Jessica Quentin and her fellow MTA ch pilots slowly ca to enjoy their ti with the Larkinson Clan.
Even though the 5-year assignnt placed them away from their friends, their family, as well as the privileges and services they enjoyed in MTA territory, the separation had ultimately done them a lot of good.
Life had been a bit too easy back when they served in regular MTA units. They always enjoyed the protection of one of the most powerful organizations in the galaxy. This not only ant that they had few actual enemies to fight, it also affected their psychology in a detrintal fashion.
One of the dirty secrets of the MTA was that one of the actual reasons why it was willing to recruit outsiders was because too few internal mbers broke through to expert pilot and beyond.
If the MTA solely relied on internal personnel to grow and replenish its roster of high-ranking ch pilots, then it would probably see a drop in expert pilots and so on! The potentates who were born and raised within the ranks of the Association simply had it too good!
Of course, the ch Trade Association was very much aware of this trend and tried its best to institute intensive and dangerous training programs that were designed to put ch pilots out of their comfort zone.
Yet no matter how much the MTA tried to stimulate the survival drive of its ch pilots, these training programs were always lacking sothing.
This was why more and more ch pilots secretly chose to adopt cover identities and serve in other private organizations for a change.
By stripping themselves of all of their obvious vestiges as the most elite ch pilot of human civilization, they hoped to subject themselves to pressure that they could not find in the MTA.
While Jessica occasionally heard about success stories, many just ca crawling back to the Association without reaching their ultimate goal. Others ca back in coffins or nothing at all as their corpses were vaporized when their fragile ch succumbed to laser fire!
This was why only a minority of ch pilots sought to serve as guest pilots. Many of them received a huge amount of investnt to make them as good as they were. The best training and the best implants gave them a huge edge over other ch pilots, but battlefields were so chaotic that these pilots could die in an instant without any of them able to control their own fate!
After all, even the best-trained ch pilot would succumb in an instant if he piloted a regular machine and happened to be attacked by an expert ch!
No place was fair and the enemy always loved to play dirty. It was a waste for those that worked so hard and received so much investnt in their developnt to gamble their lives away. This was why most MTA ch pilots decided it was better to stay with their organization and find a way to surpass their limits under safer circumstances.
Jessica used to lean in this direction as well. She had a family. Her parents expected much from her. She could not bear the thought of disappointing them by depriving her mother and father of a daughter as well as a successor they poured so much credits and rits into improving.
Yet the longer she stayed with the Larkinsons, the more she beca infected by the general atmosphere.
Liaising with an organization as reckless and adventurous as the Larkinson Clan was truly more exciting than anything she experienced with the MTA!
The battles actually ant sothing and their lives were truly at stake. Yet there was another factor that most of those training programs simply lacked.
It was camaraderie.
Jessica and her fellow chers slowly beca friends with the Larkinsons. It was hard not to like these friendly and boisterous people. They were so casual about everything but showed they could be incredibly serious when it mattered.
Their emphasis on family along with their diverse clansn led to an atmosphere in the Larkinson fleet that was filled with love, brotherhood and shared struggle.
As guest pilots that risked their lives several tis in battle, the MTA ch pilots fully received the appreciation of the Larkinsons.
Even if it remained clear that people like Jessica would never entertain the thought of joining the Larkinson Clan, that didn't stop the two sides from treating each other as comrades in arms.
Of all of the Larkinsons that had made her feel welco in the clan, Venerable Tusa chard her the most.
Back when Jessica served among the Speed Demons and received personal tutoring from the man in question, the expert light ch specialist did not solely treat her like a chore or a re background figure.
Despite his reputation for being flighty and rather whimsical, Tusa took her and everyone else under his wing seriously. He not only provided serious instruction to her, but also included her in social events such as going out on a day of fun at Twilight City or inviting her to a bar in order to have an ill-advised drinking contest.
Jessica never lost these jovial contests. Her advanced implants and modified organs were capable of filtering out many forms of toxins including alcohol.
It was the thought that counted, though. She felt a closer sort of camaraderie with the Larkinsons than with most of her colleagues back in her old workplace.
The MTA was simply too big and impersonal now that she experienced what it was like to live and work among the Larkinsons.
In her opinion, there were too many factions and interests in the Association that each tried to pursue different objectives. Their constant tug of war not only made the MTA slow to change, but also led to frequent clashes between chers hailing from different factions.
It was good for Jessica to move away from that tangled minefield of interests and factions. Although the Larkinsons were divided between different groups as well, each of them were still friendly enough with each other to rember they were brothers and sisters.
"They're all family."
A part of Jessica felt jealous for the Larkinsons. The close and implicit trust they held towards each other was priceless to many other people. Did the clansn not know how fortunate they were for being able to put near-unreserved trust in each other?
