Chapter 7455  Promethea Progress

The Terrans highly prized the enemy leader known as the Blackwater Summoner.

Due to his famous ancestor, the greater phase whale grew up within the core hierarchy of the Red Cabal.

Although he might not be among the most outstanding descendants of that famous ancient phase whale, he still received enough favor to take up an important position.

It was clear that the true leaders of the Red Cabal trusted the Blackwater Summoner more than most, which meant that he should be a goldmine for intelligence.

That also made it difficult to capture this 'later generation prince' of the Red Cabal. He never stationed himself close to the frontlines.

Fighting and dying was for cannon fodder, not for an esteemed figure like himself. He would never move close enough for the Light of Sol to stop by and chop his blackened body into pieces!

He also had a habit of relocating to different major alien star systems at irregular intervals. The Blackwater Summoner most definitely knew how much the humans hated him and wished to take him off the board.

All of that sounded like bad news for the Terrans and the Larkinsons.

An intelligent and cowardly opponent was a lot more difficult to hunt than a foolhardy brute.

"Does he have any actual weaknesses?" Ves asked with a frown.

"The Blackwater Summoner is a powerful greater phase lord, but he has tried and failed to complete the next step for many years, which is one of his shames." Casella replied. "He also disdains to interact with cosmopolitans. His racial arrogance is still fairly strong. He acknowledges the threat posed by humans, but he still finds it difficult to take small mortals seriously. Do not celebrate too soon, though. There are other alien phase lords and phase whales that do take red humanity seriously. This is also one of the reasons why we must strike at any cosmopolitan enclave if the opportunity arises."

Ves doubted that a couple of strikes could truly set back the cosmopolitan agenda.

These human traitors had long split themselves up into many different cells, so much so that probably nobody had a full headcount!

All of this fracturing meant that taking out individual cells only diminished the influence of the Cosmopolitan Movement by a couple percent.

The only value of striking their enclaves was to gather intelligence on their activities and find out whether they were cooking up a bigger plan.

"Make no mistake." The Saint Commander spoke as she met everyone's gazes. "Once we go in, peril will be everywhere. The native aliens have enough of an understanding of us to know that Ves is a high-profile target. We will be targeted. We will be hunted down. Even ancient phase whales may not be able to resist the urge to intervene. The only ways we can prevent this from happening is to be smarter, faster and more unpredictable than they can handle. I am confident that we can handle it. Our starships are largely modern and well-equipped. Their superdrives will allow us to evade most alien pursuers, who largely have to make do with inferior and outdated tech."

The meeting soon turned into a more in-depth planning and strategy session.

Ves yawned and rose from his seat. He knew that all of this boring and intricate planning did not require his input. He had little to contribute aside from a bit of technical assistance, and even that was not all that necessary.

"I will leave you to it." He said. "I trust that you guys will be able to lead the native aliens by the nose. Just tell me when the situation has changed to the point that the likelihood of interception is significant enough."

Casella Ingvar nodded. "We will keep you informed. The probability of interception will be fairly high just after we cross the contested border. However, there is not much to fear from the enemy fleets in the immediate region. They are largely cannon fodder that are not as nearly well equipped as their core forces. We can shake them away with ease if their numbers prove too great, or we can choose to confront them in order to inaugurate our campaign and test our initial cooperation."

They had multiple options at their disposal. Ves trusted Casella to choose what was best.

Given everyone's eagerness to clash against the aliens as soon as possible, Ves figured that the Saint Commander would commence battle right after crossing the border.

Perhaps it might have been a better idea to sneak past and avoid contact as long as possible, but that was unlikely to work.

Unless the entire fleet consisted of stealth-capable vessels like the iconic archeships, it was impossible to truly prevent the native aliens from detecting the passage of their combined fleet.

"The more formidable alien forces are stationed deeper into the interior of alien-occupied space." Caracalla Shuku reminded everyone. "They are less numerous, but considerably more elite. Eliminating one elite fleet is just as valuable as destroying 10 normal enemy fleets. The former are also often stationed around critical military or industrial nodes, so we can fulfill even more goals by targeting the surrounding infrastructure. However, from the moment the Red Cabal learns that we have ventured deeper into enemy territory than most humans have dared, we will truly become hunted."

It was not unheard of for human forces to cross the border in an attempt to raid alien convoys and minor depots, but that was all they could accomplish.

The Terrans and the other forces simply had too little mechs and starships of their own to conduct frequent raids. They already had their hands full with keeping their defensive lines intact.

