Kisscraft

Oh, the rewards will come after Ves has completed prototypes to show off. He isn't so greedy as to want an advance on possible rewards. He wants a bidding war on the actual results! And he just got a TON of free security upgrades!

And... the readers know the "message" is merely a happy coincidence of Ves's paranoia. But it makes for a useful cover story of "why the last-min change in mech selection."

Well... isn't this a *wonderful* trap card of insider knowledge Ves can use in his next negotiation. Expecially because this is all happening behind the back of YC at the behest of those fat cats back in the Milky Way. Plus, if Ves allows this attack to go off, the festival is gonna get canceled! Much better to make use of that Founding Ceromony to make a "Spirit of Duvalt" instead.

The best spy in the whole clan is probably VES! Expecially because he can gain legitimate access to the palace - and arrange to be "kept waiting" or simply socializing while his spiritual eye snoops. Expecially if he lures away with Ace mechs with some Lucky hints of infiltration.

Instead of making a too-obvious totem of himself... Make one of Binky! And he can say the mind cat is the origin of any "glow phenomenon" that is oddly lingering around him. He can also make use of the strength of unending Alloy to make a wire-frame mech-scale totem. To visually show the "incoporial" nature of Blinky. Or as the lead holders in a stained-glass totem? Of course that means he needs to make a totem of Gloriana's cat as well. And it WILL need to be a Masterwork! (Gloriana will accept nothing less)

I think the recruiting standards have gotten too elite. Of course the reason is a lack of space and not malicious prejudice against "average humanity." It's still a very real and very harmful problem to everyone in the bottom of their class (Or bottom of the totem pole at work) This pressure cooker problem is the very thing Calabast warned against when they set up the Branch System in the first place. I hope they have a plan in place to resolve it.

Gloriana doesn't need 'incarnations' - that is Ves's thing. She doesn't have the spiritual expertise to handle it anyway. At best she is only where Ves was as an Apprentice!

I think one or two of the first ships they commission need to be additional Ship builders! Specifically a factory ship optimized to produce lots of small cutters and scout ships at a time. They already have the Dilligant Ovenbird and the unamed Shipyard Ship optimized for medium ships. Getting one (or two) optimized for the smallest sizes is a good next step!