Even though it seed that the main reason why the Larkinsons behaved like this was because they all joined a cat cult or sothing, it was still impressive that they managed to keep it up for so long.
Personally, Jessica wished the Larkinsons well, but if they continued to blunder into one dangerous region after another, she did not think they would remain lucky forever.
"Their chs are constantly getting stronger, though. Maybe they'll be able to improve fast enough that they won't get overrun."
This was quite a realistic possibility given how much each new ch was stronger and more useful than the ones before.
The Enlightened Warrior might be an exception, though.
So far, Jessica hardly beca more enlightened. Though the new ch was a lot more comfortable for her to pilot than the Bright Warrior, she still preferred to stick with the Ferocious Piranha.
"This dium ch is almost just as slow as the original Bright Warrior."
Once her Enlightened Warrior reached the prepared testing ground, the patriarch instructed her to go through the usual tests for new chs like these. From swinging limbs to maneuvering around in zig-zags, the ch showed it was truly sound.
"Is it special, though?"
The ch still did not show why it was worthy to be called that way. While the glow put her in a different mood, that was not enough for her to prefer this new machine over the Ferocious Piranha.
Ves gave her a different instruction.
"Alright, Jessica. Now that we got the basics out of the way, we'll proceed with a modified testing scenario. While it is not usual for a new ch to be put into realistic combat trails during its first testing session, your ch is a variant, so there are much less surprises than normal."
The MTA ch pilot narrowed her eyes. Testing chs was serious business. Back in the Association, the people who conducted them rigidly adhered to protocol and never deviated from the plan unless there was danger.
"May I ask what this 'special testing scenario' entails?"
"Heh, what you've showed off before is just the basic combat capabilities of your ch. What I want to try out are the training and improvent aspects of your ch. You might feel a bit unusual in the following monts. Stay calm and describe everything that is out of place."
"What are you talking about, sir?"
Then, she experienced sothing different.
A small echo brushed past her mind.
"Hm?"
She looked around as if there was soone standing behind her piloting chair.
A whisper brushed past her ears.
This ti, Jessica confird that it ca from her ch!
"Patriarch, I am feeling or hearing whispers that don't exist. I think the ch may be responsible."
"That's not a malfunction, Miss Quentin. That's the ch trying to guide you. How clearly can you hear these so-called whispers?"
"They're too faint and soft for to understand. I think I can brush their overall aning, but I cannot understand them in my current state."
"I… think you need to deepen your connection with your ch. The Enlightened Warrior exists to serve you in more ways than one. It's not just a combat tool, but also a training guide. Think about the latter and think about your own desire to improve and achieve a breakthrough. This will bring you into alignnt with your living ch and make it easier for you to converse with it and vice versa. Communication is crucial to making the most out of the Enlightened Warrior!"
Though Jessica thought that this approach sounded a bit dubious, she had spent enough ti around living chs to know that there was truth in their description.
The other Larkinson ch pilots also discovered that getting closer to their living chs was the best way to get more out of the machines.
Jessica had also adopted this approach and tried her best to develop a deeper bond with her Ferocious Piranha.
It was too bad that this was difficult to accomplish with a ch with two contradicting glows. It required an extrely special approach to develop an actual friendship with a Ferocious Piranha!
The Enlightened Warrior wasn't that complicated in comparison. Its glow was based around the Quint as far as she knew, and that made everything simpler.
It took a few minutes for her to find the right approach. The Enlightened Warrior was a new and unfamiliar ch.
She found success when she evoked her own desire to improve.
As a mber of the MTA, she possessed access to so of the best conditions for ch pilots to develop themselves.
As far as standard ch pilots went, she and her fellow chers ranked above everyone else in human space!
Yet… for all of the rits and credits poured into her developnt, she was ultimately inferior to all of the expert pilots who erged under far more inferior circumstances.
How could she possibly be happy about this? Whenever she witnessed the more gifted individuals in the clan, she felt indignant how these supposed 'space peasants' lucked out and made their first step to godhood while she remained stuck as a mortal despite all of her efforts.
She was not resigned to her fate!
"I… want to advance. I want to be special. I want to be more than a forgettable soldier!"
GOOD. YOU HAVE STILL HAVE A FIGHTING SPIRIT. YOU WILL NEED THAT IF YOU WISH TO BECO WORTHY OF MY INSTRUCTION.
"What the!? Who's there!? Who's talking?!"
YOU KNOW WHO I AM.
"You're… that living ch? The Quint?"
How… how could the Quint possibly communicate with her when she wasn't even piloting that masterwork ch? Had living chs beco this powerful already?!
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