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!
