Evening had set in the Governnt District. Enough ti had passed for many of the people who previously got caught up in the surprise attack to depart from this damaged and ssy warzone.
The streets had been cordoned off while many more military chs had arrived to defend this crucial location against any further attacks that might ensue.
There was almost no reason for anyone to do so, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
A new developnt occurred. Plenty of people saw that the chs of the Larkinson Clan that previously departed the district ca back.
They also brought a lot of buddies. Hundreds of chs from the Larkinson Army brazenly flew from the underground complex of the Cat Nest and flew straight towards the center of the city district in a high-profile fashion!
With expert chs such as the Everchanger and the Minerva leading the procession, it beca clear that the Larkinson Clan wanted to send a serious ssage!
If that wasn't enough, nurous shuttles emblazoned with the logos of several prominent Davutan news networks started to head towards the Governnt District as well!
The Larkinsons had invited journalists from each of these news portals to witness a great occasion.
What stood out was that the clan did so without consulting the governnt!
This caused a lot of alarm among the various leaders of the newly founded colonial federation!
Although the governnt declined to declare a state of martial law due to a desire to keep this situation from blowing up any further than it already had, a curfew still went into effect.
In such a sensitive ti as this, any major disturbances or concentration of troops would prompt the military forces to take action.
It wouldn't be unjustified for the military to start shooting first and ask questions later!
The military chs patrolling the city did not take action, though. They did not even dare to stand in the way of the Larkinson chs and ask for an explanation.
The Larkinsons seed to have expected this response and fearlessly flew forward. They crossed the various districts in the way and barged straight into the Governnt District that still had the scars of the previous battle!
A lot of bots and work teams worked to register the battle damage, collect any important evidence, rescue any trapped survivors and respectfully remove the bodies of the deceased.
None of the streets looked ready to greet the public again. A lot of bodies still hadn't been cleaned up. The large quantity of beast carcasses were especially troubleso to deal with. Biotech scientists had arrived to examine their organic properties and harvest valuable tissue samples in order to figure out how they beca so deadly and hostile towards humans.
A repeat of this tragedy had to be avoided at all cost!
In any case, the governnt truly did not want to accept visitors to this district while it remained by blood, but the Larkinsons did not care about this priority.
The clan had its own goals.
Although the military did not choose to stop the Larkinson units from moving to the center of the Governnt District, additional military chs arrived and flanked the unannounced visitors, but otherwise did nothing else.
The distance to the central plaza was not too great. The chs in flight easily reached this crucial position.
By now, more powerful chs had showed up. The Travon Exine piloted by General Ark Larkinson and the Mars piloted by Patriarch Reginald Cross clearly stood out as both of them flew closer to the head of the procession of Larkinson chs.
The Koi Riser piloted by Saint gan Roonzin hovered a bit further back. It did not hide its presence, but did not show any intention of moving forward either.
It was General Ark that ultimately spoke for the young colonial federation.
"What are you doing, Commander Ingvar?!" The high-tier expert pilot hissed over a private and encrypted communication channel. "Many different Davutans have attempted to make contact with you and your units, but you ignored all of their calls. Everyone has beco a lot more suspicious and alert than usual. You could have brought great danger to every Larkinson with your stunt! What if anyone decided to pull the trigger and shoot?"
It was at this ti that Commander Casella Ingvar finally deigned to respond.
"No one would have shot us. They wouldn't dare. We are the heroes today. Denying us entry will damage the governnt's relationship with all of the third parties it is trying to befriend. Davute cannot afford to alienate the trading partners it is dependent upon to grow its economy and expand its ch armies."
General Ark Larkinson suffered a headache at the mont.
Though he was a mber of the Larkinson Clan, he also wore the hat of a senior military officer of the Colonial Federation of Davute.
Now that both of his affiliations ca into conflict with each other, Ark beca torn between two loyalties.
His current responsibilities forced him to speak on behalf of the colonial state. He did not want this to happen but felt it was better if he did the talking instead of another representative of the governnt. Ark could at least make sure that Davute did not treat the Larkinson Clan too unfairly.
"You are making it very difficult for my superiors, commander." Ark responded with a grimace. "President Yenas Clive is personally urging you and your chs to return and wait for a missive."
Commander Casella maintained an uncompromising deanor to reflect the Larkinson Clan's current stance.
"There is no reason for us to talk. Our trapped clansn are about to co out. We want everyone to know that they did not wait for rescue from your governnt or from the MTA. They fought their way out and they want everyone to know it. We have won another great victory, General Ark. This is an outco that should be celebrated rather than obscured."
