Chapter 7454  Multiple Objectives

Once they informed their children about their new side activities, Ves and Gloriana split up to perform their individual duties.

Gloriana knew how urgent it was to add another strategic asset to the combined fleet in the short term.

She had cut back the time she spent on other projects and activities in order to speed the Promethea Mark II Project to completion.

They had already made good progress on this ambitious ace rifleman mech design project, but the demand for spreading widespread destruction would definitely become particularly helpful once they began to raid fortified alien positions!

Ves also promised to stop by her lab and find out what he could do in the coming weeks, but before he could do that, he first had to attend a strategy meeting.

"Good morning, guys." He casually greeted me as he moved towards one of the empty chairs in the small conference room.

All of the other leaders had arrived early on. Each of them represented a major force or group in the combined fleet.

The Bluejay Fleet was nominally led by Admiral Gori Tensen, but he only truly commanded the mechs and vessels hailing from the Red Association.

Commodore Zonrad Reze led most of the warships from the Red Fleet, which was warranted due to their much more naval warfare-focused technologies and doctrines.

The Moloch Squadron existed as a third group under the Bluejay Fleet. Centered around the Armitage and the Moloch, what the squadron lacked in technological prowess, it more than made up for it with 31 Ascended Giants and several groups of mixed but capable qi cultivators!

Saint Commander Casella Ingvar directly commanded the Larkinson Clan's Premier Fleet, if not the clan itself.

Despite the fact that she wore multiple impressive hats, she had already delegated many non-essential and civilian responsibilities to other Larkinson executives.

Although the Premier Fleet was rather limited in terms of mechs and warships, its true advantage was the concentration of powerful saints, each of which made use of excellent machines that performed well above their peers.

Combined with the priceless Command Field of the Saint Commander, the Premier Fleet already burnished their credentials during the months it had fought across the Terran frontline.

While the soldiers from the Bluejay Fleet and the Premier Fleet already possessed a certain understanding of each other's combat capabilities, that did not apply to the last group that had attached itself to the combined force.

The rather boring-sounding 1st Experimental Detachment consisted of 4 biomechanical combat carriers.

Although the Terrans had taken advantage of their independence from the Red Two to mount a handful of secondary and tertiary gun turrets across her hull, their true value rested in their bellies.

The Terrans had loaded them up with 120 brand-new prototype Woodsap mechs, of which a quarter consisted of the elven variant!

As Ves skimmed through a more detailed list of assets, he pondered about that last part. He turned towards the Second Elf, who commanded the detachment.

"Mr. Shuku, welcome aboard. I hope you do not mind our company while you are operating alongside our men."

The sole elf in the room briefly stood up and bowed in response. "Thank you, Professor Larkinson. We greatly appreciate that you are willing to accommodate my men and prototype mechs. Both have special requirements, so I wish to apologise in advance for any inconveniences that we might impose on you. We do not ask for much. Our only mission is to fight against the native aliens in diverse scenarios while preserving our organic machines as best as possible. We do not have any priorities beyond that, so I do not intend to participate in any discussions relating to your own campaign goals."

Saint Commander Casella Ingvar nodded in acknowledgement. "It is good that you understand that you are guests here. I have already studied the specifications of your Woodsap mechs as well as the records of all of your test pilots. I hope that each of them are as disciplined and professionals as your documentation claims. If you want us to continue to tolerate your company, then you must make it clear that they must obey my orders above all others. Operating behind enemy lines is perilous. Speed and agility are more important than swinging your fist. We must maintain the ability to detect formidable enemies in advance and withdraw quickly enough to avoid undesirable contact."

"Understood, commander. You can rest assured that all of our pilots are selected for their loyalty and obedience. They used to be highly trained soldiers serving in other branches of our armed forces, so they are already trained to follow orders. We only ask you to take their relative inexperience into account. They do not possess a deep and thorough mastery of their own biomechs, nor do they fully understand their place on the battlefield."

"There is only one point I am not entirely certain about." Casella said with a frown. "The list of specifications describe the performance of the standard version of the prototype Woodsap mechs in sufficient detail. However, they are decidedly less complete when it comes to the elven edition of the same line."

"There are differences between the two versions, but I am incapable of describing them in a manner that does them justice." Caracalla Shuku explained while his elongated ears twitched with his cadence. "They are new enough that they have not yet undergone any systematic tests. This is also one of the reasons why we are looking forward to deploying them against the native aliens. It is much faster, more accurate and more convenient to ascertain their performance in actual combat scenarios. At a minimum, the performance of our elven Woodsap mechs should at least match the standard version of the same line."

That did not provide much information to any of them. How big was the performance gap? Which areas benefited more from the elven-specific upgrades and which aspects remained unchanged?

