Chapter 7507 New Spell Array

"..."

Ves did not respond to Jovy's explanation with words. He simply directed a meaningful stare at his mecher friend.

For his part, Jovy Armalon still possessed enough decency to express shame at the decision made by his superiors.

"I cannot help it, Ves. True mechs are the Association's strategic assets. We are reluctant to reveal them to the native aliens so soon and in such a haphazard manner. The calculus is similar to the one that you have used to justify the decision to hold back your Ascended Giants. If it is not absolutely necessary, then it is better not to expose a trump card in advance."

While that explanation may have worked for regular individuals, Ves possessed a far greater perspective than others!

"Oh, come on, Jovy! This is exactly the kind of situation that true mechs are designed to address!" He hissed back. "Everything that I have heard about true mechs makes it clear that the pilots are so deeply connected with their machines that they apparently take on the properties of insensitive objects rather than sensitive people. Supposedly, this allows them to become 'immune' to many of the threats that directly act on their souls. If that is true, then they should at least be highly resistant towards the dark miasma and the deathborn lurking within!"

The RA Senior Mech Designer sighed. "As I have mentioned earlier, it is not that simple. I cannot claim to possess a complete understanding of the rationale behind the rejection, but I can make a few guesses. This is a first contact scenario. We should never make it a habit to expose our best assets in the beginning. If we can handle the deathborn without resorting to exceptional measures, then that is for the best. If not, then the lessons we learn during this mission will go on to contribute a more targeted response, one that doesn't necessarily have to be centered around true mechs."

Ves possessed enough perspective to understand the logic behind this argument. It did not put his combined fleet in a good position, but it was ultimately the most rational choice for red humanity as a whole.

"I am very glad to hear that the Red Association values me so much that they are willing to let me initiate first contact with an undoubtedly hostile and violent race from Messier 87." He not-so-sarcastically said.

Jovy reached out and patted Ves' shoulder. "Do not sound so upset. Ordinarily, the RA and the RF would have insisted on taking over command of the combined fleet as soon as it became clear that we are potentially initiating contact with an extra-galactic alien powerhouse. However, your tier 2 galactic citizenship grants you the strongest privilege to represent our race and civilization out of every human in this star system. You are still in charge. Instead of complaining about factors outside of your control, you should cherish the ones that are already in your grasp. Many people would kill to be in your position."

The mecher was right.

In a situation as historically important as this, it was always better to hold the reins in your own hands even if he was not the most qualified leader available.

It was a lot better than subjecting himself to the authority of untrustworthy individuals who never had his best interests at heart.

"While all of that sounds nice, you are just trying to distract me from the fact that we are not allowed to deploy true mechs in this battle." Ves shifted his attention back to the true matter at hand. "While I can understand your arguments, it still feels as if you guys aren't taking this matter seriously enough."

"You are wrong about that, Ves. Some of our highest leaders are paying personal attention to this ongoing affair. You should be able to guess their identities. They would have preferred to act more directly, but the distance combined with the rising interference from the dark miasma prevents them from doing so. We are operating well behind enemy lines at this time. This makes our situation much more delicate than normal. There is no backup or safe retreat for us. If we suffer a painful defeat, then we will definitely leave a large amount of debris behind. If the aliens of the Red Ocean and the deathborn manage to salvage enough of our true mechs, then they may be able to develop targeted countermeasures. Even if that is not possible in the short term, they will still be able to figure out what they are dealing with, allowing them to adjust their tactics in advance."

That did not sound like a particularly strong excuse. So what if true mechs fell into the enemy's hands? It was not as if they could employ mechs themselves. It shouldn't be particularly difficult to figure out how they worked in principle, but Ves felt that the RA was overestimating the native aliens in their R&D capabilities.

Nonetheless, Ves inwardly sighed and abandoned this line of discussion. He proceeded to talk about other matters.

