"Whahaha! Bow before me! I AM INVINCIBLE!"
The Adonis Colossus flew majestically in space as Vincent Ricklin-Larkinson was having the time of his life!
Though he was merely taking his mech out for a spin, he felt as if he had made a small breakthrough in his piloting skills.
How else could he have suddenly increased his performance and won more points in the simulated drills?
His large mech had become a familiar sight in high orbit of Cinach VI. The locals, the traders and the Hexers all ignored the sight of the strange mech with a flowing particle cape trailing behind its back.
The rifle in one of the Adonis Colossus' hands barked out a couple of harmless false shells that precisely hit the target dummy bots that were whizzing back and forth a fair distance away.
At the same time, the mech relied on its heavy armor to deflect the stab of a simulated light skirmisher.
"I've been eying you from the start, you rat!"
With a single swing of the Adonis Colossus' blade, the projection light skirmisher broke into pieces as the powerful attack decisively registered as a fatal blow to the non-existent mech!
On and on the solo practice session proceeded. Vincent exulted in his greater ability to pilot his mechs as he felt more in tune with his personal machine than ever!
"My mech is singing to me, and I'm singing back! Damn I'm good!"
His talent for piloting mechs must have finally bloomed into splendor. There was no other way to explain his increased performance!
The only snag was that his improvement didn't carry over so well when he piloted other mechs. Whenever he piloted a landbound mech to practice his duelling skills for his upcoming competitive matches, he seemed to lose a large amount of fluency in his piloting skills.
"Maybe I'm bad at piloting landbound mechs." He thought. "I'm better off piloting mechs in space!"
After he completed his practice run, he brought his mech back to one of the carriers of the Living Sentinels. He hopped out of his cockpit and handed his mech off to the mech technicians before entering a shuttle that brought him back to the surface.
Though the commute was rather tedious, Vincent had no choice to take these regular trips. The Adonis Colossus was at home in space and did not perform well on land.
Once his shuttle reached the landing zone of the temporary Larkinson Clan base, Vincent exited the shuttle and walked across the extensive courtyards.
The Larkinson Clan had grown even larger in the past couple of months. Recruitment of critical personnel may have slowed down, but it never stopped. Vincent constantly spotted new faces, each of which seemed to have come from further and further away.
No matter where they came from and who they used to be in the past, they all became Larkinsons once they passed all of the requirements.
"Hey, Vincent!"
"Good luck on your next match, Vince! I'm rooting for TSV!"
"Take care not to piss off the Hexers next time."
"I did not mean to insult them!" Vincant protested. "I was just complimenting those beautifully toned stomachs as those babes were running across the field. How could I know that they were willing to chase me all the way to the men's toilet and kick me to pieces?"
"You enjoyed it though, right?"
"I'm not THAT kind of a man!"
All of the banter was well-meant. As one of the more flamboyant members of the Larkinson Clan, Vincent was something of a local celebrity. His Adonis Colossus alone ensured that every Larkinson would learn about him in time, though not everyone thought well of him and his chosen occupation.
He heard a lot of talk behind his back about his choice to pass on an opportunity to be a part of Task Force Predator.
As much as he wanted to prove his courage, Vincent was wary of the Nyxian Gap. Just like Raella, he had enough of war. As much as he wanted to prove his masculinity, he hadn't survived this long without developing a keen sense of danger.
The latest news that had come from the Nyxian Gap did not bode well for the clan. Though the Larkinsons at Cinach VI all tried to maintain a normal routine, beneath the surface a lot of elements were moving.
When Vincent finally returned to the accommodation he shared with his girlfriend, Raella sat glum at the window.
"You're back." She said flatly.
"Is work bringing you down?"
"It's the usual. The LCS is not as easy to organize as I thought, and interest in watching our preseason duels has dropped ever since the news broke that our fellow Larkinsons are in serious trouble."
"That's odd. From my experience, people are even more eager to seek out fun when times are hard."
"We Larkinsons are different from the rabble you mixed with before. You're not a part of the Bentheim Liberation Movement anymore."
"Eh." Vincent shrugged as he walked up behind her and pulled her into a hug. "There are more similarities than you think."
The two fell silent for a moment as they took in each other's company. Raella eventually pushed herself off her boyfriend.
"How was practice?"
"Great as ever." Vincent replied as he approached the sofa and took a seat. "Where's Minxie?"
"She's taking a nap maybe. MINXIE! Where are you?"
It took a moment before Vincent and Raella heard a response from an adjacent room.
"Nyeow! Nyeow!"'
Raella instantly melted as she turned to greet the arrival of a young feline. "Minxie! There you are. Did you just finish your nap?"
"Nyeow."
The woman picked up her pet and hugged her white-furred companion with an adoring smile.
Raella and Vincent's adoption of a cat was another custom that had taken over the Larkinson Clan. The clan had ordered a large variety of specially-bred cats from Felixia.
Though the new cats weren't as amazing as Lucky and Clixie, the new cats like Minxie each had their strong points.
What was common to all of them was that they enjoyed longer lifespans. They had also developed a measure of sentience and were capable of learning and understanding human speech.
There were other advantages, but that did not change the fact that the cats were still pets. They did not strengthen the clan, but they enriched the lives of those within.
Since the Larkinson Clan was known for its cat motif, many Larkinsons defaulted to adopting cats. Only a small minority adopted other pets such as lizards, insects, birds and dogs.