Chapter 3299: Good and Bad Example The expert pilots of the Larkinson Clan processed the outcome of the Battle Fordilla Zentra in their own ways. Each of them gained different experiences from the battle. Some achieved their goals with brilliant splendor while others suffered a complete letdown. Venerable Tusa and Venerable Stark had plenty of reasons to be happy about. They each shone brightly during the different phases of the battle and played a crucial role in tipping the balance in the expeditionary fleet's favor. Many clansmen expressed their gratitude and admiration to them wherever they walked. "You're my hero, Venerable Tusa!" "I want to catch up to you!" "Thanks for saving my brothers out there, Venerable Stark." In the close and brotherly culture of the Larkinson Clan, the clansmen did not feel too distant from their heroes. They all spoke towards the expert pilots without much reserve. Venerable Stark did not respond too much to these remarks. She was not a Larkinson and she had her own reasons to fight. As for Venerable Tusa, he fully enjoyed the recognition that he finally received. This time, he played an essential role in taking out the formidable Gauss Baron! Its quick and decisive elimination had lifted a huge weight off the Larkinson Army's shoulders and eventually led to the defeat of the Slug Rangers! Other Larkinson expert pilots felt more mixed. They did not consider their battle performance to be stellar this time. Their actual effectiveness had fallen short of their prior expectations. Venerable Dise did not blame herself too much. She faced difficult odds and was happy that she managed to hold back three dwarven expert mechs by herself long enough for the rest of the clan to grasp the key of victory elsewhere on the battlefield. The Swordmaidens and Heavensworders fully supported and celebrated her performance. The battle formation attack she pulled off was legendary and her rapid improvement in swordsmanship while under siege had caused her to become an even greater hero to the sword fanatics! In contrast to the dark-skinned expert pilot, Venerable Orfan was less than pleased by the role she played on the battlefield. "My Riot got beat up and I couldn't do anything about it!" She complained. This battle was her debut as a proper expert pilot. The power of the Riot was absolutely incomparable to her previous Bright Spear Prime, yet she thought that her contribution this time wasn't that much better. Compared to what Tusa and Stark had accomplished, Orfan felt that her battle performance did not match up to her title as Venerable! Of course, her disappointment was a lot less dramatic than what the remaining two expert pilots in the Larkinson Clan were going through. Venerable Jannzi was practically invisible in the last battle. Though she loved her Shield of Samar more than anything else, she deeply experienced how much of a gap there was between her prime mech and an expert mech. "If my mech was closer in power to the Gatecrasher, I could have saved thousands of more lives…" She muttered. The performance of the Venerable Orthox De Massie and his high-tier expert mech completely impressed her. Though the two were too far apart to exchange blows with each other, Jannzi was still able to sense the old dwarven expert pilot's amazingly solid and condensed will. Orthox possessed a much more developed heart and will to protect his fellow people! In comparison, Jannzi felt as if she was a toddler looking up at an adult. She was glad that she was able to witness and examine a stronger and more developed defensive expert pilot in battle. To her, it didn't matter whether Venerable Orthox was a dwarf who fought on the wrong side. Their ideals and convictions were similar enough that she was able to learn much from Orthox's example! "His journey is not my journey, but all roads lead to the same destination." Venerable Jannzi realized as she rewatched the footage of the Gatecrasher in combat. "Venerable Orthox is a truly selfless protector who has given up a lot of other choices in order to perform his only duty." Despite his age, history and status within the Vulcan Empire, Venerable Orthox eschewed many of the honors and luxuries that a war hero like him was entitled to. It was clear that he only focused on progressing his strength and making sure his expert mech was good enough to keep up with his desire to protect his fellow dwarves. Jannzi recognized that as admirable as Venerable Orthox might be, he wouldn't have become nearly as impactful in battle if he did not pilot an excellent expert mech! The quality and performance of the Gatecrasher truly stood head and shoulders above the other expert mechs. Not even the Gauss Baron and the Paravad was able to measure up against the most powerful expert mech of the Molten Hammers. Venerable Jannzi did not like it that her future ability to affect the battlefield was also contingent on the power of her expert mech. The better the machine, the better her performance. The better her performance, the greater her ability to fulfill her own duty! After a lot of contemplation, she set Venerable Orthox as a target. Though her battle approach was not as offense-oriented, she wanted to achieve the same degree of strength and impact in battle as the dwarven expert mech! "If I can't reach Orthox's level of strength, then I can forget about accomplishing real change in the Larkinson Clan!" She admitted. She wasn't happy with the fact that the Battle of Fordilla Zentra happened at all. The Larkinson Clan lost 7500 clansmen last she checked the numbers. These people would have never died if Ves did not idiotically attempt to travel through a hostile star sector! Though she wanted to convince her fellow clansmen to force a change in leadership so that senseless tragedies like this would not happen again, she had given up on this course of action. "Nobody listens to me these days." She grumbled with a sour expression. Too many Larkinsons believed in their patriarch and his approach. Her fellow clansmen were so indoctrinated that they no longer reacted as strongly to this level of casualties as before. The loss of just '1400' mech pilots was a natural outcome of any battle, which Jannzi thought was completely ridiculous! If 1400 people died at once in a random city on an average planet, then everyone would become shocked and outraged! A lot of investigations would follow as many other people demanded accountability. Whoever was responsible for allowing this catastrophe to happen was bound to step down sooner or later. