Ves already predicted that his wife would be less than amused at the idea of bringing their children on a field trip to a frontier space station. This was why he did not put much effort into trying to sway her to his side. He just informed her in order to show that he was willing to hear her input and to prevent her from feeling betrayed if he sprung this trip as a surprise. Now that she knew what he wanted to do and expressed her objections, Ves quickly separated himself from his wife and made other arrangements with the help of other Larkinsons. Minister Shederin Purnesse opened up a dialogue with the Pentahull Coalition in order to discuss additional allowances for the Golden Skull Alliance. Normally, the Pentahull Coalition did not make exceptions to its rules because any compromise weakened its own security position. The Pentahullers only needed to slip up a single time to expose their precious space station to potentially catastrophic damage! Ves reacted with surprise when Minister Shederin came back in less than half a day. "The Pentahull Coalition has agreed to practically all of our conditions." "What? They just rolled over for us? Why?" "There is nothing suspicious about the coalition's response." Minister Shederin smiled. "We are still benefiting from the halo that we have obtained after winning the Battle of Pima Prime. You may have moved on from that already, but it is not so easy for other parties to forget how much ferocity and combat power we demonstrated in battle." Comprehension dawned on Ves' face. "Oh. Are you saying that we intimidated the Pentahull Coalition into agreeing with our terms?" "You can say that, sir. I would prefer to see it as a situation where the Pentahull Coalition has a vested interest in avoiding conflict with us. At the same time, the members of this coalition also admire and maybe even worship our strength. Some of them are interested in developing closer relationships with us. It doesn't hurt to make friends with a stronger power." That put Ves in an odd mood. "It sounds strange to be considered a bigshot. I'm too accustomed to treating ourselves as the little guys." "The truth is that we fall somewhere in between at the moment." Minister Shederin voiced his own opinion. "We have amply proven our ability to survive and do well in the Red Ocean, but we are far from challenging the leading powers. You must take care not to develop too much hubris from this event. Just because the Pentahull Coalition is eager to acquiesce to our demands does not mean that other comparable groups are willing to roll out the red carpet for us. Sometimes, a reputation for being strong can produce adverse responses from other parties." "Hmm. You're right. I'll be sure to take that into account." With the security situation dealt with, Ves only needed to persuade one more group of stakeholders in order to proceed with his plan. pAn,da-n0v e1,c He returned to his grand stateroom and met with his children while Gloriana was elsewhere. "Aurelia, Andraste, Marvaine. Come over here for a moment." His three adorable kids scampered up to their father in the company of Lucky and Clixie. "Papa!" "I want a hug!" "Meow." "Hahaha!" Ves joyfully laughed as he greeted his kids. "I have exciting news for you all. Did you see that cool space station that our fleet has approached? Well, what do you think about going on a field trip to Pentahull Station?" The children were caught off-guard by this question, but they soon understood what this meant for them. None of them had ever visited such a far away place! "I want to go! I want to go!" Andraste gleefully cheered while hopping onto her feet like an energetic bunny. "I would like to visit the space station as well." Aurelia replied in a more cultured manner as taught by her mother. "I always wanted to visit more places and meet new people." Marvaine's response was a simple nod. He was too young to understand the full implications of this visit, but seeing as everyone else in his family wanted to go, there was no way he wanted to stay behind! Ves grinned as he obtained the response that he wanted. "Great! My people are already preparing for this trip. We'll be leaving in two hours. Get ready and make sure you wear the outfits that I have prepared for you all. I know they can be a bit clumsy but we still need to take the necessary safety precautions." "Okay, papa~" By the time the three children donned their thin but highly protective suits, Gloriana finally learned what Ves had done when she returned to the grand stateroom. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU, VES! YOU WENT BEHIND MY BACK!" "Calm down and keep your voice down!" Ves made a calming motion with his palm. "Please don't yell when our kids are nearby! Don't ruin this moment for them. This will be the first time that each of them will be able to enjoy a real excursion to an exotic location that is well outside the region around Davute. We can't lock them up inside our starships all the time, honey." "DON'T CALL ME HONEY, YOU IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! YOU ARE THROWING OUR FUTURE TO THE WOLVES WITH THIS RECKLESS ACT!" "Hey! You are mischaracterizing this trip once again! Nothing will go wrong during our trip, my clan and I made sure of that! I will be taking my kids to Pentahall Station whether you agree with this or not. You can stay behind if you don't want to come along." Though Gloriana wanted to explode yet again in front of Ves, she had not lost her reasoning. She already recognized that this was a losing battle. Since Ves and everyone else had already set all of this up, there was nothing she could do to prevent her children from going. "Fine." Gloriana spoke through gritted teeth. "If this is what you want, then I will