The initial banquet proceeded rather smoothly. It helped that the space between the tables was rather large in order to allow the Cross Clan's latest trophies to take up the best space.
As warriors themselves, the Infinity Guard officers all became fascinated by the debris and other spoils of war. They were especially impressed with the pieces that originated from the enemy expert mechs.
Mercenaries generally didn't retain the services of expert pilots.
They generally never fought against mech pilots of this caliber. They also found it too expensive to meet the needs of an expert pilot. If an outfit or group couldn't make an expert pilot happy, then much of their investment would go to waste if the demigod walked away!
Perhaps the larger mercenary organizations such as the Star Striders may be able to afford retaining some expert pilots, but their 14th Fleet obviously hadn't benefited. Their roster was completely filled with standard mech pilots.
