First Blood

The mech arena could potentially accommodate a hundred-thousand Larkinsons. It could even host more if it erected extra floating stands that stacked on top of each other.

This was excessive, though. Perhaps it made sense to expand the capacity of the arena by that amount if the clan numbered a million people, but at the moment it barely surpassed 175,000 individuals.

Was that a lot? Certainly. Was it enough to justify stuffing more than half of them in a single location? Most definitely not! Who knew if a terrorist plotted to destroy the arena or the entire capital ship? Though the security forces along with the Black Cats were on full alert, no one could truly guarantee whether the site was safe.

It was bad practice to put too many eggs in a single basket. Drawing too many Larkinsons away from their posts also weakened the defense of the clan. There were less crewmembers on duty aboard important combat ships and less mech pilots to go on patrol.