come along for this excursion. I am not about to leave you alone with our impressionable kids on a completely unfamiliar space station!" pand(a-n0vel.c)om The concerned mother quickly changed her outfit into a stylish, multi-layered protective outfit and made sure to inform her own people of the trip. This was how Ves and his little family boarded an armored shuttle in the company of a large contingent of honor guards. Ves himself did not opt to wear a suit as imposing and aggressive as the Unending Regalia because the safety factor at Pentahall Station was still good. Most people visiting the frontier space station either wore their regular uniforms or clothing on top of skin-tight vacsuits. The rules set by the Pentahall Coalition prohibited guests from bringing in heavier weapons and armor, but it extended certain privileges to pioneers and other VIPs. What was not common was that the fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance was allowed to move closer to the space station! This enabled the fleet to respond faster to any possible crisis that might erupt at Pentahall Station, but it also put the Golden Skull Alliance in a better position to launch an attack. This was why both sides maintained a vigilant posture towards each other. Though it was not good to generate so much tension, nothing would happen as long as they abided by their terms of the agreement. Ves didn't worry too much about these complications. His subordinates had the situation well in hand. He was more interested in planning out his upcoming field trip. There was a lot of ground to cover. The dutiful father began to introduce the basic situation to his children while their mother was sulking. "What is interesting about Pentahall Station is that it is made up of five capital ships." He explained as he projected a simplified image of the space station. "Each of these sizable vessels have opened up a substantial proportion of their internal volume to the public. You can think of them as five large city districts that can move around in space." "Ooohhh." Aurelia looked impressed. "Is this station like our Vivacious Wal?" "That's a good comparison, my dear. The Vivacious Wal is more oriented towards meeting the needs of our own clansmen nowadays, but it is still possible for us to employ her as a mobile tourist destination if we want. Pentahall Station is the same, but it is more than five times bigger and a lot less mobile." The children were already familiar with the Vivacious Wal and her two iconic cities, so it was not hard for them to understand what Pentahall Station was all about. "It's essentially a much bigger city and playground." Ves claimed. "Although many areas are not designed to accommodate kids like you, I still want to take you to some of them just so you know what goes on in those places. This will help you a lot once you grow older." Gloriana couldn't help but interject at this point. "I will not allow you to bring them to any sketchy locations!" "Hey, they're my kids as well. I don't want to bring them to those places either. I know what I am doing here. I have a few interesting sites in mind for the first day." It took a bit of time for the shuttle along with the escorting mechs of the Larkinson Clan to pass by the heightened security measures of Pentahall Station. The established security forces exhibited a lot of caution towards the First Sword, which was the only expert mech that was part of the escort force. Of course, the Pentahallers considered the Mars to be a far greater threat. It just wasn't necessary for Patriarch Reginald Cross to deploy his ace mech into space at this time. Soon enough, the shuttle landed in a private hangar bay that was reserved for distinguished guests. A bunch of Larkinson mechs touched down while others parked themselves outside of the space station's hull. A lot of honor guards wearing lighter and less imposing suits of combat armor marched out first. Ves and his family stepped out moments later. Gloriana held Marvaine in her arms while Ves held the hands of his two daughters. Their two cats followed suit but generally didn't attract much attention from the officials who had been sent to receive the new arrivals. A distinguished looking middle-aged man wearing an odd business suit in a style that was characteristic to a specific star cluster of the old galaxy stepped forward. "Patriarch Larkinson, welcome to Pentahall Station. We are honored to host you and your family for the duration of your visit. I am Reynard Clarke, the relations manager of the Clarke Clan. If you would have me, I would love to accompany you and offer my services as a guide to our fine space station." Ves smiled and briefly shook the man's hand. "Thank you for receiving me here. We could definitely use your guidance to navigate this impressive station. So you are a part of the Clarke Clan?" "I am." The man answered as the entire group proceeded to the exit of the private hangar bay. "I am not afraid to say that many Clarkes are fans of you and the Crossers. Our mech pilots have especially fallen in love with your eclectic mech models. They also respect the combativeness of your alliance's ace pilot. It is not common for ace pilots to take the initiative to participate in a battle and duel against another ace pilot. Our own clan's ace pilot has rarely taken action so we understand how difficult it is for pilots at this level to commit to a fight." The Clarke Clan was not the largest member of the Pentahall Coalition, but supposedly earned the highest share of the profits from this venture. The reason for that was because the Clarke Clan was protected by an ace pilot! It was therefore especially significant that a representative of this formidable clan met with Ves upon his arrival.