The young Journeyman took the rebuke in stride. "You are correct, sir. It is difficult for me to overcome my biases towards the Terrans, but I will try to keep an open mind. It will take time for me to grow comfortable in the presence of those I previously saw as enemies."
Ves relaxed and gave the former Rubarthan an encouraging smile.
"You don't have to turn your behavior around in an instant. Just try to minimize your exposure to the Terrans until you have adapted to your new status. By the way, I already have a former Terran mech designer in my employ. Alexa Streon is my latest student who has inherited much of my design philosophy, so I would appreciate it if you can learn to get along with her. Both of you are Larkinsons, so there is no reason for the two of you to hold any animosity towards each other. We are all working towards a common purpose."
Kelsey Ampatoch looked thoughtful at that. He had already learned that Ves employed a scion of the Streon Ancient Clan, but that was different from being able to accept the fact that he would become her colleague.
The good news was that their specialties diverged from each other. Alexa Streon specialized in living mechs, while Kelsey Ampatoch specialized in subversion systems.
Soon enough, the compartment made a chiming noise.
Everyone braced themselves just before the Tarrasque engaged the teleportation process.
During the brief interval where his body was being transferred to the surface of the planet, Ves experienced the differences between regular teleportation and crossing the Rubicon.
The latter was far faster, smoother and stabler.
It was difficult to adjust to a more low-end form of teleportation. His improved phase lord cultivation made him a lot more sensitive to the flaws and the fragility of the teleportation method acting on his body.
The Tarrasque had to pump a lot more power into the teleportation system in order to transfer his folded true body to his destination. This made everything riskier and more precarious than before.
The mechers needed to upgrade the teleportation system of the Tarrasque. It was never designed to teleport more than a couple of mechs at most.
Ves quickly transmitted a very brief complaint to Jovy before he focused on his surroundings.
He arrived directly onto one of the open courtyards of Diandi Base.
"Lucky! You're finally back!"
The first person to respond was Andraste!
The red-headed girl eagerly ran forward and embraced the floating gem cat in a hug!
"Meeeooow!..."
Naturally, the indisposed gem cat was not in the mood for a touchy reunion, but Andraste did not care about his discomfort!
Ves had no time to pull the distressed cat away from his clingy daughter.
That was because his wife had decided to greet his arrival with an unexpected surprise!
"Gloriana?"
"Yes, my dear?"
"What is… that?"
His elegantly dressed wife smirked and patted the shiny and crystalline aquamarine archeshell of the alien that stood by her side.
Ves immediately noticed that the hand used to touch the archeshell was wrapped in a glove that appeared to be made out of archemetal!
"I managed to make several breakthroughs while you were gone. Did you know that Alexandria is able to do more than form design networks? I recently discovered that she is also able to dominate the minds and spirits of weaker minds! With the help of this new ability, I persuaded the Red Association to transfer one of their alien captives to me. You are now looking at Hekkel, my very first Glorious Servant, but certainly not the last!"
"..."
"Hekkel, greet my husband."
The translation module attached to the alien's neck translated the arche's native speech.
[This lowly slave greets the highest slave of my Glorious Queen.]
"..."
"Please do not mind his words, Ves. The arche are highly hierarchical by nature. It is difficult to instill the concept of a servant into his alien mind."