The frightening incident had co to an end. After fighting against her own expert ch for several long and tense minutes, Venerable Orfan at least managed to forge a basic understanding with her own expert ch.
Ves had the feeling that it was not as deep as he would like, but it was at least better than nothing. The imdiate threat had been dealt with and the duo had finally set upon the right path.
It was a close call, though. Ves hadn't been certain whether his suggestion would work out. Fortunately, his understanding of one of his own products turned out to be accurate enough.
The Vanguard Project was a prideful expert ch, but it was not inherently opposed to being piloted by Venerable Orfan.
It was just a fussy brat that didn't want to be told what to do. Pressing it would only make it hit back harder.
The sa applied to Venerable Orfan to an extent. When these two brats were put together and told to cooperate, it should have been obvious that they wouldn't begin to hold hands and agree to partner up right away.
"Ugh." Ves pressed his fingers against his forehead. "It feels like I'm managing a bunch of children instead of mature expert pilots."
Venerable Orfan was not fit to resu the initial test run after this ordeal. Though she and her expert ch hadn't dueled against any opponents or perford any significant piloting feats, they had battled against each other in an arena that was just as dangerous and exhausting!
"Just go back, Orfan." Ves commanded the expert pilot. "The teletry isn't too good right now. Your physical and ntal state have deteriorated too much and we don't know whether your expert ch is still able to function properly. At least allow it to check it over before you can try again. Does that sound okay to you, Venerable?"
As much as Venerable Orfan wanted to refute his words, she couldn't ignore reality to such a great extent. There was little she could do in her current state. Her concentration was already shot to hell and her will was too worn to even resonate with her brand new expert ch.
"Fine." She said. "I'll head back and take a good, long rest."
"Do you need the Dark Zephyr to ferry your expert ch back to the Spirit of Bentheim?"
"I CAN GO BACK BY MYSELF! DON'T PATRONIZE , VES!"
"Okay, okay! Calm down, woman!" Ves hastily replied as he leaned back.
Everyone waited until the Vanguard Project limped back to where it erged from. Though the flight of the expert spearman ch didn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence, Venerable Orfan managed to land her ch onto the deck without tripping over or crashing against a bulkhead or sothing. That was a pretty decent conclusion to this stressful incident.
Given the near-disaster that had just taken place, Ves and the others felt a lot less certain about allowing Venerable Dise to activate her new expert ch for the first ti.
Who knew whether the First Sword was just as prickly and competitive towards its pilot as the Vanguard Project. If Venerable Dise wasn't able to get along with the personality of her living ch, then they might face another disaster, but this ti the threatening machine would be ard with a mastersword ch sword!
"Do not abort this run." Venerable Dise spoke through the comm channel. "I won't lose control like Venerable Orfan. I am different from her and my First Sword is different from the Vanguard Project. Trust . I will not pose a threat to the clan."
Ves exchanged glances with his wife.
"We'll allow you to have a go, but only with added restrictions." Gloriana eventually decided. "You'll have to leave the Decapitator behind for the ti being. If you ever lose control, then at least your expert ch won't be ard with a powerful weapon that can cut through any chs or ships. We'll also tow your ch out into open space before you are allowed to interface with your machine. Do you agree with these conditions?"
Venerable Dise grunted. "I've dealt with worse. Just do it. I don't need any delays."
"Uhm, stand by for towing."
A short delay ensued as a quartet of Bright Warriors piloted by the Blade Mistresses approached the Spirit of Bentheim. They attached cables along several anchor points across the First Sword's fra and slowly towed it out into open space.
A fifth Swordmaiden ch headed inside and reverently carried the Decapitator. Only Legion Commander Sendra was worthy to transport the masterwork ch sword that Ketis had lovingly created.
In order to be absolutely safe, the clan decided to park the First Sword at least fifty kiloters away from the nearest ship. This was a ridiculous distance but no one wanted to take any chances. The power of expert pilots and expert chs did not conform to common sense. The only way to reliably reduce the chances of getting hurt was to put plenty of distance between the incident and anything important.
A lot of chs that had been originally assigned to guard the periter and assist in the test run had fallen back as well. The only objects that kept the First Sword company were a lot of bots. Even if the expert swordsman ever went crazy, the Larkinson Clan would only lose a bunch of equipnt in that case.
After the technical staff perford their final checks, Ves finally gave the word.
"You can activate your ch, Venerable Dise. Make sure to treat your expert ch with respect."
"I treat all of my weapons with respect." The Swordmaiden expert pilot replied.
She proved her words by resolutely activating her ch. As her mind interfaced with the ch and her will enveloped its graceful form, she imdiately began to commune with the machine that she had been waiting to pilot for a long ti.
Different from the uncontrolled movents and fluctuating resonance that had characterized the Vanguard Project's initial activation, the First Sword was as stable as a statue. It remained completely still even as the teletry showed that the man-machine connection was incredibly active.
Soon, a smooth blue resonance shield ford around the First Shield. Its stability and lack of fluctuations visibly demonstrated that Venerable Dise managed to attain full control over her expert ch!
"She did it!" Ketis whooped on the other side of the control room. "I knew she could do it! A Swordmaiden always masters her weapon!"
