When Aurelia returned to her parents, she looked slightly eager to participate in more grown-up matters such as diplomacy and statecraft.
With the Radiant dallion hanging prominently on her neck and Marigold standing to the side and a half-step behind, she already exuded the presence of a young power broker in the making.
Both Ves and Gloriana felt incredibly proud when they saw her. Aurelia had all of the makings to beco a successful woman no matter what career she pursued.
Of course, that did not guarantee that she would be able to realize her potential. There were still plenty of chances for her to suffer an accident or make the wrong choices in life. This was why her parents did not let their guard down no matter how much they believed in their daughter.
"Now that we have determined your genetic aptitude, we should finally discuss your education going forward." Gloriana began. "Reaching the age of 10 is a watershed mont for any child. Upon his own 10th birthday, your father learned that he had no future as a ch pilot in the Larkinson Family, so he chose to dedicate his life to designing chs. In my case, my mother predisposed into becoming a ch designer. The designer genes you were born with grants you a notable advantage in social and leadership aspects. That does not an your only choice is to study managent or governnt affairs. I only want to remind you that you will have a greater chance of success if you take potential synergies into account."
It was pretty clear that Gloriana still wanted their firstborn daughter to prepare herself for major leadership responsibilities in the future, but she did not insist on it as much as before.
"Since your genetic aptitude is scored at E , you will have a slight to moderate advantage if you choose to beco a Carmine ch pilot." Ves explained to his daughter. "If you want to pursue this career on a part-ti or full-ti basis, we will do everything in our power to support you. We will design a custom Carmine ch just for you and continue to update it over ti as needed. However, you must take into account that this is a serious life-long commitnt. Your living ch is not a powerful tool, but also an intelligent companion, just like Marigold over here. If you do not think you can allocate enough ti to keep your piloting skills sharp, then it is best to leave this alone until you are ready."
Aurelia looked surprised when she heard that. "Is it not best to bond with a Carmine ch as soon as possible in order to start its growth process sooner rather than later?"
"I do not necessarily agree with that. It is true that a living ch grows stronger at a modest but steady rate over ti, but if the machine is sitting around in a ch hangar 95 percent of the ti, much of that growth potential will be wasted. I do not want to see that happen, my dear. It is not fair to both you and the living ch in question. This is why I want you to think carefully on whether you are ready to partner up with a Carmine ch of your own. There is no need to feel bad about postponing it for a couple of years or decades. The later you start, the better the ch that your mother and I can design for you. At that point, we have definitely gained a greater mastery in superdinsional technology."
Ves wanted Aurelia to make a well-inford choice about her career choices. Whether she wanted to pilot a Carmine ch or not had such a massive influence in her developnt as a teenager and young adult that she needed to know exactly what she was getting into. He did not want her to make a hasty choice and regret it later.
"What about... piloting a ch without relying on a Carmine System, at least at first?" She tentatively asked.
"If we pretend the Carmine System does not exist, then your prospects as a potentate are much worse." Gloriana explained. "It is technically possible for you to pilot a simple frontline ch and learn how to make use of it. You can even beco sowhat effective with it. However, the likelihood of that happening is just as much as the probability of a peak ace pilot ascending to godhood. Just because there is a chance does not an it is realistic to expect this outco. So long as you remain a standard ch pilot, you will face endless difficulties and setbacks every step of the way."
"Your only hope of overcoming the limitations of your poor genetic aptitude is to advance to the rank of expert pilot. Becoming an expert candidate slightly helps, but it is not enough." Ves added. "When you trigger your first true apotheosis, you have surpassed the physical limitations of your biology. You have taken the first step to transitioning into an energy-based life form. Piloting chs has beco a significantly more ntal and spiritual activity as opposed to a physical one. Your genetic aptitude can no longer restrict your capacity to withstand the pressure of receiving, processing and transmitting a lot of data through the neural interface."
In short, so long as Aurelia was able to tough it out, she could potentially overco her genetic aptitude handicap.
Potentially.
"This did not happen very often, correct?"
Ves grimly nodded. "I only know of a handful of cases myself. You have to understand that over the course of the entire Age of chs, there had to be trillions of potentates whose genetic aptitude fell into the E- to D range. Only a fraction of them learned how to pilot combat chs, and out of all of them, only the most exceptional and hardworking of them have managed to break through, often while piloting the best and most expensive chs that their families have arranged for them. I am not saying that this route is impossible for you, but you should understand that retaining your ability to pilot multiple different chs cos with a huge personal sacrifice."
In response to this, Aurelia proceeded to shake her head.
"I will not choose this route. I should respect the results of the genetic aptitude test. As for choosing whether to beco a ch pilot or not, I am torn between two different choices."
Both Ves and Gloriana looked at their daughter with expectation.
"Please explain."