All of these uncertainties had a big impact on the Saint Commander's ability to plan ahead.

She moved on from this issue. "Let us consider the local starscape."

A projection of the local region appeared above the conference table. It showed a small portion of the Terran border regions along with a larger stretch of alien territories.

For multiple reasons, the alien territories did not consist of a single racial domain, but were instead split up into many different 'strips'. They belonged to a large variety of both major and minor races.

"We have collated the intelligence on the designed war theater acquired by a number of different parties, which includes our clan, the Red Association, the Terran Alliance along with a number of other helpful allies." Casella explained. "The overall goal of the Nemesis Campaign is to inflict significant strategic disruptions to the alien war operations. It is impossible for our force alone to defeat all of the alien forces stationed in and around this theater in its entirety, but we can still do the next best thing, which is to sow enough chaos and destruction to cause the remaining alien forces to lose their effectiveness. Whether we do so by demoralizing them, sabotaging their logistics or cutting off critical reinforcements, there are many ways to make meaningful progress."

"The Terran Alliance has already issued many different rewards for fulfilling any major objective that can ease the burden to our linefighters." The Second Elf reminded everyone. "There are certain priorities that we pay more attention to than others, but we do not wish to command your troops directly."

This was an important distinction. The Larkinsons volunteered to fight beyond enemy lines. They did so without agreeing to hand over command authority to the Terrans, though the latter arguably benefited the most.

This meant that the Saint Commander could always choose to abandon any important goal and issue the order to withdraw completely from enemy space at any time.

The Larkinsons would have been a lot more reluctant to participate in this campaign if this was not the case!

Casella gestured with her hand, causing numerous star systems to light up with different colors and symbols.

"As you can see, there are many different objectives that we can choose from. We do not have to pursue all of them. What is important to note is that our route will determine which goals we can fulfill in a reasonable timeframe, and that the more impactful ones are located further behind enemy lines. If we want to make a significant impact on the ongoing war, we cannot remain in the shallows, but must venture deeper in order to damage the sites that our enemies truly care about."

Some of those goals started to cycle on the projection.

"These goals include destroying major industrial worlds, killing or capturing greater phase lords that have exercised their leadership, raiding valuable research data and specimens from research worlds, striking the few cosmopolitan enclaves that we have been able to identify, intercepting supply convoys and burning down their logistical centers. We can accomplish much, but each of these locations are guarded by a variety of native alien gods as well as conventional forces. We have enough intelligence on their fixed defenses, but it is difficult to pin down the presence of more mobile forces of our opposition."

That uncertainty was not good news, because the invaders always had to gamble whether they would bite more than they could chew.

"If we were afraid of bumping into serious challenges, then we would have agreed to embark on this campaign from the start." Ves stated. "I think that we should still go deep, but do our best to avoid lingering beyond our welcome. We should aim to achieve a single vital goal before we turn around and return home."

"Agreed." The Saint Commander said before she pointed at one of the glowing star systems located closer to the galactic center. "This will be our tentative endpoint. I have chosen it because there are multiple viable routes we can take to arrive there, and it is not that difficult to switch tracks and follow another route with different goals along the way. Ultimately, our main goal will be to decapitate the greater phase whale that is purportedly responsible for managing the logistics in this approximate region."

The projection changed to show an old greater phase whale with a darker and less refined hide.

"This is the Blackwater Summoner. He may not be familiar to most of you, but according to our intelligence, he is the member of the Red Cabal that most other alien forces answer to when they arrive at his jurisdiction. While he may not possess the power or prestige of an actual ancient phase whale, he still manages to outrank most of his peers due to being one of the numerous descendants of the Tide Caller."

Multiple leaders adopted severe expressions.

The Tide Caller was the ancient phase whale that was instrumental in activating the so-called Tide Stations in order to pull off the Ancient Refuge Plan.

In other words, he was the cowardly ancient phase whale that was chiefly responsible for displacing the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy all the way to Messier 87's neighborhood!

Although he had been ignominiously slain during Operation Night Jazz, his legacy still lived on. Many native gods and mortal aliens still worshiped him despite his demise, and his descendants eagerly took advantage of all of the extra support.

"This Blackwater Summoner sounds like a tricky fellow." Ves commented. "If our forces continue to get closer to his location, what is stopping him from running away?"

"Nothing but his own honor and reputation." Casella replied. "We cannot count on the integrity of a greater phase whale to stay in place and face our forces head-on. If we want to intercept him before he flees out of our reach, we will have to be clever about it. We must employ a combination of misdirection, fast maneuvering and strategic positioning in order to set up a successful ambush."

"That will not be easy."

"Agreed, but it is doable. At worst, we can always change targets midway and aim for another goal."

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