<h4>Chapter 2357: Minxie</h4>


    "Whahaha! Bow before me! I AM INVINCIBLE!"


    The Adonis Colossus flew majestically in space as Vincent Ricklin-Larkinson was having the time of his life!


    Though he was merely taking his mech out for a spin, he felt as if he had made a small breakthrough in his piloting skills.


    How else could he have suddenly increased his performance and won more points in the simted drills?


    Hisrge mech had be a familiar sight in high orbit of Cinach VI. The locals, the traders and the Hexers all ignored the sight of the strange mech with a flowing particle cape trailing behind its back.


    The rifle in one of the Adonis Colossus'' hands barked out a couple of harmless false shells that precisely hit the target dummy bots that were whizzing back and forth a fair distance away.


    At the same time, the mech relied on its heavy armor to deflect the stab of a simted light skirmisher.


    "I''ve been eying you from the start, you rat!"


    With a single swing of the Adonis Colossus'' de, the projection light skirmisher broke into pieces as the powerful attack decisively registered as a fatal blow to the non-existent mech!


    On and on the solo practice session proceeded. Vincent exulted in his greater ability to pilot his mechs as he felt more in tune with his personal machine than ever!


    "My mech is singing to me, and I''m singing back! Damn I''m good!"


    His talent for piloting mechs must have finally bloomed into splendor. There was no other way to exin his increased performance!


    The only snag was that his improvement didn''t carry over so well when he piloted other mechs. Whenever he piloted andbound mech to practice his duelling skills for his uingpetitive matches, he seemed to lose arge amount of fluency in his piloting skills.


    "Maybe I''m bad at pilotingndbound mechs." He thought. "I''m better off piloting mechs in space!"


    After hepleted his practice run, he brought his mech back to one of the carriers of the Living Sentinels. He hopped out of his cockpit and handed his mech off to the mech technicians before entering a shuttle that brought him back to the surface.


    Though themute was rather tedious, Vincent had no choice to take these regr trips. The Adonis Colossus was at home in space and did not perform well onnd.


    Once his shuttle reached thending zone of the temporary Larkinson n base, Vincent exited the shuttle and walked across the extensive courtyards.


    The Larkinson n had grown evenrger in the past couple of months. Recruitment of critical personnel may have slowed down, but it never stopped. Vincent constantly spotted new faces, each of which seemed to havee from further and further away.


    No matter where they came from and who they used to be in the past, they all became Larkinsons once they passed all of the requirements.


    "Hey, Vincent!"


    "Good luck on your next match, Vince! I''m rooting for TSV!"


    "Take care not to piss off the Hexers next time."


    "I did not mean to insult them!" Vincant protested. "I was justplimenting those beautifully toned stomachs as those babes were running across the field. How could I know that they were willing to chase me all the way to the men''s toilet and kick me to pieces?"


    "You enjoyed it though, right?"


    "I''m not THAT kind of a man!"


    All of the banter was well-meant. As one of the more mboyant members of the Larkinson n, Vincent was something of a local celebrity. His Adonis Colossus alone ensured that every Larkinson would learn about him in time, though not everyone thought well of him and his chosen upation.


    He heard a lot of talk behind his back about his choice to pass on an opportunity to be a part of Task Force Predator.


    As much as he wanted to prove his courage, Vincent was wary of the Nyxian Gap. Just like Rae, he had enough of war. As much as he wanted to prove his masculinity, he hadn''t survived this long without developing a keen sense of danger.


    Thetest news that hade from the Nyxian Gap did not bode well for the n. Though the Larkinsons at Cinach VI all tried to maintain a normal routine, beneath the surface a lot of elements were moving.


    When Vincent finally returned to the amodation he shared with his girlfriend, Rae sat glum at the window.


    "You''re back." She said tly.


    "Is work bringing you down?"


    "It''s the usual. The LCS is not as easy to organize as I thought, and interest in watching our preseason duels has dropped ever since the news broke that our fellow Larkinsons are in serious trouble."


    "That''s odd. From my experience, people are even more eager to seek out fun when times are hard."


    "We Larkinsons are different from the rabble you mixed with before. You''re not a part of the Bentheim Liberation Movement anymore."


    "Eh." Vincent shrugged as he walked up behind her and pulled her into a hug. "There are more simrities than you think."


    The two fell silent for a moment as they took in each other''spany. Rae eventually pushed herself off her boyfriend.


    "How was practice?"


    "Great as ever." Vincent replied as he approached the sofa and took a seat. "Where''s Minxie?"


    "She''s taking a nap maybe. MINXIE! Where are you?"


    It took a moment before Vincent and Rae heard a response from an adjacent room.


    "Nyeow! Nyeow!"''


    Rae instantly melted as she turned to greet the arrival of a young feline. "Minxie! There you are. Did you just finish your nap?"


    "Nyeow."


    The woman picked up her pet and hugged her white-furredpanion with an adoring smile.


    Rae and Vincent''s adoption of a cat was another custom that had taken over the Larkinson n. The n had ordered arge variety of specially-bred cats from Felixia.


