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There were ways for the Larkinson Clan to earn additional EdNet quotas in the future. The Larkinsons could always decide to lower the requirements later on in order to accommodate the pilots whose qualifications were not as good.

For now, it was important to get the Premier Branch off to a good start. There was no room for useless people. Every quota was precious and had to produce qualified first-raters without fail.

General Verle clapped his hands in satisfaction. "Alright. Let us settle for this list. Ves has agreed to reserve 1000 EdNet quotas for mech pilots. Those with A or B grade genetic aptitudes will have priority on them. As for the remainder, we will only limit our selection to mech pilots who are 40 years old or younger. Not only that, they must achieve a high enough score in a theoretical studies exam, be healthy and fit enough to undergo an extensive first-class augmentation regime and remain in good standing of the Golden Cat."

"Nyaa nyaa nyaaa!" The Golden Cat approved of the last demand!

"We should strive to select an equal number of candidates from every mech legion, but we shouldn\'t force ourselves too much. It is much more important to ensure that the protectors of the Premier Branch are the strongest and the most qualified for their positions."

This was bad news for the mech legions that paid less attention to smarts. Ves knew that the Swordmaidens heavily emphasized skill over theoretical learning in their recruitment and training regimes. They would all be facing an uphill battle in earning the precious EdNet quotas for that reason.

Legion Commander Sendra Larkinson understood this reality quite well. Her expression grew more and more unwilling as the selection criteria took shape.

Though Ves wanted to accommodate the Swordmaidens, it wouldn\'t be fair to devise special rules just to shore them up. Perhaps there may be a way to give them a leg up at a later stage, but for now the Larkinsons needed to be realistic in their planning.

"Any disagreements?"

The Larkinsons at the table all shook their heads. Even if they did not like all of the rules, they all understood that there were no better alternatives. They had to be content enough with the fact that the criteria were fair and impartial enough to theoretically give everyone a chance.

If a mech pilot failed to earn a quota, then that was because they just hadn\'t studied hard or effectively enough.

Now that they had formed a consensus on the recruitment of mech pilots, it took much less time to determine how to deal with the remaining 4000 EdNet quotas.

"We should apply a similar set of criteria on other essential professions." General Verle determined. "The priority should go to spacers and military staff. We need starship crew members who can operate the many systems of a first-class starship. We need mech technicians who can service complicated first-class mechs that we will depend upon in the future. We also need enough civilian professionals such as lawyers and accountants to properly manage the Premier Branch in its infancy."

Ves did not possess a great interest in how the clan allocated the remaining quotas. He was willing to delegate this responsibility to the leadership of the clan. General Verle would soon be meeting with the chief ministers of the Larkinson Clan in order to hash this out in greater detail.

There was only one issue that the Larkinsons needed clarification on right away.

"Sir? Will you and the mech designers of the Design Department make use of the EdNet quotas as well?"

"I\'m not sure." Ves responded. "I don\'t plan on using it myself, and neither does my wife. Removing myself from society for up to 4 years is too much. If everything goes as expected, my wife and I will turn into first-class mech designers on our own merits in a couple of years. This reminds me that the Premier Branch will always be open to all Larkinsons who are able to meet the standards of a first-rater by relying on their own efforts. It is better this way as the improvement is more organic and doesn\'t come with as many side effects."

It was too difficult for most second-raters to make this leap in a reasonable timeframe. The main limitation was the absence of a first-class cranial implant.

In theory, if a second-rater managed to receive a first-class cranial implant, it became a lot easier to become a first-rater.

This was the path that Gloriana had in mind for herself. She always had great confidence in the quality of her \'software\'. The only reason why she was being held back all of this time was because her \'hardware\' couldn\'t keep up with her growing demands.

His wife had grown thoroughly dissatisfied with her old and horrendously underpowered Erestal-015 cranial bioimplants that the Wodin Dynasty arranged for her a long time ago. While it still provided adequate assistance in her second-class mech design projects, it would hold her back enormously if she attempted to design a first-class mech!

Ves did not suffer from this problem fortunately. Although he was missing out on a lot of useful features of first-class cranial implants, he made up for it in other areas. He believed he could remain competitive with orthodox first-class mech designers by relying on cultivation science.

That said, aside from Ves and Gloriana, it would be difficult for other mech designers to follow their examples.

