Although Ves felt upset each ti he thought about how much the Dominion of Man grew within the sphere of influence of the Polymath, there was nothing he could do about this travesty.
After all, if the Red Fleet did not dare to insist on the return of the Dominion of Man, how could Ves do any better?
The Polymath was not stupid enough to give away such a grand prize!
Ves turned his thoughts away from the Dominion of Man for this reason. Nothing productive could co from continuing to obsess over the state of the living dreadnought.
He instead focused on the affairs that he would definitely be able to affect, such as his ongoing ch design projects or his negotiations with different parties.
Perhaps spurred on by the amazing technology displayed by the Cybernetic Empire, the Red Association acted quite quickly on his attempts to cash his two remaining 'minor' favors.
Jovy transited to the Tortuous Scream so that he could discuss this matter with Ves in person.
"They agreed?"
"They did. Both Star Designers have agreed to et with you and Gloriana separately." Jovy said with a smile. "The Resonance Smith has agreed to look into the problem related to trying to combine superdinsional matter with archetech and provide guidance to your wife. I have the impression that he is not particularly enthused with this request of yours, but that he is willing to free up an hour in his schedule to address this problem."
Ves did not hide his delight. "That is great! An hour should be more than enough ti for a Star Designer to co up with a quick fix and a frawork for a more elaborate solution. I don't dare to ask anything more than that, though extras are always welco. What about my second request?"
"The Web Mistress has responded more eagerly to your request." Jovy revealed. "Her Excellency is willing to clear up 2 whole hours of her schedule, which is a great privilege to an associate and a Senior ch Designer such as yourself. Do not underestimate the value of this favor. Many Seniors who have received this much guidance from a Star Designer have a higher probability to beco highly successful Master ch Designers."
"Good." Ves grinned. "I was afraid that either of the Star Designers would look down on my requests or beco so busy that they couldn't spare any ti to et with us. Do you have the details on when and where we can et?"
"I do. First, the Star Designers prefer to et with the two of you in person. Remote consultations are inappropriate and an insult to their status. You are not immobile or trapped in a single location. Since you can move to them, then you should make the effort to do so. The good news is that both of them happen to be located at the Yernstall Central Star Node for the coming weeks. They are there because they are needed to handle the fallout of all of the recent events."
"How long will they stay in Yernstall?"
"I cannot say, Ves. I advise you and your imdiate family to move to the Bluejay Fleet and set off to Yernstall as soon as possible. If the two Star Designers have completed their obligations, they will not wait for you to arrive. They are needed in many other locations."
That was understandable. Ves knew that he had to stop dragging his feet. He had been wavering in his decision to separate from the Premier Fleet that he had spent a significant amount of ti and effort in raising.
It was nice to have a powerful first-class force at his command. Yet the Premier Fleet ultimately served the Larkinson Clan except for Ves in person.
As Ves continued to climb his way up in society, there were tis when the Larkinson Clan shackled him and prevented him from pursuing promising opportunities.
Now that he had stepped down from his high position, he beca a lot more free than before.
He just needed to take this important step in order to turn this separation into reality.
"I will talk with my wife and the Saint Commander about our departure." Ves affird. "I already thought about traveling to the Rubarthan Pact. It is not a big deal for us to go on a small detour. Yernstall also has a lot of stuff that I need to purchase now that I am separating from the Premier Branch."
"Good. For the best results, I advise you to leave no later than 3 days from now on. Make sure you have said your goodbyes and made the appropriate arrangents on how you can continue to do your work for the Larkinson Clan even as you are far away from the rest of your clansn." Jovy advised.
That was indeed a big issue.
When Ves did what he said and approached this contentious topic with Casella and Gloriana, both of them frowned.
"The Design Departnt is the heart of our clan. I do not agree with your proposal to let you take all of the ch designers away with you." The Saint Commander stated the obvious. "It would be best if we can keep our best ch designers and the people responsible for designing both our mass produced models and our high-ranking chs close at hand. It is also necessary for them to regularly remain in close proximity to the ch pilots they serve. If they start separating from us, they are more likely to grow out of touch."
Gloriana frowned. "I cannot lead the Design Departnt from a distance. I can certainly try, but I do not think the results will be good. I cannot in good conscience insist on maintaining my post as its director when I am physically removed from my subordinates."
"You can opt to stay with us." Casella offered an alternative. "You do not have to accompany your husband as he gallivates around the new frontier with his Bluejay Fleet."
