A few days after his visit to the Surly Cockatrice, Ves received a very unexpected surprise.

A new group of Brighters arrived in the Cinach System. This time, they consisted of some very familiar comrades!

As soon as Ves heard the news, he immediately rearranged his schedule so that he would be ready to greet the new arrivals when they reached Cinach VI.

Soon enough, three war-scarred combat carriers and a small number of logistical ships arrived in orbit.

Ves re-read their names and studied their appearances as if to confirm they matched the ones in his past!

The Princely Jackal. The Shield of Hispania. The Gorgon's Gaze. All three of them were very familiar to Ves. He even spent a lot of time on one of them during his time in the Mech Corps!

The three vessels didn't immediately descend on the surface. Instead, the Princely Jackal dispatched just a single shuttle and a modest escort of mechs towards the temporary base of the Larkinson Clan.

After some time, the shuttle alongside some familiar looking mechs emerged at the landing zone designated for their arrival.

"So they still make use of Inheritors and Hellcats." Ves muttered as his eyes clouded with nostalgia.

The Inheritor light skirmisher mech was the mainstay of the Flagrant Vandals. It was cheap, disposable but formidable in its own right. Ves still admired its design even as he criticized its lack of investment.

The Hellcat hybrid knight was a much more impressive spaceborn mech. Though it exhibited a lot of strain as it got closer to the gravity well of the planet, it was still a relatively powerful mech. One of the machines cost at least ten times as much as an Inheritor!

Both mechs hadn't been updated in years, which clued Ves in that the Flagrant Vandals never found a replacement for Professor Velten. The sole Senior who kept the mech regiment's exclusive mech designs up to date had already passed on, with no one left to continue her legacy.

Ves quietly mourned her passing as the shuttle finally touched the ground.

Before the shuttle doors even opened up, one of the Hellcats showed some activity first! Its mech pilot practically hopped out of the cockpit and used a rappel to descend to the ground as fast as possible!

"Ves! Nice to see you again!"

"Captain Orfan."

Rosa Orfan looked a bit haunted, but tried to put up a cheerful front. The Flagrant Vandals obviously hadn't left the Bright Republic under their own accord. As a former soldier of the Mech Corps, such a decision obviously troubled her at night.

With strong, exuberant steps, the mech captain rushed up to Ves, ignored his bodyguards, and swept him in a hug!

"Hahaha, I missed having you around all day! You were by far the most interesting mech designers to serve with the Vandals for a very long time!"

Ves didn't recall her being so friendly towards him. Perhaps the long time of separation caused her to color her memories of him. In any case, he could clearly sense that she was an expert candidate of notable strength, so he tried his best to play along!

"I'm glad to see you alive and well after that mess at Bentheim. Did you…"

Her face dropped. "The 'Battle of Bentheim' as everyone called it was a disaster from beginning to end. No one knew what the sandmen were truly like. It was like they suckered us in the biggest trap of their making. Even the MTA couldn't stop the sand storm."

Neither of them liked to spoil the mood, so they quickly turned to another topic.

"How is your progression?" Ves curiously asked. "The way you advanced to expert candidate was very unusual. Commander Dise, who experienced the same bonding ceremony with Qilanxo as you, has been stuck in a bottleneck for a while."

"I know." She said. "I kept in touch with her. I'm in a similar position as her. If I ever manage to find a way to get over the hurdle, she'll be quick to follow suit!"

In his spiritual vision, Ves observed a similar conflict between her aggressive tendencies and her imparted spiritual strength.

When Dise and Orfan both became the chosen beast riders of Qilanxo, they developed a symbiotic bond with each other. Of course, due to the disparity in strength between the sacred god and the human mech pilots, this bond was far from perfect.

Before they could speak any further, Commander Dise just arrived!

She immediately locked stares with the former officer of the Mech Corps. Despite their radically different backgrounds, there was only kinship in their expressions!

"We are finally reunited with each other." Dise spoke.

"Yeah." Orfan said. "Now that we're back together, I don't regret leaving the Bright Republic as much."

The pair merrily walked away in order to celebrate their reunion elsewhere.

As for the shuttle, another familiar face finally showed up. Still wearing his uniform, Major Verle calmly stepped up to Ves with a smile.

"Thank you for accepting us, Mr. Larkinson. We weren't sure whether you were willing to host a bunch of deserters like us. We went through a lot of twists and turns until we reached this star system."

Ves smiled back and shook the other man's hand. "It is no issue. You took care of me while I was serving with the Vandals. Now it's my turn to shelter you and the Vandals. Let's head inside where we can talk."

They exchanged some light stories as they slowly walked to one of the office buildings. After entering a small conference room, Major Verle sat down opposite to Ves and laid down the score.

"There are many reasons for our decisions to depart the Bright Republic." He began. "First, the Bright Republic's future is very much in doubt. While the Friday Coalition forced the Ylvaine Protectorate and the Vesia Kingdom to subsidize its reconstruction, their influence is already being felt. Even if they didn't find some excuse to break up and annex the territories of our Republic, they would have certainly become the de-facto rulers of the occupied regions!"