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮 Jannzi shook her head. "We've all become too desensitized for that to happen in our clan. Our motto practically enshrines this stupid belief that suffering casualties is normal!" The only way to break this cultural inertia was to become strong or authoritative enough to make people listen! Ves was too prominent in the clan at the moment, but if Jannzi managed to become a lot more stronger, she believed that her fellow clansmen would finally begin to take her words seriously! The fire burning in her heart grew stronger! Though she was not able to simplify her goals and outlook as much as Venerable Orthox, he still served as a good example of what she must do to develop herself as a space knight pilot. "Our journeys are different, but our goals are the same!" Jannzi also wished to protect her fellow Larkinsons! The only difference was that she was far more willing to protect her clan from its own leaders than Venerable Orthox! This was the biggest reason why she thought that Venerable Orthox ultimately made the wrong decision. The case of the Vulcan Empire was a clear example of what might happen to the Larkinson Clan if someone like her did not guard the people against threats from within! The dwarven expert pilot's decision to eschew politics had caused him to develop a blindspot of the danger that certain leaders posed to the commoners of the Vulcan Empire. Venerable Jannzi was determined not to follow this bad example! "I need to grow stronger. I can't let the other expert pilots overshadow me in battle all of the time." She clenched her fist. If she performed as well as Venerable Stark, then she would already have a lot more weight in the clan than before! It was a pity that defensive mech pilots were not able to distinguish themselves on the battlefield as easily. Still, all was not lost. Venerable Orthox and the Gatecrasher showed her a way for space knight pilots to become a lot more prominent during combat. She just needed to obtain an expert mech first! While Venerable Jannzi was plotting a clear plan to achieve greatness in her own way, Venerable Joshuah hadn't even gotten to that point. His mental state was much worse than that of his ex-girlfriend. He had locked himself up in his grand stateroom aboard the Spirit of Bentheim ever since the battle had been concluded and hadn't come out since. He missed the debriefings and other routine procedures and completely ignored everyone's calls. Only his girlfriend was able to get through his isolation. "Joshua." Ketis said as she sat next to him in her pajamas. Her state wasn't so great either. Ever since she mysteriously channeled her strength through the Decapitator, she felt a lot more drained and exhausted than before. Sharpie was still in a deflated state and her mind had become a lot emptier than before. She was in no condition to work at the moment, though Sharpie was already doing its best to recover from their previous exertion. "I… could have done more." He sighed. "You already told me that the Valkyrie Prime isn't as strong as the Burza Fens, but I truly thought I had a chance of winning that fight. I should have pushed harder and defeated the dwarven expert mech sooner before its expert pilot found a way to make a comeback." Ketis placed her strong and firm hand above his own. "You shouldn't dwell too much on these what-ifs. Ves doesn't think there's a point in questioning your past decisions when you can't change a thing about what has already happened. In my opinion, you made the decisions that you thought were best at the time. You couldn't have known that the enemy mech pilot was so tenacious. We all underestimated the Vulcanites a bit. Besides, we won in the end." "No thanks to me. Other than saving some Battle Criers, I managed to ruin the Valkyrie Prime. I heard that Patriarch Ves is quite distressed at all of the Unending alloy that we possibly left behind in our haste to leave the star system." "That's not your responsibility, Joshua. Let Ves worry about that. Your job is to fight, and you did that. Have you forgotten about how many dwarven mech pilots you and the Penitent Sisters managed to kill? That death wave couldn't have eliminated so many enemies at once if you weren't there to boost and guide this powerful attack. You also played an essential role in defeating the Burza Fens. Even if your duel isn't so stellar, you managed to distract it long enough for the Dark Zephyr to sneak up and stab it in the back! Tusa couldn't have pulled that off if you didn't fight hard enough to completely attract the hatred of the dwarven expert pilot!" Her words caused Venerable Joshua to feel a little better about himself. Though he was still dissatisfied with his performance, he at least valued his contribution a little higher. Ketis smiled. She leaned in and exchanged a gentle kiss with Joshua. "Thanks. I really needed that." Joshua said as he basked in her affection. "Will you finally act like a grownup now and go out to attend your meetings and stuff? Even if you don't have a mech at the moment, you can still do a lot to help out the clan." "I suppose I'll get back to my duties."