This was awkward.
Just as the Larkinson Clan innocently went out of its way to undermine and assault a pirate base, a number of outsiders arrived and caught Ves in the act.
Prior to the assault, the Larkinson ships and mechs had largely remained together and at a distance from Xiphard Base.
Task Force Predator aimed to leverage the advantage of surprise, and for that to happen, the Larkinsons had to stay well away from the Crona Lords.
Due to various reasons, the Larkinsons only opted to dispatch scouts in order to keep an eye of the surroundings of the main fleet. This was a compromise decision that allowed the task force to monitor its own surroundings but effectively remained blind to all but one of the approaches to Xiphard Base.
This meant that an unknown pirate trade convoy had managed to approach Xiphard Base without alarming any Larkinson scouts!
