The Larkinsons succeeded in bringing a warship online. They chose to spend their efforts on the Ailing Frey, as that happened to be the latest and most modern warship of the Allidus Alliance.
While it was too much to ask the incoming personnel to control the ship as well as the original crew, the Ailing Frey was not that difficult to bring online.
As long as the Black Cats hacked the ship systems and made sure to sweep them for traps and safeguards, the engineers and officers ca face-to-face with friendly, user-friendly control systems.
This did not surprise Ves. A good maker always took his target audience into account. While the Allidus Alliance was certainly well-run, it couldn't ask too much of its own personnel! Most were pirates with mixed backgrounds. Expecting them to run a ship as complex as a CFA warship was way too unrealistic.
Therefore, the pirate shipwrights who designed and built the Ailing Frey not only made sure to keep the interfaces and control systems as self-explanatory as possible, they also made sure include dummy modes!
Though relying on simplified controls did not allow the Larkinson prize crew to make full use of the Ailing Frey's capabilities, it took a record couple of hours to get the powerful destroyer to move.
It only took a half hour after that for the temporary crew to figure out how to operate the main gun battery.
When her forward turret started swiveling, many of the Larkinsons in the vicinity grew nervous. Nearby Larkinson chs on patrol went on high alert. As soon as the massive gun turret directed its aim at an existing Larkinson asset, they would definitely do everything possible to shut it down by force!
Fortunately, no weird programming took over the turret's systems. No traps triggered. The Black Cats already surmised that the Allidus pirates were too confident in their own strength to believe that their enemies would capture their own ships.
Ves was in the design lab of the Scarlet Rose when the captured Ailing Frey fired her main armant once again.
The turret slowly swiveled until its triple barrels were able to point their muzzles towards a certain direction in the distance.
A mont later, the three laser cannons simultaneously fired! Three bright red beams instantly soared across space, threading nurous nearby asteroids and striking a distant pirate carrier at once!
Ves clapped with glee. "Great accuracy!"
The ship hit by the lasers was just a small converted carrier. Her thin hull barely offered any resistance against the powerful lasers. The beams managed to transfer an enormous amount of heat inside, thereby causing untold internal damage.
Just a minute after getting hit, the pirate vessel was already flying out of control. A small number of escape pods and chs desperately launched from the dood ship as she finally crashed into an asteroid!
Many nearby pirates managed to observe the disastrous sight. Their ships and chs quickly raced away from the battlefield. If the Larkinsons managed to get the Ailing Frey to hit one of their own at this distance, then remaining here was suicide!
"Hahaha! Look at them run! Serves those pirates right!" Rina Orion gloated.
The others in the design lab beca impressed as well.
"So this is the power of a warship in our hands." Zanthar sighed with admiration.
Dukan French crossed his arms. "The Ailing Frey is pretty nice, but the real prize is the Gravada Knarlax."
"Can we step aboard those ships to study their systems, sir?" Estelle Lynwood asked. "I'm especially interested in taking a look at how they engineered their massive primary armant!"
"All in due ti." Ves replied. "We haven't completely swept it clean of threats as of yet. Give our crews so ti to gain more control over the systems."
The battle that the Larkinsons had just won had impacted the Braves remarkably. Though Ves hadn't spared any attention for his assistants, they acquitted themselves decently this ti.
The Battle of Ulimo Citadel had caused them to enter into full-blown panic. This ti, they made sure to control themselves and each other. Though they did not play any role during the fight, Ves was already proud of the progress they achieved. They were truly beginning to live up to their moniker as Braves.
"Teacher, we've gained a lot of new expert pilots, right?" Maikel asked.
"All of the candidates we used to have broke through." Ves confird. There was no reason for hism to keep this secret. "In addition, we have also welcod a batch of new expert candidates to the fold."
Maikel looked incredibly impressed. "Wow. I never heard of so many experts breaking through! This is a miracle! Did they all break through with the help of the work you have perford on your chs?"
"There are many factors that affect a ch pilot's chances of advancing." Ves awkwardly coughed. "Certainly, although I would like to believe that piloting our living chs has helped, there are too many variables in play to know for certain. I think the single most significant contributing factor is the fact we clashed against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent. Situations like these always squeeze out the potential in those who have the courage to face the enemy despite the odds."
Many ch designers in the design lab nodded in agreent. This was not an exotic theory in the ch community. The Larkinson Clan highly advocated for its truth as well.
It was just that not everyone had the stomach to develop themselves when they were weak and vulnerable. Too many ch pilots preferred to take it slow and steady and only begin to fight in glorious battles when they advanced to expert candidate.
This ntality was entirely wrong as far as Ves was concerned! True courage ca from facing adversity rather than bullying the weak. Strong pilots such as Joshua and Tusa both polished their wills long before they beca exceptional. It was the progress they made during this early period that largely ford the foundation of their future success.
