Chapter 2388: The Final Hour The final hours counted down. The distant energy signatures, particularly the huge one belonging to the Gravada Knarlax, hadn't stopped their approach. In fact, they even accelerated a bit as if the pirates crewing the ships were eager to crush the brazen Larkinson Clan! Ves thought about what he wanted to say in his upcoming speech. He knew from Major Verle that words had a very powerful effect on the morale of his troops. If he said all of the right words, his mech pilots might be able to perform twenty percent better. In contrast, if he spoke words of doom and defeat, then the effective performance of his mech pilots might drop by as much as fifty percent! In a battle with such high stakes, these were enormous swings! Anything that could help their side fight a little harder and prevent more deaths was worth pursuing. In fact, Ves came up with an idea to go a step further. What if he took advantage of the Larkinson Network while he held his speech? What he tried to integrate spiritual manipulation in his words on a deeper level? "What if I can speak to their souls rather than their ears?" It was an interesting idea, and one that Ves thought had a lot of potential. While a part of him felt a bit exasperated at himself for trying to employ spiritual techniques in situations where they weren't needed, he was fascinated by them as well. As Ves returned to his stateroom and sat next to Lucky, his attention shifted from the projection of the local area. Ever since the Larkinson Clan received word that Lord Hivex dispatched a formidable punitive fleet, Ves had left much of his mech design work aside and instead focused most of his creative energies on developing spiritual solutions. Oh, he spent plenty of his time on mechs. Upgrading and customizing the mechs for his expert candidates took up most of his month. "It's more of a chore, though." Ves didn't invent anything new while he performed all of that work. Even the most powerful upgrade that came in the form of Unending mech weapons actually didn't require any intensive effort at all. This was because the Unending alloy he used was already strong enough to do all of the work! Instead, he had become quite passionate and obsessed about advancing his spiritual engineering and spiritual manipulation abilities. He correctly surmised that the best way he could strengthen his forces was to explore the spiritual angle further. There were thousands of Larkinsons in the task force who were already able to upgrade the physical performance of every mech and ship at their disposal. Ves could leave the job of servicing them and upgrading them to the mech designers, mech technicians, chief engineers and other knowledgeable clansmen. He could not turn to anyone else when he needed to accomplish something spiritual in nature. Certainly, James and perhaps Ketis might help, but neither were even close to matching his spiritual capabilities. Admittedly, his capabilities were very shallow compared to his mother, but he still stood head and shoulders above those who still believed that the extraordinary didn't exist! As Ves reflected back on what he had accomplished in the last month, he realized that he had become a lot more passionate about spiritual engineering than mech design. Of course, part of that was because he had stalled his involvement in the LMC's ongoing mech design projects. Yet that did not excuse his excessive preoccupation with spiritual engineering. "Am I a mech designer or am I a spiritual engineer?" He asked himself. Lucky tiredly looked up at his face. "Meow." "Heh. That's easy for you to say. Your gem production pretty much runs on autopilot. Are you even capable of exerting any control over this process?" "Meow!" His cat turned away while flipping up his metallic tail. It was not as if Ves was much better. When faced with an impossible project, he decided to take a crooked road and invented an entirely new spiritual production method. Ves felt this method had a lot of potential. Its applications were endless, but Ves felt a bit disturbed in the direction he was going. Was he trying to pursue spiritual engineering regardless whether his actions were related to mech design? "What am I turning into? Can I still just call myself a mech designer?" He imagined that this question must be plaguing many other mech designers who dabbled in other fields. It was not unusual for mech designers to be dissatisfied with relying on third-party mech parts to design their mechs. This was why Master Olson learned how to develop her own mech engines and how other mech designers learned how to design their own key parts. Yet no matter how far they ventured into these side paths, they were still able to cling on to their primary identities as mech designer. Ves found it increasingly more difficult to do the same. The temptation to pay less attention to mech design in order to reserve more time for spiritual engineering kept plaguing him. There were almost an endless amount of mech designers in human space, many of which could design fantastic mechs that rivaled his own in value or functionality. There weren't as many spiritual engineers or spiritual sorcerers, though. While it was rather precarious to engage in spiritual engineering in full view of the Big Two, as long as he maintained his identity as mech designer and continued to work with mechs in his daily life, he could probably get away with a lot! Still, Ves felt a bit reluctant to become more like his mother. Even if he did not follow the same path as hers with regards to spirituality, he believed he definitely possessed the potential to match and surpass her strength one day! Right now, his domain encompassed both life and mechs in equal proportion. This duality reflected his split obsessions towards life and mechs. "I'm a mech designer. I'm a spiritual engineer. I'm