The Gemini Family firmly grasped the interests of the invited groups. The Golden Skull Alliance, the Adelaide Mercenary Company, the Lehrer Foundation, the Santana Group and the Boojay Family all became increasingly more invested in the upcoming joint operation.
It did not take long for the Geminis and the delegations to finalize a contract that precisely detailed all of the terms and conditions for their temporary coalition.
At the same time, their military officials got together in order to expand and improve upon the initial attack plan developed by the Geminis.
While there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the strategy adopted by the Gemini Family, many steps could still be improved by relying on the unique strengths and circumstances of the individual coalition partners.
Ves unconsciously jerked whenever an individual mentioned the word 'coalition' in his vicinity.
The Friday Coalition pressed onto his life for so many years that the word in question had become tainted in his mind.
He developed such an allergy towards this word that he proposed an alternative.
Of course, no one outside of the Golden Skull Alliance seriously entertained his suggestion.
To them, it didn't matter if their temporary collective was called a union, an alliance or a coalition. frёeωebɳovel.com
They just settled on the last term because it possessed an obvious temporary connotation.
None of the coalition partners intended to team up with each other after they had topped the Palace of Shame. They had too little common ground with each other and there was no particular urgency in seeking safety in numbers.
Some of the pioneering fleets that had committed to the operation were also detachments of larger organizations. The Adelaide Mercenary Company, Lehrer Foundation and the Santana Group were all headquartered in different places and had spread out their forces in order to pursue multiple goals at once.
Ves dreamt that his Larkinson Clan would grow to this point as well one day.
Once his clan grew large enough to be able to send out multiple strong fleets in different directions, the Larkinsons would be playing an entirely different game!
Due to the concerted efforts of the Geminis, many people became familiar with their family's customs and ideals.
While the Geminis did not always succeed in gaining the support and approval of their guests, the people they had invited to break open the Palace of Shame no longer exhibited as many negative reactions as before.
People still liked to talk about it, though. Their practices were just so strange and different that it was as if the Geminis were aliens!
One of the people that started to think about the Gemini Family's unusual family customs was Venerable Imon Ingvar.
The expert pilot spent a lot of time with two different individuals: his expert mech and his sister.
One of the most enjoyable periods of his life nowadays was when it was time for dinner.
The two Ingvar siblings were both busy with their own lives and no longer spent as much time together as before.
Commander Casella Ingvar was especially swamped with work due to serving as the legion commander of the Living Sentinels.
Though Venerable Imon Ingvar tried his best to accompany his sister, he was not a part of the chain of command and did not really have any business meddling with the management of the mech legion.
He could make much better use of his time by training his skills or deepening his familiarity with his expert mech.
This was why Casella forcefully kicked him away so that he could spend his time on more productive activities such as polishing his combat skills or tutoring other mech pilots.
Still, no matter what responsibilities Casella and Imon carried out these days, they always tried to synchronize their schedules so that they could gather together at least once a day.
Breakfast or dinner became the most common periods for them to spend quality time together. It was either at the start or the end of their work days that they could put aside their work and share their thoughts and concerns with each other without any pretensions.
As the pair of expert pilots quietly enjoyed their meals in a private room deep inside the Gorgoneion, Imon curiously glanced at his sister who was seated on the other side of the dining table from time to time.
Someone as sensitive as the Sentinel Commander quickly noticed the scrutiny.
"What is wrong, Imon?"
"We are Larkinsons, Imon. The clan doesn't belong to us. Do not forget your identity. We are its servants. The Larkinson Clan has formed their own ideals about family, and if you ask me, they are much more preferable to the subversions celebrated by the Gemini Family. I will not tolerate any further discussion about this. It is fine for the Geminis to do what they want, but we do things differently."
That pretty much ended Imon's attempts to convince his sister from taking a deeper look into the Gemini way of life.
As the pair of siblings were just beginning to eat dessert, Imon finally gathered enough courage to bring up a slightly different topic.
"I have learned of an interesting new way to share a meal that I want to try out with you. Just for fun, of course."
"Oh?"
"They say you can get closer to your brother or your sister if you take a bite but pass it to each other's mouths. They say it can deepen the bond of love and drive away alienation. That sounds useful, right? Since our cooperation on the battlefield depends so much on how extensively we love and trust each other, I think it would be useful to add this interesting ritual to our daily lives. What are you, Casella?"
"..."
"I mean, there is plenty of objective proof that it works! I can think of no other means to productively increase our synergy and teamwork than to share our food with each other. We should at least try it out to see whether there is any truth to the claims!"
His sister did not respond immediately. Instead, she continued to eat her cake until she stopped halfway.
The Avatar Commander abruptly rose from her seat and marched over to her brother's side of the table.
She leaned in so that her head was almost pressed up against the head of her sibling.
Was Casella truly willing to try out this exotic custom?
Just before Imon opened his mouth in anticipation of a kiss, Casella violently sprayed the half-chewed bits of cake into her brother's face!
"Aaahh! That's disgusting!" Imon complained as he tried to wipe off the mess.
"You're the one that is disgusting! If you bring up this notion to me again, I will do something that will make you want to wear a codpiece for the rest of your life! Now scram! I don't want to see you for the rest of the day!"
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