Whether this was true or not, Venerable Dise and the First Sword took to each other like fish to water. No matter how many data points Ves tried to scour, none of them showed any hint of danger.
"How are you feeling, Dise?" Ves decided to ask the expert pilot in person. "Are you experiencing any difficulties?"
"I'm doing great. My expert ch isn't as unruly as the Vanguard Project. Ketis forged it to beco my instrunt. It knows exactly what it is and who I am. It's not about to run out of control."
She demonstrated that by performing basic moves. The expert ch soared in different directions while performing a series of slow but increasingly more intense unard combat moves.
A lot of new data poured in as Ves and the others gained a greater insight on the First Sword's maneuvering capabilities. The expert ch featured a lot of agility and range of motion, allowing it to perform moves that were impossible for human bodies to copy without breaking a few bones in the process.
After the First Sword perford enough routines to provide a sufficient amount of data to the ch designers, Ves reluctantly agreed to return the Decapitator to its rightful wielder.
"We're about to give you back your sword. Now, don't get too excited right away. Let's start slow and build up from there, okay?"
Venerable Dise impatiently nodded. "I understand. I'm still in control."
When Commander Sendra's ch approached the expert ch, it had to stop as the pressure emanating from the First Sword was quite formidable.
"Your sword, Venerable."
The Bright Warrior gently threw the Decapitator to its intended wielder. The blade silently crossed the distance until the First Sword grasped the hilt in a solid, two-handed grip.
The mont the expert swordsman ch held its masterwork ch sword, several things happened at once.
First, the resonance ters spiked.
Second, Venerable Dise resonated with the giant weapon.
Third, the Decapitator began to glow with power!
"It's singing! The sword I've forged is singing!" Ketis enthusiastically remarked as she leaned closer in order to observe the footage.
To Venerable Dise, attuning to a sword was a much more significant event than attuning to her expert ch.
To her, the First Sword was little different from a suit of combat armor. It was still a vital piece of equipnt that directly affected her combat performance, but it did not completely define her as a warrior.
What swordsn and swordswon truly cared about was the sword they had trained their entire lives to wield. The significance of wielding a sword was much greater than getting accustod to a new suit of armor, and this was little different!
"We're detecting elevating life signs." Gloriana warnedly said. "Venerable Dise's stress levels are rising!"
Ketis held out her palm "Wait! Don't interrupt this solemn occasion! Dise is excited. She's not under attack. Just give her ti. There's no way the sword I've made for her will rebel."
Venerable Dise continued to exhibit more activity and so did her ch and the sword it wielded. The true resonance that enveloped them both rose substantially as the expert pilot had beco extrely excited.
The Decapitator even started to glow brighter. However, before it could build up to an alarming level, it slowly dimd as Venerable Dise finally reined it in. Soon enough, the expert ch and its sword reached a stable condition.
Ves let out a soft breath. "Everything okay, still?"
"Yes. I just beca a little overwheld. This sword… is so much more than I thought."
"Well, try it out then. We have already gone over the basic movent tests. Let us see what you can do with your new blade."
A string of sacrificial dummy bots approached. Each of them varied in size, toughness and mobility characteristics. They all zipped around in random directions, making it fairly challenging to pin them down.
It was no problem for the First Sword. The expert ch engaged its flight system and used its superior mobility to rapidly close the distance. After unleashing one clean cut, it neatly bisected a small and agile bot.
The First Sword proceeded to chase down other bots and cut them precisely in the middle without fail. Venerable Dise exhibited excellent control and efficiency throughout this basic exercise, signifying that she was truly harnessing her expert ch instead of the other way around.
"Alright, let's try sothing more challenging." Ves suggested. "A couple of heavy-duty lifter bots should be bringing a large plate of hull armor over. It's a piece taken off the hull of the Graveyard. Try and cut through it as much as possible. You can use all of the power you can muster."
The thick plate was larger and much thicker than a ch. When Ves said that it was taken from the hull of a capital ship, he wasn't kidding. The outer plate was so thick that the length of Decapitator couldn't even penetrate all of the way through!
Ordinary swordsman chs wouldn't even dream of trying to carve through all of that solid plating. Even if the quality of the materials wasn't particularly high, the sheer depth was already intimidating in itself!
Venerable Dise did not look deterred. As she resonated with her ch, she began to activate one of the resonance abilities associated with the Decapitator.
The Bissonat integrated in the core of the Decapitator reacted to Venerable Dise's will and began to empower the weapon with sharpness beyond compare. That wasn't all though as Venerable Dise also began to resonate with the essence of Qilanxo that Ves had poured into the Unending alloy that the weapon was made of. This caused the blade to be covered with a special sheen that exuded a mysterious energy.
Once the First Sword was done with charging its attack, it approached the plate while lifting the empowered Decapitator over its head.
"CHOP!"
A flash cut through the solid plate and much of the space beyond!
Less than a second later, the thick capital ship-grade hull plate neatly separated into halves.
Ves and many others in the control room fell silent as they looked on with awe.
This was just a single attack, yet already told them many things.
"She can slice through any ship of our fleet."
The performance of the First Sword and its remarkable blade did not disappoint!
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