"I need to have a good talk with the members of the Design Department about this issue." He told them all. "I am not certain about this, but not every Journeyman will choose to make use of an EdNet quota. There are great differences between designing second-class and first-class mechs. They have all become highly proficient at designing the former. If they abruptly transition to designing the latter, they may fall behind and lose much of their prior accumulation, thereby causing them to delay their advancement to the rank of Senior Mech Designer by at least a couple of decades."

His mech designers therefore had to make a difficult choice. They could either stick to familiar territory and continue to work in their comfort zone, or they could enter an exciting new domain and struggle to compete in a much more difficult arena.

Ves actually felt it would be nice if around half of his lead mech designers stayed behind. They could continue to update the designs of the current second-class mech roster and design new second-class mechs as needed.

The biggest question mark in his mind was whether Ketis would decide to follow suit. She was the third-most important mech designer of the Larkinson Clan. Her decision would have a huge impact on the clansmen and the Swordmaidens in particular.

He could deal with that later.

First, he needed to wrap up this meeting. He answered a few more questions before he concluded it with a final remark.

"Promoting to a first-rater is difficult, but it won\'t be as difficult to bridge this gap in the future. Don\'t forget about the New Elites Program. While the details are still being determined, I know enough about it that any warlord or warfighter that has earned enough war merits will be able to exchange them for first-class augmentations and EdNet quotas at a considerable discount."

Many people\'s eyes lit up. They had overlooked the new opportunities presented by the recent changes in society.

"You don\'t need to be too smart as long as you are brave enough! The Fist of Defiance doesn\'t want red humanity be led by intellectuals who are too far removed from reality to retain any empathy. He wants to elevate real soldiers who have bled for our civilization and did their duty without hesitation! I am sure that many second-class Larkinsons will be able to distinguish themselves as warfighters in the times to come."

With that, the meeting had finally come to an end.

General Verle and the other mech officers steadily made their way out of the compartment. This left Ves and his honor guard alone with the small number of Larkinson expert pilots that had remained with the main fleet.

Ves made sure to check the security arrangements before he addressed his champions.

"As you know, when I came back from the Survivalist conference, I brought along an escort fleet as well. Leaving aside the warships, I effectively enjoy the protection of 45 first-class multipurpose mechs. The combat effectiveness of at least one of these machines are roughly equivalent to a second-class ace mech. Since that is the case, I do not have a pressing need to receive your protection in the short term. It will take years for me to become a first-class mech designer, and additional time to be able to upgrade your current living expert mechs to at least basic first-class standards."

The expert pilots all frowned at that. This effectively meant that it would probably take a long time before they became useful in first-class space.

"If that is the case, is there any point to follow you to the upper zones?" Commander Casella Ingvar questioned.

"Not immediately." Ves replied. "You not only need to wait around a decade or so to obtain a proper first-class expert mech, but you also have to spend a lot of time on learning all of the necessary theories and skills to operate first-class mechs and the high technologies that are typically associated with them. You will have to do so without the benefit of the EdNet due to the reasons that I have explained before, so it will take you quite a few years regardless of your individual efforts."

All of that sounded disappointing to the expert pilots who expected to be able to fight at a higher stage in a year or two. They needed to clear too many hurdles!

"If that is the case, then we may be better off with sticking to quasi-first-class expert mechs for the time being." Venerable Jannzi observed. "We can stay with the expeditionary fleet and fight alongside the majority of Larkinsons that have remained behind. They need our protection much more than the candidates who will be able to promote to first-raters without the need to prove themselves anymore."

"We can also accompany our troops in the upcoming deep strike operation that they will be sure to sign up for." Venerable Benjamin Larkinson spoke up for the first time. "It is in our blood, and our culture strongly encourages everyone who is capable enough to volunteer for service. Who knows. We may be able to earn enough rewards to help our promotion." There was little doubt about whether the expert pilots would sign up for the upcoming deep strike operations! Ves was proud to see that his champions possessed more than enough fighting spirit.

It was time to reveal the most radical piece of news that he wanted to share with his expert pilots.

"My grandfather is more correct than you know. You see, there is a different way for expert pilots such as you. The Red Association has developed a lot of new products that are powerful enough to be helpful to expert pilots such as yourselves. What I am about to reveal to you is classified information that is not yet permitted to become public knowledge. I have worked hard to secure this advantage for you all, so take this seriously. The mechers have recently developed a new means for expert pilots to quickly grow their resonance strength through artificial means. The newly invented general cultivation elixirs can shave years off your progression and quickly help you grow into ace pilot candidates in a matter of years instead of decades..."