The Mech Touch

The semifinals produced such an explosive outcome that the Larkinsons almost forgot about the remainder of the G-Aena League.

When both the Larkinson Battalion and the mysterious Zpoeze Battalion advanced to the finals, everyone expected to witness a thrilling final match.

A fleet carrier was at stake for the climax of the 2-week tournament! Whoever managed to beat their opponent one more time would be able to gain a powerful new carrier that not only possessed an abundant amount of mech capacity, but was also filled with modern systems and components!

Yet when the Larkinson Battalion finally entered the field, the Zpoeze Battalion steadily gained superiority without any unexpected incidents.

Imon Ingvar entered the field with a modified Bright Warrior. Though he was deeply familiar with his current mech, it was no Quint!

The duel against the Zpoezer expert candidate ended like all of the other duels he fought in Chance Bay. His superior opponent straightforwardly outfought him and eliminated him from the battle.

Once that happened, the enemy expert candidate became fully unleashed and rampaged through the Larkinson ranks.

[The Zpoeze Battalion has won the finals and have become the champions of the G-Aena League!]

What happened in the end was bittersweet for the Larkinsons. They were happy with reaching second-place and securing a sumptuous prize of 20 whole combat carriers, but the ease in which the Zpoezers thrashed them exposed even further shortcomings in the combat readiness of the Larkinson Clan.

Once the Larkinsons left the arena with a trophy and a bunch of other prizes, certain leaders entered into a discussion on what they should do from this point onwards.

General Verle began with a bombshell.

"Every expert pilot that has joined or emerged from our ranks will ordinarily be transferred to the Hall of Heroes. We still intend to do so for Commander Casella Ingvar, but at the same time we shall allow her to keep her current command."

"What?!"

The other mech commanders looked surprised!

"Aren't expert pilots supposed to detach themselves from their units in order to prevent them from becoming too powerful or influential?" Commander Melkor asked.

"That's correct, but Commander Casella's case is special. Though we still need to confirm whether our ideas about her strengths are accurate, she is probably a lot more useful to us when she is working closely with other Larkinsons. We cannot make the best use of her capabilities if she is alienated from her fellow soldiers."

The case was relatively clear. From what they had seen and from what they had heard from the Larkinson mech pilots that had fought alongside her, Commander Casella thrived when she was able to reach out to others.

In this kind of situation, it made sense to further cultivate her bonds with the rest of the Larkinson Army. Not only would many other mech pilots benefit further from what Casella had to offer, but commanding troops in battle might also be pivotal to her own advancement.

It was common sense in the piloting community that expert pilots had to continue doing what they did best in order to advance. Those that went against their own nature usually didn't do that well in the long run.

Just this single argument was enough for the Larkinson Army to carve out an exception for Commander Casella!

"Will it look bad for us that we're giving Casella more favors than the other expert pilots?" Melkor continued to ask. "I mean, Venerable Orfan and Venerable Dise had to give up leading the Vandals and Swordmaidens respectively. Won't they feel upset if their latest peer didn't have to follow suit?"

"It's okay. I can't say for Venerable Dise, but Venerable Orfan has long gotten over it." Commander Abis Firelight of the Flagrant Vandals replied. "I'm not afraid to say that Venerable Orfan is not the best mech officer in the clan. She's far behind Commander Casella when it comes to taking charge and making the right decisions, both on and off the battlefield. It was better for every Vandal if she moved on to doing what she did best while we took care of our own affairs."

"Same." Commander Sendra said. "Venerable Dise was an adequate leader and we were proud to serve under her. However, she took over us Swordmaidens after the abrupt death of Commander Lydia a long time ago. She was able to take charge because she was the strongest and could beat us all in a fight. While we still value martial prowess, as our Swordmaidens got bigger and bigger, we've learned that leadership isn't as simple as wielding the biggest fist."

The Swordmaidens started off as a pirate gang, but that was hard to believe nowadays. The character of the elite female swordsman mech pilots did not change as much, but the mech legion had become a lot more professional over the years.

The scale, scope and responsibilities of the Swordmaidens had risen explosively. It was no longer possible for individual Swordmaidens to screw around or rely solely on personal prestige to get things done. They instead established a proper chain of command as well as a more professional support staff so that they remained effective even if they grew a hundred times larger.

Though Commander Sendra quietly admitted that she wasn't comparable to Commander Casella in either leadership ability or piloting ability, she was at least able to keep up with the growing demands of the job.

That was important because the Swordmaidens must continue to be led by their own ranks. None of them would accept an outsider taking over command of their mech legion!

The discussion about Casella Ingvar's new status continued to rage, but there was only ever one viable solution.

"If it makes you feel better, I mostly intend for Commander Casella to remain in charge of the Living Sentinels and no one else." General Verle stated. "The other mech legions each have their strong points and their sources of pride, but the Living Sentinels don't have anything else aside from their leader. Letting Commander Casella continue to lead them in this new age will definitely keep their morale high while giving them additional reasons to fight at their best."

