Ves felt sick to his stomach when he thought about the disaster that might unfold during the founding ceremony. He could not say for sure whether the dreadful scenario that Calabast predicted out of scattered evidence would turn into reality. Yet the possibility alone caused him to generate the urge to leave Davute entirely. "Why would you want to leave Davute all of a sudden?" His personal assistant questioned. "You are one of the VIP guests of the founding ceremony, remember? I have heard that we will even get a special shoutout from the new president. It would be a horrible embarrassment for all of us if you have snubbed the most powerful man in Davute. General Ark Larkinson's life in the military establishment of the colonial state will experience a lot more inconveniences as a result. Our various business operations will also encounter a lot more hindrances from the authorities." "Can we do it if we really want to, Benny?" Gavin directed a strange look at Ves. "Davute isn't a prison, boss. I am sure we can find a way to generate a legitimate excuse, though it will be difficult to do so on short notice. I highly advise against it, though." "Forget I ever asked." Ves already knew that it was not that wise for him and his family to bail out of this important commitment. The Larkinsons were expected to attend and it would raise way too many questions if they avoided it entirely. For example, Calabast had already mentioned the cloud of suspicion that would descend upon the Larkinson Clan after a devastating terrorist attack. When a lot of powerful, influential and well-connected people died, the remnants would be gunning for a target. The Larkinson Clan would definitely be subject to a lot of suspicion. People and organizations yearning for revenge might take drastic action and attack the Larkinsons despite lacking definitive proof! Ves could not allow his clan to open themselves up to retaliation. It was best for him and his people to take part and bear the same risks as everyone else in order to put the Larkinsons firmly in the camp of victims. Of course, he wouldn't have opted to proceed with this course of action if the risks were too high. He already received a tentative prediction from Ylvaine that Block L should not be the target of a conspiracy. That didn't mean that accidents, collateral damage or out-of-control threats could still destroy the VIP seating block, but at least Ves and his clan had a chance of making it out alive. At least Calabast had been correct about all of the positive gains the clan could make. By making sufficient preparations and setting up his parading mech units to play the heroes, he could boost the reputation of his clan and open up a lot more doors in the process. This would not only help the clan climb the hierarchy of Davute, but also make it a lot easier for the Larkinsons to set up branches in other zones. The reputation earned from incidents like these could easily carry over to the rest of the Red Ocean! With only several days to go before the big event took place, Ves had far too little time to make additional preparations. He first worried about his children. The safest option would be to transfer them to his fleet in orbit. He even offered this suggestion to his wife over dinner. "Absolutely not!" Gloriana insisted as she spooned a bite of food into Marvaine's cute little mouth. "I will not deprive our children from an important ceremony. They need to experience it in order to learn how to behave in future occasions like these. Aurelia also needs to introduce herself to important dignitaries and their heirs that will be present on that day." That didn't sound as important when at least a part of those important figures would be dead by the end of that event! Ves let out an exasperated sound. "Gloriana, our children are too young, and Davute isn't that important to us in the greater scheme of things. Lets pack them off to the Vivacious Wal. I am sure we can organize a couple of fun, kid-oriented events while Kotor City becomes more crowded and dangerous than ever. There are all kinds of crazies out there that are trying their hardest to spoil the party." "UNACCEPTABLE! We will bring our children and that is it, Ves! I have always known you are paranoid, but you are taking it way too far this time! Nothing has happened to us in many years and Davute is one of the safest places in this zone! Security is tight as there are not only multiple military mech regiments providing security at the site, but also dozens of expert mechs and five ace mechs. I have even received news that the Mars is one of the machines that will join this illustrious lineup! Nothing will happen with one of our closest and strongest allies keeping watch over the event site." Gloriana looked inordinately proud when she mentioned the Mars. She had a small but crucial hand at developing the powerful machine, so any instance where the ace hybrid mech got paraded was another validation of her work. As a rare masterwork ace mech that attracted a lot of admiration and envy each time it appeared in public, there was no way that Davute could resist the urge to show off such a fantastic work! This news should have reassured Ves, but the opposite was the case. Ves suspected that the conspirators had a more nefarious purpose in mind when they included the Mars in the security forces. If his suspicions about Block M getting blown up at the start of the outbreak of violence turned out to be true, then Patriarch Reginald would have a direct view of his own people getting killed! This would surely trigger Reginald's absolute fury and hatred towards the Karlachs, whom Davute would definitely paint as the culprits behind the deadly attacks! As Ves continued his efforts to persuade his wife to take their