"That's not necessarily a reason to leave, major. The mission of the Mech Corps has always been to protect the state and its citizens. Perhaps you can't perform the former, but you can still perform the latter."

Major Verle sighed and shook his head. "Our Vandals are pariahs under the new order. The infamy we garnered during the previous Bright-Vesia War and our inconvenient association with another pariah like you has made us the target of a lot of retaliation. Both the Protectorate and the Kingdom have a bone to pick with us, Ves. On top of that, our secret affiliation with Flashlight has also become a liability?"

"How so?"

"Unlike Spotlight, Flashlight has always been on the side of you and the Tovars. We didn't join the manhunt on your relatives. In fact, we hindered and obstructed Spotlight and the other pursuers as best as possible. This has landed Flashlight in hot waters in the post-Sand War reality. The current administration of the Bright Republic doesn't appreciate Flashlight at all! There is even talk of abolishing the spy agency!"

"Ah. I see now why you are so eager to leave."

Major Verle used to be part of the Firestarters, which was a division under Flashlight. He would be the first person to get in trouble due to the hats he wore!

"Both Flashlight and the Vandals have already left the Bright Republic in droves. We understand our home state better than others and we realize that its future as an independent state has likely come to an end. Certain pro-Fridayman factions have come into power and they are very eager to enact punitive measures against those who oppose their views. For this reason, we Vandals have quickly decided to pick up our families and definitely depart the Republic."

Obviously, they didn't receive permission for all of their actions. The Vandals didn't only desert, but also stole valuable assets of the Mech Corps in the process! The three combat carriers they currently owned didn't come cheap!

"The number of Vandals that arrived in this star system is a lot less than I expected." Ves noted. "From what I recall, your mech regiment used to be a lot larger."

"We lost most of our strength during the disaster at Bentheim." Verle ruefully smiled. "Of the survivors, a part of our group decided to seek shelter from you, while another portion split off to build a new life elsewhere. That's why we're only left with three intact combat carriers. At least look on the bright side. All of us who stuck around up until now are pretty enthusiastic about working under you! Many of our fellow Vandals still remember all you have done for us! Each of us are already convinced of your leadership."

Though Ves understood that the moods and loyalties of the Vandals were probably a lot more complex than the mech major described, he still believed in his statement.

It was rather strange to meet Major Verle in the capacity of someone who stood above him rather than the other way around.

In the past, Ves always looked up to the seasoned mech officer. In fact, he purposefully copied some of Verle's leadership style and made it his own! The intangible debt he owed to his former superior was considerable!

Yet the unexpected arrival of the Flagrant Vandals also inconvenienced him a lot. Ves already took in an abundant amount of stray groups. He really didn't know whether it was a good idea to accommodate one more, particularly one that already possessed their own strong identity!

Ves looked at Verle and decided to lay out his concerns in the open. The mech major deserved to hear the full score.

"Our Larkinson Clan is pretty full, in a sense. While I would be glad to welcome you into our ranks, friendship and past camaraderie alone is not enough. If you want us to take in your Vandals, then you will need to make a number of concessions."

Verle nodded in understanding. "We don't expect you to take us in out of charity. The ones who are left with us are more receptive to accommodations than others."

"I'm glad you understand." Ves smiled. "Let me list out my basic demands. First, while I'm willing to give your Vandals a blanket invitation to join the clan, they will still need to go through some inspections. I don't want any spies or troublemakers to disrupt our harmony."

"How strict are the inspections?"

"They're not as bad as the ones we employ to the public. Don't worry about it. As long as they are earnest and willing to play by the new rules, our clan will find a place for your boys."

"That's great."

"Don't forget that I expect their loyalty to the clan to be permanent and unquestionable. I don't want to hear any of the talk I used to hear from the Vandals when I was serving with them. Do you understand?"

"That's a given." Verle quickly responded. "I'll make sure the Vandals understand that they're in it for life if they accept this opportunity."

Ves moved on to his third and most controversial point. "Third.. I'm not sure whether it is wise to keep the identity of the Flagrant Vandals. As much as I value your martial tradition, we already have the Battle Criers that fulfills a similar role to yours. Will your Vandals be willing to let the Battle Criers subsume your Vandals?"

To his credit, Major Verle didn't shout his objection to this proposal. Yet the discoloration in his face made it very clear that he deeply disliked it! Letting the Battle Criers absorb the Flagrant Vandals would mean the death knell of all of its heritage and martial tradition! The Vandals would no longer exist except in record and footage!

To the proud Vandals who always took pride in their distinctive identities, this was a deeply unacceptable move! At least half of the Vandals would outright leave if Ves voiced his intentions!

"Are you testing us, Ves?"

He smiled back. "You're a smart person, Major Verle. I've seen you in action enough times to know that you are partially putting on an act. Just because we used to fight alongside each other doesn't mean I am willing to neglect my responsibilities to my clan!"

If the Vandals thought they could take advantage of him and the clan, they were sadly mistaken! He was not about to let Major Verle employ his social manipulation on him and gain passage to the Larkinson Clan for free!