6879 Sticking to Principles
Oddly enough, Ves appreciated his old friend sticking up to his principles.
Tristan Wesseling's decision to remain loyal to the Colonial Federation of Davute earned his begrudging respect, if not approval.
Many people in Tristan's position would literally kill an entire city or planet in order to join the Larkinson Clan.
Even if it was not able to match up to the prestige of the Red Three or the first-rate colonial superstates, the Larkinson Clan was clearly one of the few organisations in human-occupied space that was still in ascendancy.
The combination of strong young talents and a growing military arm convinced people that the Larkinsons had a greater chance of adapting to the rapid changes changing place across the new frontier.
Both the ch designers and the ch pilots of the Larkinson Clan had already shown excellence in many occasions. That may not be special in itself, but what was important to note was that each of them were well below a century years old!
In fact, most of the Senior ch Designers and ace pilots were less than 50 years old, which clearly indicated that each of them had bright futures ahead of them if they managed to survive!
To a number of people, that provided more reassurance than any established state or superorganization.
The leaders of the previous age may not necessarily remain dominant in the latest age. The cracks had already been showing, and the native aliens clearly reserved most of their firepower towards the biggest players, not a smaller group like the Larkinson Clan.
As such, if the Larkinsons extended an invitation, few people would be able to reject the call unless they were already locked in an existing employnt contract.
Ves believed that while Tristan and his ch company had already signed a number of agreents with Davute, it should to be a big deal to unilaterally end them given the dire state of the colonial state.
It took considerable courage, a misplaced sense of duty and a firm commitnt to one's own principles for Tristan to say no to all of the temptations offered by his old friend.
Although Tristan's stubborn stance served as an unwelco obstacle to expanding the capabilities of the Larkinson Clan, Ves did not entirely disapprove.
Tristan earned his respect for being a man who valued his duty, pride and his own personal beliefs above naked self-interest.
His conditional rejection of the Larkinson Clan only made him more desirable. He had already demonstrated 10 tis the guts of typical ch designers. He had truly demonstrated the unique and quirky attitude of ch designers who originated from the wartorn period of the Komodo Star Sector.
How should Ves respond to Tristan's stance?
He had no choice but to bow down and respect his friend's earnest wishes.
"Fine." He told the physical projection of the forr Fridayman. "My invitation shall remain open to you. If you ever change your mind, you can contact my personal assistant directly, and he shall make the necessary arrangents. Are you safe, and do you require off-world transport?"
Tristan hesitated for a mont. "I have no trouble securing an evacuation route for myself, but my employees are not as fortunate. You would do a great favour if you permit them to ride aboard your own ships as they are in the process of evacuating n and movable assets from your planetary branch. You do not need to give them first-class cabins or anything. Comfort takes a backseat, so you can dump them in the cargo holds. They can bring their own tents and provisions."
Ves chuckled. "That won't be necessary. Our own transport fleet is small and rather limited, but we can easily accommodate a few hundred stragglers. I wouldn't be surprised if the departnt responsible for managing our rchant marine has already taken to transporting people from planets under threat."
"Thank you for accepting this favour, Ves. I owe you one. I truly should have done more to secure a starship for myself. I beca deterred by the exorbitant prices and restricted availability of even the smallest courier vessel. At the ti, I truly did not think it was necessary for to squander so much money for an overpriced hull. It is only now that I realise that it would have been worth it even if I paid triple the asking price."
That was a mistake that many people made, not just Tristan. For whatever reason, these pioneers and colonists readily traded away life and service on safe and serviceable starships just to be able to plant their feet on solid ground.
Long ago, a much more naive version of Ves might have joined their crowd without thinking, but the current version of Ves only saw foolishness.
How could these dummies possibly hold any confidence in the safety of a planet located in a dwarf galaxy where all of the native alien races sought to kill all humans?
The fools!
"I think it shouldn't take too long for all of us to know whether Davute shall survive." Ves comnted. "It will depend on whether the native aliens can sustain the Red Tide Offensive and continue to throw more cannon fodder at our defenders. It will also depend on whether our peak ace pilots are able to step on the road to no return and successfully make it to the other side."
Nobody could truly say for certain whether red humanity had what it took to stop the alien advance at this stage. Humanity's frontlines were still too wide for the god pilots to form an absolute wall that could break every alien incursion attempt.
This was why Davute's position had remained so precarious. It was located in the Krakatoa Middle Zone which remained incredibly vulnerable due to its fairly forward positioning.
The Magair Middle Zone which was located behind was in a considerably more favourable positioning in comparison.
"You really care a lot about Davute." Ves comnted. "You claim that it is worth sticking up for the colonial state because it is one of the few places that still cling to our humanity, is that correct?"