children elsewhere, Gloriana continued to dig her heels. "We are not leaving, Ves! We will attend the founding ceremony and give our children a clear view of what it is like to found your own state!" The mother insisted as she hugged and coddled the little boy on his lap. "If our children ever have the desire or opportunity to do the same, they will know what they have to do and what is in store for them because they have these memories at their disposal!" He wanted to groan. While he was worrying about safeguarding his children from unknown threats, his wife was mainly thinking about raising their children into future sovereigns! This was an incredibly absurd situation to him. He felt tempted to ignore Calabast's extremely important advice and spill the beans to Gloriana so that she became aware of the impending threat. Then again, if he did this, the public would probably know all about rumors of a planned attack the next day! He turned to his adorable children. "What do you think, little ones? Would you like to go out on a fun day out at our entertainment ship? I think we recently opened up a new theme park in Dawn City." "Boooooring." Andraste drawled as she munched on a bite of high-calorie potato. "I want to go see all of the awesome mechs that will be shown off. Our mechs are the best, but the other ones should be cool as well." "Don't speak when you are chewing, young lady!" Aurelia at least had the presence of mind to swallow her bite before she opened her own mouth. "I also want to attend the ceremony, papa." "Me too! Me too!" Marvaine chirped as he hopped on his mother's lap! In the end, Ves ultimately failed to persuade his children to be elsewhere by the time the founding ceremony commenced. Since this was the case, he decided to invest extra effort into improving their security. He not only put extra effort into upgrading the equipment of his honor guard. He wanted each of the guards that were allowed to stay close to the seating blocks to wear quasi-first-class combat armor. Though Ves wanted to upgrade the weapons of his guards as well, that was a lot more difficult to arrange in a short amount of time. He had no choice but to give up on this additional step. Aside from upgrading the gear of his personal guards, he also spent a lot of time meddling with the arrangements of the Larkinson mechs that were assigned to take part in the parade. A number of mech designers had already been tasked with prepping the selected mechs. They did not react pleased when they heard he wanted to change the entire lineup that had been in the works for weeks. "We have almost completed the tweaks and cosmetic overhauls on the mechs that we have designated in the past." The defensive specialist spoke as she put her hands on her hips. "They look gorgeous after we have embellished their exteriors and added custom-formulated flowers and other decorations to their frames. If we change the lineup right away, we do not have the time to beautify the replacement mechs." Ves didn't care about that anymore. "Then skip all of the time-consuming work and do what you can in the limited time frame we have left. Our living mechs already look good enough in their original forms. We just have to polish their surfaces and add a cape to them in order to make them dashing." "What is this all about, sir?" Sara Voiken asked as she wondered why he wanted to throw out the old plan all of a sudden. "I have noticed that your new selection no longer consists of our most photogenic mechs. They look more suitable for defense. Are you expecting anything to happen during the ceremony?" He wanted to say yes, but he had to do the opposite in order to maintain a grip on the variables. "I just feel like we need to manage our risks a little better." He offered a vague response. "You should have studied my past, so you know that I have gotten embroiled in difficult situations on the ground in the past. This is why I prefer to be overprepared than underprepared. It shouldn't inconvenience us too much to make this switch. If nothing happens, then nothing is lost. If a situation arises where stronger and more combat-ready mechs are needed, then we may have saved our lived with this prudent decision." The logic was strong enough to convince Sara to play along, even though she thought that security on that day would be too tight to allow for anything to go wrong. Ves could only shake his head at this. Too many people around him put an unreasonable amount of faith in Davute's ability to safeguard the founding ceremony and prevent any incidents from taking place. Normally that would be the case, but if a small but powerful group of Davutans wanted to do the opposite, then it was the height of foolishness to entrust their safety to others! 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 Ves had learned time and time again that the only forces he could rely on to put his safety first was himself and his own troops. He could not count on the Davutan security forces to prioritize the security of the representatives of the Larkinson Clan when so many other important figures demanded protection as well! "Let us rush the upgrades to the armor systems and any additional physical defensive equipment in the time that we have left." Ves proposed to Sara Voiken. "If we work fast enough, we can ensure that the defensive mechs will at least be able to resist a higher amount of transphasic damage than before." "You are asking for much, sir. It is impossible for us to make the replacement armor and physical shields look clean and polished." "I know, but don't you think our mechs will look more intimidating if they are covered by the salvaged hull plating of defeated alien warships? The rustic charm will help with reinforcing our image as frontier explorers."