As a general of the colonial military, Ark Larkinson was not a simple grunt or battlefield commander. He already possessed a good understanding of the goals and the priorities of the state he beca obliged to protect.
Holding a public parade was not in the governnt's best interest, that was for sure. Davute already had a lot of egg on its face. Compounding the humiliation by letting the Larkinsons steal the show would once again diminish the standing of Davute.
Casella and Ark continued to argue against each other. The two remained professional for the most part as they both did their duty to their current masters.
They eventually failed to find a middle ground. The Larkinsons did not budge in their demands and willfully ignored the authority of the state.
The only way that the Davutan military could drive the Larkinson chs out of the Governnt District was by taking tangible action, but both sides knew that this would never happen.
This produced an extrely awkward circumstance where the Larkinson Clan openly defied Davute and got away with it! This was a brilliant show of force and demonstrated once again that this eccentric clan punched way above its weight.
General Ark beca extrely concerned by these developnts.
"What you are doing will have consequences, Casella." He warned. "You are not going to make a lot of friends in Davute with these antics. It is the opposite. We have made many new enemies today. Our Davute Branch will not be able to gain as much assistance from the institutions of the state and my ch division will also encounter a lot more hurdles in the future."
"You are wrong, Ark. What you fear may happen to a varying degree, but it will never be able to exceed all of the fa and goodwill that we have harvested today. Our clan knows what it is doing, and you would know as well if you were not in a hurry to work for the local state."
The Davute Branch may adore General Ark, but the main branch was not as positive.
While there was no doubt that Ark was a Larkinson in his heart and mind, the clan would never divulge too much information to him at his current state!
Ark fully understood that it was his decision that led to this undesirable situation, but he believed it was for the best in the end. He just had to tough it out and hope that the contradictions between the clan as a whole and the colonial state grew more harmonious in the future.
A change suddenly occurred.
Though a visible portal had not ford, the two expert pilots were close enough to sense a disturbance down below.
A bot appeared into view.
It was not unusual for a simple bot to show up in the Governnt District, but everyone nearby knew that the plaza had been completely empty and deserted at this ti!
The investigators and the cleanup crews had focused on processing all of the debris and marks of damage in the central plaza first. Any bots should have long been transferred elsewhere!
The Larkinson ch pilots all knew what this ant.
"The portal is working! Get ready to receive our people!"
The Larkinsons helpfully gave the accompanying journalists a reminder to record what happened next.
A column of Larkinsons spontaneously appeared into view!
It was as if an invisible portal had ford where all of the clansn could march through and show up in the middle of the Governnt District.
"That's the patriarch!"
"Ves has returned!"
"He looks much more impressive than before!"
"The rest of our clan has returned as well!"
The people at the front of this column solely consisted of Larkinsons, though the people that followed after that predominantly consisted of the battle-scarred guard troopers of Davute.
The order of the march sent a clear ssage that it was the Larkinsons that led this parade!
For the clan to be able to convince the Davutan soldiers to play along with this arrangent was already remarkable in itself. Even the civilians of the Larkinson Clan got to walk in front of the Davutan soldiers!
Two prominent individuals led the parade column. Both Ves and Ketis set an easy pace to ensure that the weaker and injured folks could match their pace. It wasn't necessary for the parade to be too neat.
[The hostages have been freed!] A journalist eagerly spoke as more and more people tuned in to the news broadcast. [After a harrowing day of ambushes, tragedies and instances of heroism, we can finally confirm that we are able to announce that the missing VIPs have returned with their lives intact. We cannot independently confirm this news, but the hostages have managed to free themselves rather than getting ransod.]
Other journalists parroted the information they received from the Larkinson Clan, though they couldn't help but add their own embellishnts.
Their words beca a lot more enthusiastic once alien captives started to pass through the invisible portal!
Each of them still wore their battle suits because they did not breathe the sa air as humans, but it was obvious to everyone that they were not humans!
[Look! The truth has co out! It turned out that Karlach did not plot to attack the citizens of Davute alone, but also colluded with a dastardly group of aliens!]
[Take note of the markings stamped on the armor of the restrained alien captives. Is that… a gold cat head?]
[These alien captives have beco the Larkinson Clan's spoils of war! Each and every one of them bears the sa symbol. There is nothing that suggests that any of the prisoners have been allocated to the state or other groups. What happened inside this mysterious space where the Larkinsons had to fight and defeat so many aliens?]
Even though a lot of other human survivors exited the portal as well, few people paid any attention to them. They had all turned into background characters today as the Larkinsons had clearly taken the lead this ti!
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