bingpletely 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 rtive, 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 bing 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 simrities.
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, hisndbound knight mech would likely be watched over by a matriarchal design spirit of his own design, one that would likely share a lot of simrities 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 manipted 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 rxed a bit when he concluded that a spiritual sorceress and a mech design were not actuallyparable in the slightest. The two simrities wereplete 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 n 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 processionnded at the designatednding 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 therge 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 nsmen, the members of the old family all wore a variety of civilian outfits. While their appearances weren''t awful, theck of uniformity caused them to look distinctly less organized than their estranged rtives!
Themon appearances instilled a sense of psychological unity in the nsmen. 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 asion, Ves had tweaked the glows of his mechs. He employed some spiritual tinkering in order to temporarily tune down the glows of the ckbeaks and Crystal Lords. This allowed the glows of the Bright Warrior mechs to be 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 itsposure 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 resemnce to the Golden Cat''s glow began to envelop the minds of the family members like a protective nket.
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 n 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 n. I am d to see you once again. No matter what disagreements we might share, you are always family to us. We are d to see you safe and sound."
Ves smiled and nodded. "Our n is happy to hear your well-wishes. I share your sentiment. While over differences will doubtlessly grow over time, what we have inmon will always make us family to each other."
The reunion between the two branches of Larkinsons had finally begun!