"To be honest, we do not have much confidence in our mitigation solutions." Jovy said with a somber expression. "You are not the only person who wishes that we can convert our existing machines into true mechs. The stopgap solutions that we have devised in cooperation with the Red Collective should mitigate the harm that our mechs and pilots will endure, but I do not dare to expect too much from them. In my opinion, the best way to prevent short and long-term harm to our assets is to limit their field time."

Ves raised his eyebrow. "You mean you want to let our mechs deploy into space for an hour or so before recalling them back to their motherships."

The RA mech designer nodded. "Half an hour is a safer and more appropriate interval according to our estimations. You are correct about the rest. Much will also depend on the effectiveness of the defensive spell array that the collies are just about to activate and how the enemy will respond. We cannot rely entirely on our warships to solve every problem."

"We'll just see, then."

More than an hour later, the formation masters of the Moloch Squadron in cooperation with engineers and other technical personnel managed to complete their project in record time.

It had taken a bit of time, but they managed to fabricate the half-mech-sized formation anchors in a hurry.

Multiple teams of qi cultivators conducted last-minute inspections on them. Due to the haste in their production, they had slipped up multiple times.

Formation Master Andrea Vos supervised the inspection process in person.

When Ves arrived in the hall, he took a deep look at the formation anchors and managed to understand the gist of their structure.

He knew how spell arrays worked in broad strokes. He roughly understood their principles, but lacked the comprehension and mastery to devise qi formations, particularly ones like these!

Ves genuinely admired the formation masters of the Red Collective.

They had managed to learn a very difficult discipline in a very short amount of time!

Even if they could attribute most of their blazing progress to their superior augmentations, each formation master used to achieve a lot of success in their previous academic fields.

All of that knowledge did not become useless when they chose to pursue a career as a formation master.

In fact, given how many qi formations were intrinsically tied to their environments, a deep understanding of the rules that governed reality granted them a considerable head-start in this new field!

Ves could already spot numerous signs that the collies leveraged their existing understanding of modern sciences into their work.

He doubted that the formation masters would have been able to deliver a usable product so quickly without relying on these shortcuts.

"So what is the verdict?" He asked. "Can we expect to obtain relief from the hostile environment?"

The Farseer frowned as she stared deeply at the formation anchors. "I… cannot say. Theoretically, these formation anchors should be able to work as expected. However, their power has limitations. Even if they work adequately for now, we cannot blindly rely on the defensive spell array once we are close enough to the target planet."

At least the collies did not overpromise.

"Once we activate the spell array, will we have to station mechs or warships at every formation anchor in order to protect them from enemy attacks?"

"That will not be necessary, sir. Most spell arrays have ways of hiding the formation anchors that sustain them once they are active. This is especially the case when it comes to defensive ones, as the enemy will always try to destroy the formation anchors above all other priorities."

That sounded convenient, but Ves did not dare to put too much faith in them. "Will the enemy be able to track them down and expose them somehow?"

Andrea Vos shrugged. "I genuinely cannot answer that question. It will depend on whether the enemy forces possess the right expertise and are willing to take action."

"Even if the phase leaders of the Red Cabal know far too little about qi formations, I bet the story is different for the deathborn." Ves responded. "Aliens who are rooted in a high-energy environment will have definitely developed many sophisticated ways to manipulate E energy radiation. Aside from that, they should also know how to break existing qi formations as well."

"Then our forces should prepare to foil the hostile aliens if they attempt to target the constructs that are supposed to maintain our new spell array."

The discussion continued as mechs carefully lifted the formation anchors by their purpose-built handles and carefully brought them out into space.

Positioning them required a lot of care, though Andrea Vos did not need to take control of this delicate operation in person.

The other formation masters possessed enough understanding of how the new spell array worked to be able to provide accurate instructions to the porter mechs.

Once all of the formation anchors had been placed in the precise coordinates relative to the flagship of the combined fleet, the Farseer herself finally took hold of the master control disk.

"We are ready."

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