both." No matter what, if he ever managed to leave the Nyxian Gap, he would return with enormous gains related to the latter. This would surely encourage him to go down this path even further. "Why am I even questioning myself about this when there's pirates about to barrel down on my forces?" He shook his head. This was not the time to get swept up by irrelevant concerns. His eyes sharpened as he reminded himself of his actual priorities. "I have a clan to lead into battle." Time passed by as the Larkinsons all ate the best meals they had in awhile. Ves even ate another Ulimo nutrient pack to pamper his taste buds and fill his stomach with a pleasant rolling warmth that would keep him satiated and energetic for hours. It was a fitting meal to prepare him for what was to come. As the reality of the situation dawned on the Larkinsons, they slowly firmed up as they mustered up their courage. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 They already prepared for this battle. Each of them had worked hard to pass the most difficult tests of their lives. Hardly any mech force achieved victory against a force of actual warships! The last example of this happening in the local region was when the sandmen overwhelmed the understrength MTA warships dispatched to defend the Bentheim System. As confident as Ves was in all of his preparations, he did not feel his forces were as strong as the sandmen back then. He appreciated the parallels, though. Much like the aliens, his Larkinson Clan had upgraded its strength quite a bit since their last battle. Hopefully, the Allidus Alliance would be caught off-guard much like the hapless MTA warships at the pivotal Battle of Bentheim! When the countdown had almost reached the end, Ves began to suit up. He slowly donned his Unending Regalia and checked each and every piece of individual equipment. He also helped Lucky equip the Misfortune Harness Mark II. Though the chances were small that he would ever end up in a fight where he needed to fight man-to-man, it didn't hurt to be prepared. "Are you ready for a show, Lucky?" "Meow." Lucky did not look eager to go out. His stomach was still busy trying to digest the B-stone that Ves had employed as a laxative for his cat. "Well, tough luck, you're going out anyway. I'm not leaving you here to sit out the entire battle." Ves picked up his suited-up cat and held him against his shoulder as he stepped out of his stateroom. With Nitaa's large and looming form following from behind his back, his armored suit clanked across the metal deck as he strode towards the bridge. Once he entered, he sat in the central chair, various projections already popping up around him to give him a solid overview of his assets and the surrounding space. Major Verle had already moved to the Redfeather to command the battle. The Scarlet Rose was many things, but she was not a good command ship. "Status report. What is the condition of our forces?" "The Avatars of Myth are fully deployed and ready for action." 'The Living Sentinels are just about to deploy their final mechs." "The Battle Criers are surrounding our ships." "The Flagrant Vandals are covering our flanks and rear." "The Swordmaidens are keeping all of their mechs in reserve." "The Penitent Sisters are already in the process of evacuating their converted combat carriers." As Ves listened to the various reports, the hatch to the bridge slid open. Calabast, having eschewed her tight black uniform for a high-tech Hexer infiltrator suit, strode up to his seat. She bent down a bit to caress Lucky's head. "Meow~" The cat squinted in pleasure. "Why are you here, Calabast? Do you want to take Lucky on a risky jaunt or something?" "No. Not yet. It's too dangerous to attempt an infiltration under the current circumstances. Maybe there will be an opportunity later in the battle, but for now it's too dangerous." "Then why have you come?" "I want you to remind you of our backup option. The engines are already warmed and ready to engage." "Pass." "I'm just looking out for you, kid." They chatted for a bit, but Calabast didn't have anything else to say. She just wanted to see how confident he was and whether he was still committed to fighting the pirate armada. Once she left, Ves closed his eyes. He ran through the plan one more time. This was the time to see whether the stratagems he devised would grant his side enough advantages to resist the pirate onslaught. "Open a channel to every ship and mech." Ves spoke as he gathered his thoughts. "I'm ready to address the entire clan." His armored form creaked on the chair as he raised himself to his feet. His helmetless face looked suitably heroic, and upon a silent command, a billowing red cape extended from the rear shoulders of his Unending Regalia. Every Larkinson waiting for the final hour to count down all directed their attention to the lifelike projection of Ves appearing in front of their faces. The entire fleet momentarily fell silent. Aside from the mech pilots who were stationed in the perimeter of the fleet, everyone directed their attention at their leader. Ves stared at the wide projection that popped up in front of him. A random panorama of faces greeted him. Avatars, Sentinels, Swordmaidens and more each looked at him via his projections. Seeing their faces in real time allowed him to gain a more personal connection with those he addressed. He could also adjust his speech if he noticed his clansmen weren't taking his words very well. Before he spoke, he took a deep breath. At the same time, he stretched out his hand. Nitaa placed the Larkinson Mandate in his armored grasp. Ves needed the prop for what he was about to do. He concentrated his mind a bit and began to connect to Goldie and the Larkinson Network. Then, he proceeded to do something he had never done before. He attempted to push his presence through the network!