"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.

Raella took a liking for beautiful cats. She chose to adopt a surprisingly gentle modified white persian than a more active and energetic pet.

Though Vincent disagreed with her choice at first, he had come around later on. Minxie was simply too adorable for him to dislike her. When he approached Raella, the cat curiously looked up at his face.

"Nyeow?"

"Who's your daddy?"

"Nyeow!"

Raella giggled. "Pfff! Stop teasing our little kitty. She's too innocent for your humor."

"Who said I was joking?"

The two cuddled and played around a bit with Minxie before the cat quickly lost interest. Once the white persian chose to doze off in her new cat bed, Vincent and Raella sat together on the sofa.

"So… how are you holding up, Raella?"

"Not that good, to be honest. I can't help but worry about Ves and the rest of our clansmen. They're being hunted by pirate warships of all things. I can't believe the Big Two allow the pirates to get away with building them. Now, our trapped Larkinsons hardly have any choice but to fight their way through the worst of the Nyxian scum."

"You already heard Gloriana. There's nothing we can do but put ourselves in danger. Our mechs are simply too weak at the moment. It's better that the Wodin Warriors sent a couple of thousand mechs in their stead."

"I still felt I could have done more." She sighed. "I don't usually feel this way."

"Our clan has a way of worming its way into your heart. I used to think that all of this emphasis on fellowship, brotherhood and kitties was soft. Now that I've been in the clan for a while, I can't imagine turning back to my old life. I never had a real family before now, you see. Here, I can be myself or be the Vincent that everyone knows without caring too much about what others think."

"This has always been the case in our old Larkinson Family. It was just that we didn't have this weird clan glow that causes us to feel close to our fellow clansmen at all times. The implications are kind of disturbing."

"I like it." Vincent straightforwardly said. "It helps with making friends. Without it, our clan would have devolved into a collection of factions. Everyone who came from the same state would have stuck with each other with little reason to go out. I've seen that happen in the BLM to some extent as the boys from the same city stuck together despite being told to get along with the other rebels in the same cell."

Raella looked at Vincent with a curious expression. "Do you truly not miss your old life anymore?"

"Being a rebel sucked. I only joined because I had problems with my family and expected more from the BLM. I didn't really care about fighting for Bentheim's independence. I just wanted to start a new life and feel like I belong."

She knew about some of the details of his sordid past. Vincent had lived a colorful life and developed a colorful personality. That excited her, as did his formidable prowess.

"Our new life will be under threat if Task Force Predator can't make it back."

"I know." Vincent squeezed her shoulder. "I'm not giving up hope, though. While I don't think that Ves and his pals can run away from the pirates forever, I think it's possible to stay out of reach of the pirate warships and prolong the chase long enough for the Hexers to come to the rescue."

"Oh, have you become a genius navigator, or are you just saying something random?" Raella sneered.

"Hey, I heard this from one of the mech captains. The Nyxian Gap is filled with meteorites and a lot of other junk. It's not easy to chase after a single target."

"We'll see. I don't want to develop any false hopes."

Raella almost couldn't believe how Ves could bring himself to go on this risky excursion. Her wildly-successful cousin could be so stupid sometimes.

The two continued to share their concerns over the course of their idle talk.

Meanwhile, Minxie crawled up to their laps and demanded their affection.

"Nyeow!"

"Oh, you pretty princess you. Your fur is so soft and fluffy."

Vincent smiled as Raella became besmitten by her new cat again.

"Do you think we can get another pet?"

"Huh? Is Minxie not enough for you? She's more than cute enough to satisfy us both!"

"It's not that, Raella. I just think like we could spice up our lives with a dog."

"No. Forget about it, Vincent. Minxie is enough. If she's lonely, we can get her another cat. Under no circumstances will I allow you to bring a dog or any other animal."

"Why not? Do you hate dogs?"

"I love them, but I love cats more. This is one thing I have in common with Ves. His Lucky is amazing."

"What about obtaining a mechanical dog? They're pretty low on maintenance but they can be even better companions."

"I told you to stop it. No dogs allowed. Besides, mechanical dogs aren't really alive. They're just good at pretending they are. How can you love a bunch of computer code?"

"I don't know, but Ves seems to do fine."

"Lucky is different! So are other cats!"

Though Vincent appreciated cats as much as anyone, some Larkinsons simply took it too far!