    Though the new cats weren''t as amazing as Lucky and Clixie, the new cats like Minxie each had their strong points.


    What wasmon to all of them was that they enjoyed longer lifespans. They had also developed a measure of sentience and were capable of learning and understanding human speech.


    There were other advantages, but that did not change the fact that the cats were still pets. They did not strengthen the n, but they enriched the lives of those within.


    Since the Larkinson n was known for its cat motif, many Larkinsons defaulted to adopting cats. Only a small minority adopted other pets such as lizards, insects, birds and dogs.


    Rae took a liking for beautiful cats. She chose to adopt a surprisingly gentle modified white persian than a more active and energetic pet.


    Though Vincent disagreed with her choice at first, he hade aroundter on. Minxie was simply too adorable for him to dislike her. When he approached Rae, the cat curiously looked up at his face.


    "Nyeow?"


    "Who''s your daddy?"


    "Nyeow!"


    Rae giggled. "Pfff! Stop teasing our little kitty. She''s too innocent for your humor."


    "Who said I was joking?"


    The two cuddled and yed around a bit with Minxie before the cat quickly lost interest. Once the white persian chose to doze off in her new cat bed, Vincent and Rae sat together on the sofa.


    "So… how are you holding up, Rae?"


    "Not that good, to be honest. I can''t help but worry about Ves and the rest of our nsmen. They''re being hunted by pirate warships of all things. I can''t believe the Big Two allow the pirates to get away with building them. Now, our trapped Larkinsons hardly have any choice but to fight their way through the worst of the Nyxian scum."


    "You already heard Gloriana. There''s nothing we can do but put ourselves in danger. Our mechs are simply too weak at the moment. It''s better that the Wodin Warriors sent a couple of thousand mechs in their stead."


    "I still felt I could have done more." She sighed. "I don''t usually feel this way."


    "Our n has a way of worming its way into your heart. I used to think that all of this emphasis on fellowship, brotherhood and kitties was soft. Now that I''ve been in the n for a while, I can''t imagine turning back to my old life. I never had a real family before now, you see. Here, I can be myself or be the Vincent that everyone knows without caring too much about what others think."


    "This has always been the case in our old Larkinson Family. It was just that we didn''t have this weird n glow that causes us to feel close to our fellow nsmen at all times. The implications are kind of disturbing."


    "I like it." Vincent straightforwardly said. "It helps with making friends. Without it, our n would have devolved into a collection of factions. Everyone who came from the same state would have stuck with each other with little reason to go out. I''ve seen that happen in the BLM to some extent as the boys from the same city stuck together despite being told to get along with the other rebels in the same cell."


    Rae looked at Vincent with a curious expression. "Do you truly not miss your old life anymore?"


    "Being a rebel sucked. I only joined because I had problems with my family and expected more from the BLM. I didn''t really care about fighting for Bentheim''s independence. I just wanted to start a new life and feel like I belong."


    She knew about some of the details of his sordid past. Vincent had lived a colorful life and developed a colorful personality. That excited her, as did his formidable prowess.


    "Our new life will be under threat if Task Force Predator can''t make it back."


    "I know." Vincent squeezed her shoulder. "I''m not giving up hope, though. While I don''t think that Ves and his pals can run away from the pirates forever, I think it''s possible to stay out of reach of the pirate warships and prolong the chase long enough for the Hexers toe to the rescue."


    "Oh, have you be a genius navigator, or are you just saying something random?" Rae sneered.


    "Hey, I heard this from one of the mech captains. The Nyxian Gap is filled with meteorites and a lot of other junk. It''s not easy to chase after a single target."


    "We''ll see. I don''t want to develop any false hopes."


    Rae almost couldn''t believe how Ves could bring himself to go on this risky excursion. Her wildly-sessful cousin could be so stupid sometimes.


    The two continued to share their concerns over the course of their idle talk.


    Meanwhile, Minxie crawled up to theirps and demanded their affection.


    "Nyeow!"


    "Oh, you pretty princess you. Your fur is so soft and fluffy."


    Vincent smiled as Rae became besmitten by her new cat again.


    "Do you think we can get another pet?"


    "Huh? Is Minxie not enough for you? She''s more than cute enough to satisfy us both!"


    "It''s not that, Rae. I just think like we could spice up our lives with a dog."


    "No. Forget about it, Vincent. Minxie is enough. If she''s lonely, we can get her another cat. Under no circumstances will I allow you to bring a dog or any other animal."


    "Why not? Do you hate dogs?"


    "I love them, but I love cats more. This is one thing I have inmon with Ves. His Lucky is amazing."


    "What about obtaining a mechanical dog? They''re pretty low on maintenance but they can be even betterpanions."


    "I told you to stop it. No dogs allowed. Besides, mechanical dogs aren''t really alive. They''re just good at pretending they are. How can you love a bunch ofputer code?"


    "I don''t know, but Ves seems to do fine."


    "Lucky is different! So are other cats!"


    Though Vincent appreciated cats as much as anyone, some Larkinsons simply took it too far!