"After thinking about it, I agree with the opinion that becoming a civilian leader is not that helpful in this place and ti." Aurelia explained her views. "It is foreseeable that war will beco the dominant preoccupation of red humanity for the next century or more. The Red Ocean is small, but every alien race harbors hostile intentions towards us. Society values military leaders much more than civilian ones. The latter are not useless by any ans, but... if I want to make a greater contribution to red humanity, I can do so much better from a military track so long as I beco good enough in my chosen track."
Ves nodded in agreent. He agreed with her sentints. That did not an he would be disappointed with her if she chose to attend a normal school. Not everyone was cut out to beco a soldier.
"I was born for leadership." Aurelia said. "It calls to . This is what I was raised to do. I eagerly want to earn my qualifications to command other people. I look up to the Saint Commander and I look up to you as well for being able to do a lot of good while being in charge. After I received my presents, my determination to enter the military has increased. Marigold and this dallion are too precious to be used to protect the life of a civilian. They will not see enough use to justify my possession of them. One is a protective artifact that can turn into a human. The other contains the willpower of a god pilot. Both... need to be used on the battlefield to make the best possible use of their powers."
"That is not true." Gloriana objected to her daughter’s sentint. "Both of us made these artifacts because we wanted to keep you alive and safe, nothing more. Your father has made very powerful enemies, and we are afraid that once you set off on your own, they will track you down and target you in order to spite him. The artifacts that we have bestowed you will give both of us peace of mind."
Her daughter understood this, but she did not change her stance on this issue.
"I am split between two different choices." She said. "I am thinking of becoming a Carmine ch commander... or a naval commander."
Ves blinked. He hadn’t consciously thought about it, but now that his girl ntioned it, these sounded like apt choices for her. She had everything she needed to beco a ch commander with the help of a Carmine command ch.
Even if one did not exist yet, it was not that difficult for Ves and Gloriana to team up and design one, especially if they borrowed a number of design elents from the Minerva Mark II.
As far as Carmine chs was concerned, choosing a ch archetype that typically remained in the rear and avoided direct combat whenever possible vastly increased their survival rate.
So long as the enemy did not manage to pull off a decapitation strike, Aurelia’s Carmine command ch should last a long ti.
That massively reduced the risk that she would suffer a premature end to her career if her Carmine ch as well as its hyper keystone which could potentially save her battle partner from a complete death!
Gloriana frowned at first, but soon eased up as she made this realization as well. While there was no way to guarantee complete safety to a ch that fought as cautiously as possible, she could tolerate the idea of her oldest girl piloting a command ch.
"If you choose this track, then I will make sure to design a command ch for you that has a luxurious superdinsional cockpit and the best defenses and mobility that we can obtain." The concerned mother said with determination. "I will push our clan to sign additional trade agreents with the Red Association and the Cybernetic Empire in order to obtain the latest cutting-edge technologies related to energy shields, armor systems and flight systems."
That sounded a bit overkill to Ves. The Larkinsons would have to pay a heavy price to get the truly good stuff from those superorganizations.
What was worse was that they would definitely charge extra premiums if they knew they were negotiating with a desperate mother!
"What is your second choice?" Ves asked his daughter even though he already guessed her answer.
"I am thinking about taking up the fleeters on their offer to attend their naval academy." Aurelia calmly stated. "Our clan does not have a naval tradition, but that makes this opportunity all the more precious. The fleeters will welco with open arms. Many of the courses that a naval officer needs to master are related to managent, leadership and administration. I will also have to master the operation of one or more high-tech warship systems, but I am not afraid of additional study."
Ves acknowledged the value of a Larkinson who possessed the ability to run a warship and lead an entire squadron or fleet.
The Red Fleet was by far the best at raising qualified and highly competent naval officers.
So long as the fleeters gave her an opportunity to serve as a line officer on a warship for a number of years, she could potentially resign her commission and return to the Larkinsons in order to take charge of its own growing fleet of ard and unard warships!
She could earn lots of rits as a naval commander and earn enough rit and prestige to beco the next matriarch of the Larkinson Clan!
Of course, she could also choose to stay at the Red Fleet and work her way up the hierarchy of this declining but not fallen institution.
Who knew whether the Red Fleet might experience a resurgence in the coming years. It would be highly advantageous for Aurelia to beco part of this revival process, but only if the fleeters treated her sincerely.
Both Ves and Gloriana had mixed feelings about their daughter’s future. A part of them felt regretful that she ruled out a safe and peaceful civilian career, but another part of them felt proud that she was willing to step up and inherit red humanity’s proud martial tradition.
In any case, once Aurelia did her duty and served enough combat tours, there should be no problem for her to retire her commission and transition to civilian leadership.
Her military achievents would give her an undeniable advantage against every civilian rival!
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