"Unacceptable. I will not let Ves go away without supervision. Besides, he still needs to raise our children with . Our work is important, but our family is important as well."
That left Casella in a difficult position.
The matriarch needed to respect the wishes of the founder of the clan as well as the woman who was chiefly responsible for designing all of the high-ranking chs, which also happened to include her own Minerva Mark II!
Yet she also had to think about the interests of the clan. It truly was a bad idea to let the Design Departnt follow Ves around while he remained separated from the rest of the clan.
As the forr patriarch of the Larkinson Clan, Ves understood that his decision to depart had put his successor in an uncomfortable dilemma.
Seeing that she was genuinely unable to figure out a satisfactory resolution, he decided to give her a bit of assistance.
"We can have the Design Departnt follow my wife and I on a temporary basis." He proposed. "While they settle in the design labs of the Tarrasque, I will spend my MTA rits for the Red Association to open up a portion of its advanced library and to offer tutoring on different high technologies that are normally inaccessible to regular ch designers. That way, they can treat this as a learning excursion and enrich their knowledge. They will return to the Premier Fleet or another branch of our clan with a much better foundation than before."
That sounded a lot more palatable to Casella. She looked thoughtful as she weighed the pros and cons.
"I can agree to this arrangent so long as the Design Departnt does not remain separated from the main branches of our clan for too long." The new matriarch eventually said. "It would be best if you return to us after you are done. Will you return?"
Ves shrugged. "I am not too certain. There is a lot of stuff that I want to do, and the Red Ocean is still a big place. However, I am very interested in participating in a deep strike expedition. Now that the Cybernetic Empire has successfully developed the Translocation Gate and used it to deploy three separate warfleets, I think the Deep Strike Plan can finally comnce despite all of the upheaval."
The Saint Commander nodded. "I have been considering this matter as well. For now, the Cybernetic Empire has not made any announcents in relation to the Deep Strike Plan. It has also avoided any ntion of letting third parties make use of its highly coveted Translocation Gate. We also need to take the ti to prepare for a deep strike into the hinterland of alien space. We need to target the right region that holds great strategic value, but is not well protected to the point our fleet will beco demolished if we dare to venture far away from any form of friendly support."
The amount of concerns related to a possible deep strike expedition was imnse. The Larkinsons could not afford to go through the Translocation Gate and arrive thousands of light-years away without collecting at least basic data on the local territories and their holders.
Going in blind was a good way to bump into the wrong opponents that could make the Larkinsons bleed if ill-prepared!
The only person present who was not that eager to embark on a deep strike expedition was Gloriana, but she knew that it was useless to protest.
Her husband was a junkie for adventure and novelty while the Saint Commander was an ace pilot who needed to challenge herself in order to prove herself worthy to beco a god pilot.
When these two highly influential Larkinsons both set their minds on a course of action, they were virtually unstoppable!
In any case, now that Ves proposed a more palatable solution, the three Larkinsons quickly agreed on how to deal with the temporary separation.
"By the way, the clansn that we sent off to EdNet training are due to return soon." Casella ntioned. "The ch designers such as Juliet Staros and Sara Voiken will likely be sent to you, while the remainder such as Quinlist Verle and Calabast Arnlend should arrive at the Premier Fleet."
Ves smiled. "Those are nas that I haven't heard in a while. Those fellows have practically missed half a lifeti's worth of events while they were peacefully stuffing their heads with knowledge over a span of 20 subjective years."
"That ans that they will co out of their EdNet training as changed individuals." Gloriana warned him in order to temper his expectations. "I have read articles about the profound changes that people go through after undergoing accelerated learning. Just as the Cybers have co out completely differently after spending 53 years in isolation from the rest of the galaxy, you should expect our friends and comrades to undergo major shifts as well. Much of that is for the better as they are undoubtedly much more effective at their vocations than before. However, there will always be a sense of separation. It is almost impossible to heal this divide. This is why Ketis would not dream of going through this herself."
Ves sighed. "I am not ignorant of the negative consequences of this, but it is ultimately worth it for all of those old buddies of ours. The sacrifices they have made has ensured their continued relevance for our clan in the difficult tis to co. I cannot wait for our clan and I to make use of their services."
The return of nurous loyal Larkinsons who all beca qualified first-class ch designers happened at the right ti.
As soon as they ca back and settled in, Ves intended to embark on the design of nurous first-class multipurpose chs for the Larkinson Clan.
It would be much faster and more convenient for him if he was able to work on these projects alongside other Larkinson ch designers who knew what they were doing!
User Comments
0 comments from readers