The usually boisterous classroom in the academy abruptly fell into silence. Every potentate sat up straight as a uniford ch pilot walked in front of the class. Joshua’s eyes shone as he beheld the dashing man.
The man swept his view towards the boys and girls and ntally shook his head. What was the use of visiting these teenagers? They were at least five years away from being qualified to pilot chs. Still, he had his orders.
"This is a ti of war. The Vesia Kingdom has invaded us once again, and it is the duty of every citizen to repel them with the best of your ability. As ch cadets, your ti has not yet co, but that is no excuse for you to slack off! The ch Corps holds the frontlines so that kids like you can train in peace. Do not squander their sacrifice and continue to improve your skills. The Republic depends on you!"
Every boy and girl thrusted out their chest in pride. A veritable wave of enthusiasm passed over the cadets as they imagined wearing the ch pilot’s uniform one day. Every ch regint utilized a different uniform sche, which led to a lot of variety in the ch Corps. Joshua himself only recognized a couple of them, and the man’s black-and-yellow uniform eluded his knowledge.
"As a potentate of the Republic, the most talented of you are treasured by us. Certain individuals here have distinguished themselves in their training. I am here to invite a number of you to accompany back to Bentheim and enroll in one of their most prestigious academies on a fast-track training program. I won’t lie, it will be hard, and the amount of drop-outs will be high. But if even one of you perseveres, you will have a bright future ahead of you in the ch Corps!"
The majority of the cadets frowned or groaned. They knew their scores well enough to realize that they didn’t qualify for such an extravagant program. Instead, they turned their attention to Joshua and a couple of other talented classmates. Out of all of them, their performance stood out the most.
"Cadets Joshua, Liss and Maye, you are deed eligible to take up this opportunity. Are you willing to serve the Republic?"
"We are!"
The ch pilot smiled. "We will send out an information package to your parents. So long as your parents consent to the program, you’ll be eligible to apply."
The rest of the classroom envied Joshua and the rest. None of them scored remarkably well in their training courses. In fact, their academy actually ranked at the bottom in the Republic. It couldn’t be helped since Cloudy Curtain lacked a rich ch scene until recently.
The founding of the LMC and its subsequent rise changed all of that. Suddenly, their sleepy rural planet beca a local hotbed for chs as the LMC broke out of its shell with the release of the widely acclaid Blackbeak model.
The ch manufacturer’s ascension initiated a sea of change. Local politics had been thrown into a ss, while the influx of tax inco invigorated public services. Culturally, the insular citizens of Cloudy Curtain finally opened up to the wider Republic.
Once stoked, the ch fever ran out of control. The enthusiastic younger generation flocked to the LMC like ducks and beca the company’s diehard fans.
The potentates among them ford a virtual fanclub called the LMC Association. They established a presence in every virtual ga including Iron Spirit.
Joshua owed much of his recent success to the Association and the ga. The only reason why he improved so quickly was that he wanted to pilot the LMC’s higher starred virtual chs.
Ves Larkinson published a handful of virtual chs in his brief career. Over ti, the mbers of the Association flocked to one dominant model in each tier. It beca sothing of a badge of pride if the mbers could master every bestseller ch.
Currently, the list included the following chs:
1-star: Fantasia 2R Seraphim - Aerial Marksman
2-star: TOC-1S Old Soul - Ambush Rifleman
3-star: HPL-100S Young Blood - Knight
4-star: FFL-25P DarkSpear - Assassin ch
5-star: CA-1C2 Marc Antony Mark II - Hybrid Knight
The boisterous mbers of the Association generally reached a broad consensus on the first four chs. Each of them represented the best chs of their tier. Most of them consisted of Mr. Larkinson’s latest virtual designs.
The only place the mbers couldn’t agree on was the Marc Antony Mark II. As a Hybrid Knight, it was hard to pilot. Only the older mbers of the Association had reached the Gold League where they could unlock the ability to pilot a 5-star ch, and they all encountered significant difficulties trying to control the Mark II’s many weapons.
Frankly speaking, the recently released Blackbeak virtual ch was much more suitable as a poster ch for the 5-star tier. As a pure knight ch, it lacked the complicated and uncoordinated weapon systems of the older design. While it didn’t fare very well in small-scale duels, it still found a respectable place in Warntorn Instances and other larger ga modes.
The only problem was the price. As a premium design, the Blackbeak sold for a ridiculous amount of gold or real credits. Only a handful of long-ti players accumulated enough gold to exchange for the ch. The rest could only stare enviously.
In any case, Joshua had worked hard the last couple of years. Ever since he first ca across Chasing Clouds’ chs, he had no idea that he was piloting a product of a hogrown hero. After Mr. Larkinson ca into prominence, his drive to master Mr. Larkinson’s chs had grown into a deep-seethed obsession.
At his age, he should still be languishing in the upper Bronze League or the lower Silver League. Instead, he rocketed upwards until he finally broke through the Gold League.
His hard work paid off! The mont he promoted to the Gold League, he instantly spent the credits he’d been saving so far on a virtual copy of the DarkSpear ch, which had gained so notoriety in the Bentheim ch scene.