However, Maikel, who was very interested in living chs, was not entirely satisfied with this answer.
"Could our new expert pilots have reached this level if they were piloting sothing other than your chs?"
"I don't know." Ves truthfully answered, though he interpreted his student's question very loosely. "We would have to perform a large-scale systematic investigation to make any solid conclusions. A small sample size of four ch pilots, five if you count Venerable Jannzi, is wholly insufficient to make any definite statents. We would need to perform a massive quantitative experint involving at least several thousand ch pilots split into at least two different groups. One group would be piloting our best LMC chs while the control group would be stuck with piloting the closest non-LMC equivalents."
"Aren't we doing that now? Our clan's ch troops are already split up like this. Maybe we can announce to the galaxy that our chs are truly capable of helping ch pilots advance. We'll beco famous!"
Bonk!
"Ouch! That hurts, teacher!"
Ves did not regret knocking Maikel on the head. "Don't be crazy! Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. What if you're wrong? What if so other factor such as the unique environnt is the main cause? We'd be ruining our reputations if we're proven wrong!"
"We would also be painting a target on our backs if your guess happens to be true." Catherine Evenson-Larkinson added. As a forr scion of a noble house, she was much more astute in these matters. "While it shouldn't be unusual if one or two expert pilots or expert candidates erge from the Battle against the Abyss, gaining four of the forr and nine of the latter is a bit too exaggerated, especially when you consider that we fielded less than a thousand chs."
"We're Larkinsons." Maikel retorted. "Our ch pilots are way better than others. Combined with the fact that many of them have been piloting our teacher's chs, it shouldn't be a surprise we gained so many powerful additions."
"You fool! Just think about it. We have witnessed thirteen breakthroughs when we fielded less than half of a ch regint's worth of chs. That's a ratio of roughly 1 percent. While a single percent doesn't sound that much, the ratio is at least an order of magnitude smaller in any other outfit or military unit, and that is usually expressed across years, not the span of a single battle!"
Catherina had a good point. Ves worried a lot about the concerns she raised. If she could make this basic observation, so could others. He was already dreading his next conversation with Master Willix. Other authorities might also wish to investigate the circumstances of the so-called Battle against the Abyss.
Ves didn't know where that na ca from. It certainly sounded dramatic enough to reflect the astonishing events, and it sounded a lot better than sothing generic such as 'Battle of So Random Asteroids' or 'Subjugation of the Gravada Knarlax', among other suggestions.
He was already thinking about how to address these issues. The last thing he wanted was the MTA forcing him to take up residency at Halcyon Citadel. There was no way that he was willing to give up his freedom and autonomy!
"Ugh. This isn't going to be easy."
At least it was better than suffering a defeat. This was one of the better outcos that he and his clan achieved.
Ves continued to check up on his Braves on an individual basis. He approached and talked to each of them in person for several reasons.
First, he wanted to verify how much they rembered from the previous battle. Those with stronger spiritual potential managed to remain conscious longer than the others.
Second, he wanted to check whether the Battle against the Abyss had left any serious scars in their psyche.
His quick inspection did indeed allow him to observe so worrying signs. Ves ntally noted down the nas of those who showed signs of trauma and made sure to assign so counselors to them as soon as possible.
After witnessing how much battlefield trauma could warp soone like Carlos into a different person, Ves did not want his Braves to break before he could even earn a return on his investnt in their developnt!
During these quick checkups, Ves encountered a very unexpected surprise.
As Catherine Evenson confidently sat down, Ves noted a change in her deanor.
That wasn't strange in itself. Harrowing battles usually had that effect.
What was different about Catherine was that she appeared to be more confident and brave! This was the opposite of what he saw in others.
When Ves observed the forr Sentinel noble with his spiritual vision, it took all he got not to jump in surprise.
To his utter amazent, Catherine had abruptly gained spiritual potential!
While it didn't look exceptional to him, the fact that she had beco spiritually active at all was a very positive developnt.
If Catherine could do it, so could others!
Still, Ves grew confused. How did she manage to develop spiritual potential? Was it the sa as ch pilots, where overwhelming pressure caused them to bring out their latent strength?
That didn't sound quite right.
"Catherine. What do you think of the previous battle?"
It is an amazing fight, and one that we will never forget." She said with a smile. "Aside from the trouble that I have ntioned, our clan will definitely gain a lot of prestige for this. If we can haul the Gravada Knarlax and the other pirate warships to civilized space intact, then I suggest we hold a triumphant celebration. With props like these, our reputation will definitely rise to teoric heights! This will grant us nurous advantages in the coming years."
"You're right, Catherine. I'll take your words into account. You don't need to worry too much about these issues. You're a ch designer. You have been making so good progress already. Keep it up and there might be a promotion in store."
"Truly?"
"I am a man of my word."
Pushing her into working harder would enable her to tap into her new potential more quickly.
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