"There are many states that hold similar stances to Davute. It is not an exception in this regard. What I find lantable is that the states that still do more than pay lip service to this ideal are part of a dwindling group. States that have begun to violate human rights and push its population to new extres are the ones that are doing a little better. I just cannot accept this kind of travesty. I want states such as Davute to survive and prove to our entire race that we can be strong while still clinging to our original notions of civilisation. From the mont we surrender to barbarity, we beco sapients that are less than human."
Interesting position.
Ves narrowed his eyes in thought.
"I cannot find it in myself to agree with your stance." He calmly replied. "I admire your sentints, but I think you are holding our race to a standard that we have never t throughout our entire history. We are but one of many civilisations competing for supremacy in galaxies that are characterised by limited space and limited resources. Survival trumps every goal. To hold back is to court disaster. The Red War has already made it clear that the native aliens don't care about our nobility or our high-minded principles. They only care about spreading death and destruction to humans that have never shied away from raining death and destruction to all races, including themselves!"
In the end, it all ca down to a difference in perspective.
Tristan still believed that the human race was noble, civilised and enlightened.
Ves on the other hand beca convinced that the human race had never risen above its own selfishness, barbarity and short-sightedness.
If Ves had to choose between the two, then he would rather have the human race conform to the latter.
At least in that case humans would be willing to violate every principle for the sake of their own survival!
Alas, it did not appear that Ves and Tristan could ever find agreent on this matter. Their stances were too far apart, and they were not the sort of people who easily allowed themselves to get swayed by opposing opinions.
Both of them recognised this fact and made peace with it. Neither of them were crusaders, and they had no problem with working alongside individuals who held different opinions.
"I haven't been paying too much attention to the defence of Davute, but I hear that the 77th Warborn ch Division is going above and beyond to safeguard the most important planet of your colonial state."
Tristan nodded. "The local news portals are praising your uncle to high heavens, and that is when he has clearly outgrown his Lionheart. He is admittedly impressive in combat. There are tis where he has successfully upstaged other ace pilots despite the fact that he is still piloting a high-tier expert ch. Are you planning to redy this misalignnt, Ves?"
"Not in the short term. Even if our Design Departnt works on the upgrade project right away, it will still take 4 to 6 months to complete a proper upgrade. I suppose we can rush this job and settle for presenting a barebones upgrade in a matter of a few weeks, but I do not think that Davute can last much longer. We also cannot stomach the idea of rushing the upgrade o the Lionheart. I am sorry, Tristan, but as ch designers, my wife and I have our own principles. We will not desecrate one of our proud masterwork chs for expedience's sake."
Tristan's expression grew complex. This was clearly detrintal to his own position, but he could not complain because he used the exact sa justification to reject the recruitnt offer.
19:19
Sticking to principles no longer sounded as good anymore now that others used the sa argunt.
It was absolutely bad for Davute that one of its strongest protectors and symbols was still stuck with piloting a high-tier expert ch.
The Saint General could have piloted a better machine if he agreed to allow other ch designers to upgrade his Lionheart.
The Colonial Federation of Davute had plenty of Master ch Designers on retainer that could complete this job quickly and cheaply.
Even if its own ch designers lacked the expertise to skillfully upgrade the Lionheart, it could always use contact foreign professionals that most definitely possessed the capabilities to convert the post-living ch into a proper ace ch.
Yet the Saint General staunchly rejected all of these offers.
He had never made it a secret that the Lionheart was a Larkinson ch from beginning to end.
No other expert ch had succeeded in facilitating his breakthrough. He lost faith in the works of other ch designers.
Only the Miracle Couple could design the best possible follow-up version of his precious machine. They were family and understood his needs better than third-party ch designers. Ves and Gloriana were also a lot more earnest in doing their utmost to elevate the Lionheart to the next level.
This was what Ves had promised to the Saint General.
He might not like his opportunistic uncle, but he had never compromised his professionalism due to personal feelings.
As a ch designer, Ves had the obligation to et the needs of his clients as earnestly as possible.
Although the waiting list was still considerable, as long as Ark Larkinson remained patient enough, Ves and Gloriana would be able to guarantee that the next iteration of the Lionheart would beco as magnificent as the Amaranto Mark II and the Minerva Mark II!
If there was enough high-grade superdinsional matter to spare, then Ves might even make the decision to convert the Lionheart into full or partial superdinsional ch!
While all of this sounded great for the Saint General's future prospects, the decision was highly detrintal to Davute and its many citizens.
The future of billions of Davutans like Tristan Wesseling may be dood due to Ves' insistence on sticking to his professional principles!
How ironic!
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