Everyone began to gear up for another major battle. Unlike the last time, the Golden Skull Alliance did not receive much time to prepare for the upcoming asteroid base assault. Operation Saturday Market was marked by careful planning and extensive wargaming. It also helped a lot that the attacking Hexers and Golden Skullers received a huge amount of leaked intelligence, much of which exposed the entire defensive layout of the Pima Prime System! This time, the Golden Skull Alliance had to commence an attack against the mysterious Palace of Shame that was occupied by who knew how many aliens. Each of their pirate groups possessed a dazzling variety of warships, starfighters and other odd combat assets that had no human equivalent. The sheer diversity in aliens not only made it difficult to figure out their individual strengths, but also gave the strategists a lot of headaches when they tried to estimate the total combat power of the forces occupying the alien asteroid base. The lack of intelligence on the enemy they were about to fight made it difficult to formulate accurate battle scenarios in simulation programs such as the MSTS. All of the Larkinson mech pilots had to make do with practice sessions where they were pitted against a wide variety of known alien warships that humanity had encountered in the past. In any case, the tech base of the indigenous alien races always shared a common root. It seemed that whenever an alien race successfully joined the Red Ocean's galactic community without getting enslaved or destroyed in its entirety, its members quickly assimilated the most basic technologies that had become widely spread. This was why almost every technology-based race in the Red Ocean utilized warp drives that were almost identical in design and performance. Ves found this to be a rather interesting phenomenon as the indigenous alien races of the Red Ocean were not as divided as they looked. At times, they resembled the human states that occupied the old galaxy. While they were definitely competing amongst themselves, they also became a part of a collective that allowed them to interact and cooperate with each other without letting race become a hindrance. The Palace of Shame was like that on a much smaller scale. It hosted a lot of different individuals from a lot of different alien races and somehow managed to keep them all from waging all-out war was remarkable. It spoke of a sense of unity across racial barriers that used to be fairly prevalent in the Milky Way Galaxy before the Age of Conquest. Of course, once humanity rose up and began to roll over all of the ancient alien empires that used to dominate a lot of territories, there was no way for the human race to ever cooperate with other alien races! In any case, humanity's domineering behavior throughout the Age of Conquest and the Age of Mechs produced a lot of benefits, but also prevented it from getting exposed to complex multiracial situations. Neither the Larkinson Clan nor anyone else in the temporary coalition had ever fought against anything like the occupants of the Palace of Shame. Ves felt a deep unease because of that. At the very least the coalition possessed a general understanding of the orvan race as well as many other races. However, the Geminis had scant information about the warships, defensive turrets and so on. It was already certain that the aliens would make use of a few weird and abnormal technological marvels that could significantly skew the results. In fact, one of the reasons why the Larkinson Clan possessed an advantage against its competitors was because it made widespread use of luminar crystal technology. If the extinct luminar race was able to develop amazing crystal technology that was leagues more effective than conventional energy weapon technology, then what kind of crazy tech did the alien pirates depend upon to keep themselves alive? "We can't underestimate the power of alien technology. Even the weaker ones have developed unique advantages that have given them an edge in an unforgiving dwarf galaxy." The Red Ocean was just as cutthroat as the Milky Way Galaxy in the past. The weaker alien races that did not possess sufficient strength inevitably became extinct. Few alien races were benevolent enough to shelter the newcomers that evolved to a point where they could explore the stars for the first time. In that sense, the invasion of the Red Ocean by the human race hardly changed the status quo. The difference here was that it was the humans that had become the predator while every other indigenous alien race demoted into prey! "Prey or not, these aliens still retain their fangs." This was especially the case for pirates and other lowlives. The ones residing in the Palace of Shame likely couldn't match up against the proper military equivalents of their races, but what the pirates lacked in legitimacy, they more than made up for it with cruelty! It had been a long time since Ves and his clan fought against pirates. Aside from the fish-whales, the last major enemies they faced were professional human military mech forces. Ves knew how they worked, how they thought and how they fought. He could look at their mechs and decipher the approximate performance and preferred method of combat. Criminal elements were a lot more mixed. Sure, they were probably weaker on a general basis, but their lack of consistency also happened to be one of their greatest strengths. Ves would rather fight against an enemy he understood much better than to confront a complete unknown. He let out a sigh as he leaned back on his chair. Due to the impending offensive operation, he had paused every ongoing design project. The mech designers could get much more done by assisting the maintenance crews in tweaking and modifying the existing