Chapter 3871 Putting Down Roots
During a time where the Golden Skull Alliance was preparing for an imminent battle against the so-called Phase Kingdom, a completely different event temporarily distracted the soldiers stationed in Fort Fishblood.
A wedding was being held in the middle of the base!
Much to everyone's surprise, a Larkinson and a Glory Seeker actually chose to cross the boundaries of their respective organizations and form a first-of-its-kind marital union.
This was rather confusing. Why would a Larkinson and a Hexer possibly hook up together? It didn't make any sense! Even if the Larkinson Clan possessed an unusually close entanglement with the Hexadric Hegemony, their cultures were still different!
Everyone knew that the Hexers were all crazy people. Their abnormal elevation of women over men to the point where they actually invented a religious belief around their doctrine was so repulsive that no one really wanted to befriend them in normal days.
The Larkinsons might be weird in their own way, but since they consisted of people who originally came from other cultures, the clan had developed an open and fairly tolerant society that was closely aligned to mainstream human standards.
An ordinary Larkinson would never think about marrying an ordinary Hexer.
Then again, the bride and groom were hardly ordinary in this case.
Venerable Brutus Wodin was not an ordinary Hexer. He was a mech pilot and a demigod to boot!
As the strongest individual combatant of the Glory Seekers, Brutus was their sole champion and standard bearer. Although his status within the Hexer unit was a little awkward due to belonging to the underprivileged male population of the Hegemony, his pedigree was impeccable.
Such a precious 'boy' was actually quite a catch in Hexer society. He was obedient, useful, polite and well-trained. Hexer women who liked to share their time with someone more exciting had already sent many inquiries to the Wodin Dynasty.
Yet for some reason or another, Brutus did not follow the arrangements of his dynasty. He did not allow his mother to arrange a match for him which was tradition.
He instead crossed over to the Larkinson Clan and hooked up to a woman that no one expected!
Not many people had a good idea of what Commander Sendra was like. While she was not a low-key figure who liked to lurk in the shadows, she wasn't as storied and renowned as her predecessors.
Commander Lydia was forever remembered as the founder and the ancestor of the Swordmaidens. She presented a vision. She arranged the funding. She led the initial organization. She guided its growth. She recruited the first batch of women. She trained her poor and malnutritioned girls into elite, battle-hardened warriors.
No one could top her prestige even if Lydia's Swordmaidens was incomparably weak by the current standards of the Larkinson Clan.
The successor of Commander Lydia could not match the founder's deeds, but she didn't need to. By dedicating herself to elevating her martial strength, she had broken through and become an expert pilot that served as the example and the goal that every other Swordmaiden mech pilot strove to reach.
If Commander Lydia played the role of a deceased ancestor to the mech legion, then Venerable Dise served as its living ancestor!
Unlike the Sentinel Commander, Venerable Dise did not focus her efforts on leadership and command. While she had taken numerous leadership roles over the years, that was only because the Swordmaidens naturally respected strong mech pilots and powerhouses.
There was no benefit to letting her get distracted by the minutiae of running an expanding mech legion, so another figure had to take over the mantle.
That mantle currently rested on the bride of the unexpected wedding. Commander Sendra was not as historically significant as Commander Lydia nor possessed the inhuman willpower of Venerable Dise.
She was Sendra Larkinson, a Swordmaiden that led her fellow sisters and did a decent job at that. Though she was not as inspiring or competent as Commander Casella Ingvar, a figure like that only emerged once in a hundred years.
Every Swordmaiden was pretty much satisfied with Commander Sendra in charge. She was part of the original band that had survived all the way up to these times.
Unlike many of her rougher and cruder sisters, Commander Sendra also adapted a lot better to the drastic changes over the years. She had become a fixed presence in the upper echelon of the Larkinson Clan and adequately represented the interests of the Swordmaiden Mech Legion.
Even if a handful of other Swordmaidens spent more time in training and became stronger than Sendra on the battlefield, none of them thought about initiating a challenge.
There was no reason to replace Sendra. The warriors whose skill and valor exceeded that of the Swordmaiden Commander had set their sights on apotheosis instead of a glorified desk job. Even if their chances of breaking through was miniscule, they never wavered in their goals and did not intend to give up until they were physically unable to interface with mech!
Besides, the Swordmaidens of today had already changed a lot. Though the women cherished their traditions and tried to preserve them whenever possible, that did not mean they rejected the demands and expectations of the Larkinson Clan.
As long as they became stronger, then it was not such a bad idea to adopt new customs!
As the head of the Swordmaidens, Commander Sendra played an undeniable role in furthering the harmonious cooperation between the mech legion and the Larkinson Clan. Her support and her steady leadership contributed a lot to the integration process.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: The Mech Touch