Joshua tasted bliss as he piloted the assassin ch. He utilized the skills he gained from mastering the Old Soul and achieved a decent amount of success with the assassin ch.
Still, it had been rough the first couple of months. His ranking fell as he struggled to adapt to the higher pace of the Gold League. His ga account even demoted back to Silver League at so point, but the skills he learned from the high-pressure upper league allowed him to bounce back to Gold League in a brief amount of ti.
His performance in ga reflected back in his performance in the academy. Joshua sat at the top of his year in academy. Almost no one his age could match him in a duel.
To be honest, Joshua only accepted the invitation to attend an elite academy in Bentheim because he’d be able to promote his ranking faster.
"I’ll be able to pilot Mr. Larkinson’s 5-star chs sooner if I go to Bentheim."
If the ch pilot who visited his class heard those words, he’d wring Joshua’s neck. The Vesians have invaded the Republic’s borders, and all you can think about is playing a ga?!
Across Cloudy Curtain, Joshua consisted of a small number of ch cadets that recently showed a lot of promise. Each of them owed their improvent to the LMC in so way. The passion the ch company engendered among its fans had lit a fire inside their hearts
If the LMC initially stoked the fire, then Walter’s Whalers fanned the flas.
Their participation and subsequent return from the Glowing Planet Campaign had captured the minds of the locals.
The proliferation of recordings from the Whalers and many other participants of the struggle to secure the Glowing Planet’s resources had captured the minds of the entire Komodo Star Sector.
It sounded like an adventure drama. The Whalers arrived at the Glowing Planet and survived through several crises before they limped back ho with a huge pot of gold. Billions of credits flowed into their account, and in the first couple of weeks they threw out party after party. The entire planet revelled in the success of the gang.
Only a handful stood still at the losses. Walter, Dietrich, Fadah and the other cadre quietly consoled the survivors and set aside two-hundred million credits for their pensions. It was the least they could do, and they didn’t lack for money now in any case.
Once the partying had subsided, a contentious discussion ensued within the gang. So of the older mbers wanted to retire with their riches, while others wanted to continue the good fight but with better chs.
"Haven’t we struggled for years in the mud for a big score like this?" An older mber asked. "Look at how much we earned! We’re richer than most companies right now! I bet we’re worth even more than the LMC right now! The ti to pilot chs is over. If anything, we can hire others to pilot chs in our stead!"
Even though a couple of mbers agreed with that position, Dietrich quickly thumped his fist on the conference table. "Is retiring all you can think about? Then go ahead and leave, but don’t expect to get a large share of the prize. This money belongs to the Whalers! As far as I’m concerned, this is the ti where our gang can flourish! With the Vesians knocking on our borders, the last thing we should do is to put down our chs!"
The argunt went back and forth for both sides. While many Whalers wanted to leave behind their old profession, others wanted to expand their organization and beco more formidable in everyone’s eyes. These hardcore mbers couldn’t imagine a life of peace and leisure.
Once the two sides entered a deadlock, Walter finally intervened. "Walter’s Whalers will continue on until we all drop dead or drop out. Those of you who wants to retire may do so. If you fought alongside on the Glowing Planet, then I’ll make sure you earned your fair share. As for the rest, don’t expect us to be generous."
A substantial number of mbers who advocated for early retirent had in fact been left behind on Cloudy Curtain. They never shed their blood on behalf of the Whalers. Instead, they stared greedily at the tens of billions of credits the Whalers had earned from the sale of their mining haul to the Republic.
Walter’s words instantly doused their greed. Most of the freeloaders subsequently quieted down and expressed no further interest in a retirent. Each of them could only expect to receive about fifty-thousand credits, which was a pittance.
In contrast, Walter treated those who experienced the tough campaign on the Glowing Planet and wanted to leave for one reason or another more sincerely. Though the Whalers still retained the lion’s share of the pot, Walter issued a billion credits to the retirees, turning all of them into enviable pensioners.
Once everyone who still expressed a desire to leave had left, Walter addressed the loyalists who stuck by his organization.
"I won’t lie to you. Much of the money we’ve made will be spent on chs, ships and equipnt. If you think you’ll be able to drink the finest drinks and eat cloud rice every way then you’re mistaken. We have a lifeti opportunity to beco an elite outfit and I won’t squander it away by wasting it on luxuries!"
No one outwardly objected to his decision, though plenty of mbers complained within their hearts at Walter’s excessive frugality.
"In the coming months, we will build up our strength. Our first order of business is to fill up our roster and expand our scope. I hope to we can grow our numbers to the point where we can field a thousand chs at a ti."
"A thousand chs!?"
That was half a regint! So many chs would turn the Whalers from a rural bully into a regional powerhouse. Though they’ll never be able to surpass the Three Tyrants who ruled over Bentheim, such numbers gave them the qualification to contest over other minor star systems!
Each outfit that returned from the Glowing Planet intact experienced similar transformations. These lucky gangs and rcenary corps outpaced their rivals and competitors by far and began to recruit en masse.
The balance of power in the Bentheim region decisively shifted in their favor.
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