"Why are you so stupid, Ves! The Riot Mark III is just an expert mech! Until Venerable Orfan has successfully broken through, she does not deserve to pilot a superdimensional mech! It is much more logical for us to use it to protect our ace mechs instead! We are still working on the Minerva Mark II Project, so we can easily incorporate armor-grade superdimensional matter in the design. I just need to gain access to samples as soon as possible so I can figure out whether it can be combined with archetech. Even if it is not possible, we can still use superdimensional matter to construct an exterior shell around an archemetal mech frame." Ves winced a bit when his wife went on her usual tirade. He expected her to respond negatively to his tentative decision to reserve armor-grade superdimensional matter for the Riot Mark III as opposed to a ’worthier’ mech. "Not now, Gloriana. The kids are here, remember? Let’s not disturb one of the few moments of the day when we can keep them company." One of the consequences of their increased workloads was that Ves and Gloriana unfortunately had to make sacrifices in the amount of hours they spent with their children. They still tried their best to be around their kids in the morning and the evening, but the children could only settle for school and their nannies in between. Both parents had tried to bring one kid or another to their workplace when they had a free day, but that resulted in many distractions and far too little work being done. Fortunately, the children were doing pretty well for themselves. They were smarter and more thoughtful than their peers and also understood the plight of their parents. There were plenty of Larkinsons around them that could keep them company. Sometimes, they stopped by their great-grandfather to hear about the old days of the Larkinson Family. Other times, they played virtual games together. "Meow~" "Miaow~" Naturally, the cats played a large role in keeping the children happy. At this moment, Lucky was pressed up to Marvaine’s side while Aurelia was gently brushing Clixie’s fur. The two cats purred as they enjoyed this blissful moment. Gloriana tended to stop yelling pretty quickly once she received a reminder that she was showing her ugly side to her children. She threw Ves a mean look as if to convey that they were not done with this argument before plastering a smile on her face as she headed back to the living room. "Aurelia, how are you doing at school as of late?" The mother asked as she sat down on the couch and embraced her oldest daughter in a hug. "I already completed this year’s mandatory courses in advance, mama." Aurelia spoke with reserved pride even as she continued to groom Clixie. "I managed to win lots of praises in my singing, dancing and music classes. I even earned the qualifications to perform in a theater. However, the theater shut down most of its scheduled programs due to martial law. More of us are being encouraged to take classes on military history and military theory. It is as if we are being prepared to attend officer school." That disturbed Ves and Ketis. The Joan Devos Elementary School predominantly enrolled the children of the rich and powerful of New Constantinople VIII. The remainder were children who had shown exceptional intelligence and other gifts at an early age. It was pretty much one of the premier young talent factories of the Devos Ancient Clan. The school’s clear and obvious shift from civilian pursuits to military classes said much about the ancient clan’s expectations of its future. Even if red humanity managed to weather the Red Tide Offensive, the war between humans and the native aliens of the Red Ocean would probably drag on for many years. Society had to become a lot more militarized in order to meet the needs of the next few decades. Ves and Gloriana exchanged worried glances. Should they encourage their oldest and youngest children to pursue military careers as opposed to civilian ones? After all, what use was there to become a good politician or mech designer when only fighting could give them a chance to fight for their own survival? However, an entire civilization cannot be run by soldiers alone. They needed proper direction as well as scientists and engineers to arm themselves with the right gear. At most, Aurelia and Marvaine should sign up for extra classes to learn how to defend themselves and how to find their places in an army if they were forced by circumstances. "Aurelia." Ves gently spoke. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢 "Yes, papa?" "Your tenth birthday is coming up." He said. "You know what will happen at that time, right?" Aurelia paused in petting Clixie and adopted a more serious expression. "I will get to learn my genetic aptitude." "That is correct. Genetic aptitude is not as important as before as everyone can become a Carmine mech pilot these days, but those with good aptitudes still enjoy a lot of advantages. If you ever end up having a high enough aptitude, would you prefer to attend the mech academy or a normal school?" "I don’t want to become a full-time mech pilot." Aurelia said with clear eyes. "I think I can do much more if I run the institutions that facilitate our soldiers rather than to become a soldier myself." "You can always choose to become an officer, dear." Gloriana said. "Not a mech officer such as Saint Commander Casella Ingvar, but more like a normal officer such as General Quinlist Verle. Our family line must always maintain control over the military arms of our clan. Right now, the Saint Commander’s popularity is growing by the day. The Larkinson Army is becoming more and more inclined