Alrin departed from Earth, pushing his personal frigate deep into the Orion-Cygnus Arm.
He scoured the stellar maps for a specific energy signature: a red star in its stable mid-life—neither a volatile newborn nor a collapsing ancient.
Finally, near the jagged edge of the spiral arm, he found it.
The star burned with a heavy, rhythmic pulse, perfect for stabilizing the Void Whale neurons within his son.
The Pirate Ambush
As Alrin complete the delicate process of siphoning the Red-Core Liquid, space around him warped.
A pirate fleet dropped from warp, led by a Net-level cultivator piloting a customized Destroyer.
Because Alrin was on a personal mission, he was without his usual Veyron escort, facing a coordinated pirate force structured like a formal military hierarchy:
Led by the Net-level pirate. Two Squads of 6 mecha pilots, coordinated to create a perimeter, preventing Alrin's escape.
Integration: The Frigate-Mecha Hybrid
Alrin didn't panic. He initiated a high-level Veyron combat maneuver.
His frigate began to shift and grow, its hull dividing into modular components that flew toward his primary Black Mecha.
The ship's engines and thruster blocks attached to his arms and legs, nearly doubling his mecha's scale and physical power.
The reinforced mid-section of the frigate converted into a massive, reactive Shield, while the remaining plating fused into his existing armor.
In the Federation, elite combat units design their frigates specifically as "external toolkits" to maximize their one-to-one fighting potential.
The Siege Pillar in Action
For the first time, Alrin unleashed the Gravity-Impact Siege Pillar.
He opened the engagement with the Super-Heavy Vacuum Cannon.
Brilliant, condensed pulses of black energy tore through the pirate Squad, imploding three enemy mecha instantly.
As the Net-level pirate closed the distance, Alrin triggered the Detonation Coupling.
The cannon head locked onto the telescoping shaft, and he swung it as a massive hammer.
He locked his shield onto the mecha's back to deflect fire from the flanking platoons, focusing entirely on the pirate leader.
The battle grew desperate. The pirate leader detached his own Destroyer module, merging it with his mecha to achieve a power output that momentarily surpassed Alrin's.
Steel screamed against steel. Alrin's mecha took heavy damage, its arm plating shredded and sensors failing.
But Alrin relied on the compactness of his Veyron Net, which was physically embedded into the mecha's core.
In a final, risky gambit, Alrin overloaded the hammer head with a Special Pulse Bomb.
The explosion was blinding. It destroyed his own primary weapon and left the pirate leader's sensors scorched and blind.
Under the cover of the light-flare, Alrin ignited his damaged thrusters and slipped away into the Void.
Return to the Veyron Tower
When Alrin finally limped back into the Veyron Tower, he was a shadow of his usual self.
His suit was scorched, and his movements were stiff with internal bruising.
Seeing him in this state, Lyra was struck by a violent flashback to their years in the military—the smell of ozone, the sound of klaxons, and the fear of never seeing him come home.
She began to cry, the tears a release of years of suppressed combat trauma.
Alrin pulled her close, comforting her despite his own pain.
For the next several days, she refused to leave his side, nursing him personally and ignoring all other estate duties.
Kaelen's Resolve
Kaelen returned from the Academy to find his father injured.
His initial shock turned into a cold, smoldering anger toward the pirates, but beneath that was a deep, quiet realization.
His father had almost died to fetch him "food."
The weight of his family's care touched him more deeply than any Academy lesson ever could.
Once Alrin was stable, he handed the vial of glowing Red-Core Liquid to his son.
Kaelen retreated to his chamber, sitting cross-legged.
He didn't just "eat" the liquid; he used his Crimson Threads to refine the star-essence, slowly dripping it into the oily red shadow of Redveil.
The result was immediate.
The Void Whale neurons stabilized, the chaotic hunger settling into a focused, cold efficiency.
[SYSTEM STABILIZED,] Redveil whispered. [PROCESSING CAPACITY INCREASED BY 22%. NEURAL ANCHOR FIRMLY SECURED.]
Kaelen opened his eyes. He felt taller, his foundation firmer.
The Veyron legacy wasn't just about power; it was about the lengths they would go to protect their own.