"Are you sure about that, sir?" Melkor asked. "What if the Sentinels become so dependent on Commander Casella that they can't properly function without her leadership?"

Though he hated to be the contrarian here, the question needed to be asked. Concentrating too much power on any person was dangerous. If Casella went bonkers one day and made a lot of crazy decisions, no one would have the guts to stop her from ruining the clan!

Of course, Ves arguably held too much power already. The same fears surrounding Casella also applied to him as well, but his identity was a little more special.

Ves was the founder of the clan. Many Larkinsons held great trust in him as he had been the main driver of its stupendous rise.

General Verle offered a blunt reply to Melkor. "I'm aware of the dangers of building another cult of personality in the clan, but this is a risk we have to take. At the very least, the 'damage' will be limited to the Living Sentinels. If it comes down to it, we can always phase this mech legion out and put another one in its place. That is one of the advantages of our diversity."

The Larkinson Army followed a model that was used by many different military organizations, most notably the Bright Republic's Mech Corps.

The Avatars, Sentinels, Vandals and so on were given a wide latitude to make their own choices.

If they did something right, they could share some of their best practices to the other mech legions.

If they did something wrong, then their failures would serve as cautionary lessons to the rest.

Right now, General Verle seemed content with sticking to this modus operandi. He even looked forward to how much stronger the Living Sentinels might become when Commander Casella continued to take charge over them for many years to come.

Perhaps the Sentinels would even be able to give all of the Larkinsons a pleasant surprise when they showed what they were capable of in the next big battle!

"I think this is probably the right choice to make." Commander Sendra said. "We all know that the Living Sentinels are the sick men of the Larkinson Army. Aside from Commander Casella, the rest of the Sentinels are too average. The fact that almost none of them have been allowed to retain their mechs after we downsized our mech roster says it all. They're simply not as good and that will never change."

"Hey, don't talk down on them so much! The Sentinels have bled and died for the clan! They're our militia when it comes down to it. It's unfair to expect anything more out of them given their recruitment standards."

"I'm sure our enemy will be happy that a part of our mechs are piloted by nine-to-fivers who are more suited to work as security guards than soldiers!"

"Enough!" General Verle interrupted the legion commanders. "Your arguments illustrate why Commander Casella is so important for the Living Sentinels. Their current ability to contribute to a battle is limited, and that cannot easily be changed. This is bad because we are subject to the greatest peril in the early years of our stay in the Red Ocean. What we need is to grasp any possible opportunity to strengthen our forces in the short-term, and this is one of them. Perhaps later on we might make a different arrangement, but for now the Sentinels will become Casella's closest comrades in battle."

Commander Firelight expressed a doubt. "We've got tens of thousands of mech pilots but not enough room to give them all mechs. We're already about to receive a lot of combat carriers from winning different tournaments, but we need way more to field 20,000 mech pilots in total."

"What is your point, commander?"

"Shouldn't we prioritize the allocation of those combat carriers to our strongest forces first? No offense to the Living Sentinels, but they ought to be waiting in the back of the line."

It was good that Commander Casella wasn't present in this meeting, because she would surely explode if she heard this argument!

General Verle had to speak up in her stead.

"I understand this dynamic, but no mech legion should remain idle for too long. The Living Sentinels will rapidly deteriorate if they continue to remain a paper force. According to my current plan, I intend to divide the combat carriers evenly to each mech legion. None of you are getting more carrier vessels than the rest."

That was an absolutely fair decision, but not necessarily the most optimal one. The Swordmaidens and the Penitent Sisters were definitely stronger than the other mech legions, so the clan would arguably be safer if they received additional carriers.

However, that didn't mean the other mech legions were useless. The Avatars were already bounding back while the Flagrant Vandals and the Battle Criers were each developing their respective specialties.

Only the Eye of Ylvaine remained relatively unconcerned. So far, they only fielded Transcendent Punishers, and every starship had a couple of bunkers that offered room for the Ylvainan artillery mechs.

Although not everyone was happy with the decision to split the combat carriers fairly, the commanders didn't object too strongly. No one felt especially slighted by this decision. This was the effect of an unlikable but adequate compromise.

Seeing that no one raised any issues anymore, General Verle ended the meeting.

"Everything is set, then. Commander Casella shall keep her command and the Living Sentinels shall soon be able field mechs once we provide them with a handful of combat carriers. We'll consider this as an experiment for now. We'll continue to monitor the situation and will make additional adjustments if needed. I am confident that she will do right by our clan."

A new age had dawned in the Larkinson Clan. This was the first time one of its expert pilots received special treatment. Perhaps it might not be the last.

Commander Melkor quietly sighed as he left the meeting room. The more he thought about his colleague's explosive rise, the more he envied her accomplishments.

While Commander Casella was on her way to become a powerful expert pilot as well as one of the most respected legion commanders in the clan, Melkor was still stuck in his current position.

The differences between him and Casella grew wider every day.

"Will I ever be able to reach her level?" He wondered.

In his heart, he already knew the answer.

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