mechs. It might not make much of a difference, but it would at least give all of the lab nerds a bit more practical experience. Some of them hadn't even touched an actual mech for over a year! As Ves studied the current state of his healthy and vigorous prosperity tree, he sensed a powerful but gloomy presence appearing from behind. "Hiya, little brother!" "Hey, Helena." The translucent form of his spiritual big sister circled around and seated herself atop his office desk. Ves was pretty certain that Helena could make her body pass right through the desk if she chose to, but she had put in extra effort and energy to make her spiritual manifestation at least partially corporeal. The ease and efficiency of her technique showed that she had improved her control by a small margin since her last visit. "Why are you here, Helena?" His spiritual sister furrowed her brows. "Don't be so defensive. I'm your sister, silly. I have the right to visit you anytime you want. Just be glad that I didn't drop by while you were taking a bath." "Helena!" "Hihihi!" The black-robed young lady giggled. "Just kidding! I'm not that crazy. I swear. By the way, those Geminis sure sound fun. They are probably the oddest living humans that I have ever encountered, but they are so adorable in how they have become so loyal to their significant others." "Don't tell me you want to copy some of the customs of the Gemini Family." Helena pretended to look scandalized. "Oh no! I wouldn't want to hurt Gloriana. She is already such a lovely woman for you. I still have a long way to go before I am ready to start my own relationship. Still, it doesn't hurt to explore my options. Do you happen to have a recommendation?" He threw a flat glare in her direction. "No." "Really?" Helena smirked. "There are plenty of guys in your friend circle who might be worthwhile to spend my time with. Let me see. The Solemn Guardian is too dull and simple for my tastes. Ylvaine is too old and creepy. The Illustrious One has that mysterious side of his, but he is too far removed from humanity. Lufa is the most honest of the bunch, but he is so pure that he's no fun at all. As for the rest… they are just powerful beasts. Though it doesn't really matter what species they portray them as, I am not into that kind of a relationship." Ves really didn't want to hold this kind of conversation with his mischievous family member. Whether it was right to treat Helena as his sister in the first place was debatable, but since he acknowledged her as family, he did not intend to treat her as an unrelated spiritual product. "Since there is no one eligible available, then stop talking about your relationship issues. I'm sure that a handsome, friendly, funny and lovable man will enter your sight one day." Helena grinned and leaned forward. "Someone like… Vulcan?" "Disgusting! Vulcan is not an eligible choice for you! He's your brother!" "So what?" His sister challenged him as she twirled a lock of her hair. "Genes and such might be a concern to flesh-and-blood humans such as you, but they are completely inconsequential to someone who doesn't have them in the first place. Vulcan sounds like a pretty nice guy. He's not a strong or proven warrior god, but he can compensate for that by making a lot of presents for me! He is just the perfect breadwinner. My family only really needs a single fighter anyway." Ves tried his best to maintain his composure. He absolutely did not want to fall for this obvious bait! He came up with the perfect retort! "Vulcan is a dwarf." "Ah. That can be a problem, yes." Helena frowned, but quickly cheered up again. "Well, we can work it out. I am very tolerant towards short gods, you know. Besides, I have a bit of a Hexer streak in me, courtesy of the Superior Mother. It is incredibly common for Hexer women to get married to boys that are much shorter than them. Sometimes there is an entire head's difference in length between the two, but the Hexer couples managed to make it work anyway!" "That's besides the point, Helena! Vulcan is another version of myself! Since I am your brother, that makes Vulcan your brother as well!" "I already told you that this doesn't matter among my kind! Haven't you heard about the multitude of alien gods that got married despite the fact that they were brothers and sisters or even mothers and sons? Don't apply your meatbag rules to god-like entities like me and your incarnation. I can marry and have kids with whoever I want. If Vulcan is my choice, then I expect you to give me your blessing!" Ves felt sick to his stomach. It was one thing if a group of strangers like the Geminis engaged in this kind of behavior. He could just smile and tolerate his odd new acquaintances. It was another thing entirely if Helena started to express the same desires! Ves regretted the decision to work together with the Gemini Family even more! His sister would have never been corrupted if he and his expeditionary fleet stayed well away from the abnormal pioneering group! Though a part of Ves still felt that Helena was teasing Ves, he could not afford to take this matter too lightly. "Look, if you want to date a nice design spirit, then I will make one for you! Are you happy now?! You don't need to settle for sleazy spiritual entities, and you certainly don't need to turn to your own brother! Just give me a wish list and I will make the perfect boyfriend material for you myself!" Helena looked genuinely interested in his offer. She thought about it carefully before she reluctantly shook her head. "...Nah. I'm good. Lovers can't be made. Any god you make will only come across as a well-programmed bot to me. Why go through all this trouble when there is already Vulcan? I wouldn't mind it if you modify him a bit, though." "Stop it, please! I can't take it any longer!"