to follow her orders over that of Ves, and that is not a healthy development. If we want to ensure our mech pilots understand who should be in charge, it is best if one of us sits at the top." Aurelia looked confused. "Andraste is supposed to be in charge of the military, right?" "Yes, but only if she chooses the command track." Ves replied to his eldest daughter. "If there is one lesson I have learned from observing so many high-ranking mech pilots develop before my eyes, it is that passion and doing what you like the most are most conducive to breakthroughs. Andraste, tell me honestly. Would you like to study to become a mech commander like Saint Commander Casella Ingvar or Saint General Ark Larkinson?" "No way!" Andraste honestly voiced as she crossed her arms. "I mean, I will learn how to issue orders if I have to, but I want to become strong above all else. I don’t want to sacrifice my own strength to make my minions stronger like Casella. I also don’t want to become an ace commander like Uncle Ark who is only strong when he is popular. I want to be more like Saint Dise, who mainly relied on her skills and willpower to become strong!" In other words, Andraste strongly preferred to stick to martial pursuits to the extreme. Prospective champions like that tended to care less about other activities such as commanding troops. In their opinion, it was better to delegate these tedious distractions to professional officers. Though Ves did not entirely agree with this sentiment, he did not discourage his second daughter from pursuing her own dreams. "Do you understand, Aurelia? Your younger sister won’t be able to command any troops if she wants to become really good at fighting. I would not object if you want to become her commanding officer. A good mech can get a lot more stuff done on the battlefield if a competent commander is in charge." Aurelia frowned and shook her head. "I will do it if I have to, but I think that there are enough Larkinsons who can do this job. I don’t need to be in charge of our mech army. I can be in charge of the person who is commanding our troops instead." Ves made another suggestion. "If you don’t like to run a mech army, then you can also opt to follow a naval track instead. Our clan has the right to field 2 warships, of which 1 of them is almost ready to enter into service. I think that we will continue to earn more Warship Tokens as the war progresses. Soon enough, we’ll be able to amass a sizable first-class warfleet that will form the core of our clan. It will be very useful if you know how starships work and how to command warships in combat. Learning to become a naval officer should also prepare you fairly well for civilian leadership positions." That sounded more compelling to Aurelia, but she was not inclined to agree. "I still want to follow my original plan." The first daughter stated in a calm but firm voice. "I think I can be much more useful if I run organizations such as the Larkinson Clan or the Red Collective. I have learned in school what good leadership can do. During humanity’s worst moments during the Age of Stars, wise and farsighted leaders bravely stood up to the trend of xenophilia and advocated that our race can survive without appeasing alien bullies. I think we need that kind of leadership in the future when red humanity begins to go astray." "Do you think we will?" Ves asked. "I do not know." Aurelia shrugged. "It depends on how well we are doing in the Red War. Even if we do not get outright defeated, more and more people will grow weary of all of the fighting. Many of their relatives are dying every year. If our people begin to lose hope, they will advocate for peace or surrender. Good leadership can help them regain their confidence in themselves. I want to be a part of that. If I want to become good at inspiring the masses, then I want to take the best possible classes that I can take in the Red Ocean. Papa has done something similar with his memorable speeches, and he has never received proper training. I can do much better once I have mastered the proper skills." Both Ves and Gloriana could clearly sense their eldest daughter’s strong belief and conviction on this matter. She was anything but a whimsical child who casually said they wanted to become a doctor or a lawyer. Continue reading stories on freewebnovel Despite her youth, Aurelia already developed a clear understanding of her purpose and how she could best fulfill it. She also understood that she could not afford to take any detours. Doing so might broaden her horizons, but also spread herself too thin. Gloriana couldn’t help but soften her eyes as she bent down to kiss her proud daughter on the head. "If that is what you want, then we will support you to the best of our abilities. You are right that good leadership is still very necessary in the future. I only hope that you are not born too late to have an opportunity to lead our clan and our society to a better future." All of this talking and dreaming would become moot if the native aliens managed to breach the frontlines and wipe out red humanity from this dwarf galaxy. Ves felt a renewed sense of urgency. He had to do more to arm his customers with stronger mechs and gear. He already had an idea on what he could do in the short term. He mentally dug up the incomplete design schematics of the Riot Mark III and thought about applying an extreme transformation on the expert spearman mech. He not only wanted to turn him into a superdimensional mech, but also a D-mech! What would happen if he tried to combine the two? Was it even possible to make it happen, or would something go catastrophic wrong?