Ves left the conference room and made his way over to the design lab.

Once he arrived, he greeted the mech designers that were present before moving straight to Gloriana's private workplace.

It seemed he had come at a good time. She was just presenting the latest results of the Promethea Mark II Project to their client.

"Ah, Ves. You have arrived. Come here. Much of the intricate work surrounding this mech design comes from you. It is better if you explain some of its specialties."

 Saint Isobel Kotin stood proudly before Gloriana. The ace pilot possessed a very different presence from most of her kind.

She carried herself as a taciturn woman, but she also projected an invisible burning aura that made people in the vicinity feel as if they were bathing in a hot sun.

This signified that Isobel deliberately restrained herself, and for good reason. Control was the most important trait that she needed to master if she wanted to wield the power of fire.

As Ves came close enough, he briefly scanned the projection of the ace mech design.

"I'm not sure what Gloriana has already told you, Isobel. Did she mention that we will likely be leaving out the second weapon until later?"

The fully cybernetic ace pilot nodded. "She did. The two of you intend to speed up the schedule at the cost of leaving out a few upgrades and additions."

"That is right. I know I promised to bestow a brand-new energy blast projector that can spit out freezing flames, but that was an idea I came up with after we struggled to fight against the mutated voribugs. Now that we have relocated to the Terran front, we don't need a weapon like this all that much. The new version of the Ignitron luminar crystal assault rifle should be more than enough to handle most native alien threats. Any enemy phase leader that is powerful and well-protected enough to resist the attacks from this rifle will not do any worse when attacked by your future second weapon."

Saint Isobel did not look upset. "While I cannot claim to feel good about this, I understand the logic behind your decision. I understand the necessity of patience. I agree with you that wielding an energy shotgun is likely redundant during the current campaign."

It would have been a cool weapon, both literally and figuratively.

The tentatively-named 'Cryotron' luminar crystal energy blast projector would have functioned like a close-ranged energy weapon that could flash-freeze almost anything within its attack cone.

Ves even planned to implement additional functions that could essentially turn the frozen corpses into disposable projectiles, thereby shattering any enemies in their way!

The planned weapon would have been ideal for swarm clearing missions!

Not only that, but Saint Isobel would also be able to deprive the voribugs from one of the resources they needed the most, which was energy!

The Cryotron would definitely be able to play a surprising role against Goliaths that might have been able to resist hot energy attacks.

Fortunately, the more familiar native aliens did not show the same kind of rapid adaptation and evolution. They were all fairly vulnerable to fire and energy attacks, especially once they lost the protection of their ubiquitous transphasic energy shields.

Ves raised his hand and showed off the projection of the upcoming version of the Ignitron.

"I have spent a fair amount of time and effort into improving your main weapon. The design is not yet complete, but I have already been able to incorporate loads of new and updated technologies. This is a complete overhaul. The implementation of hyper technology and E-technology is much more refined than before as we have a much deeper understanding of these fields. The energy attacks will carry significantly more extraordinary factors, which will make it easier for you to impart your formidable willpower into the energy beams. To be more specific, I have put special effort into maximizing the Ignitron Mark II's compatibility with your King Killer Flames and your companion spirit Kiroshi."

Isobel looked satisfied after hearing that. Her purple flames possessed special properties that made all of her flames more deadly and potent. The easier it was for her to transmit those properties into her upcoming ace mech's offensive output, the better.

As for Kiroshi, the flaming purple cat happened to be her best tool for propagating wildfires across significant distances. Multiple variables impeded the companion spirit from doing her job. Isobel hoped that the upgraded weapon could make the process of deploying her more effective.

"What about the bayonet?" She asked.

Ves waved his hand, causing the projected rifle to extend a sharp and hot blade just below the muzzle.

"The bayonet is supposed to be a weapon of last resort for you, but that is no reason to underestimate it. While it is limited in length, its lethality cannot be denied. Not only do we intend to forge it out of weapon-grade superdimensional alloy, it is also designed to channel your King Killer Flames to a greater extent than normal superdimensional materials. You will be able to punch through pretty much anything and burn everything in proximity. Just keep in mind that the rest of the rifle's structure is made out of armor-grade superdimensional alloys. They are still tough, but please don't use your weapon to parry a weapon as outrageously sharp as the Decapitator."

"Will the Promethea's other blades be made out of weapon-grade superdimensional alloys?"

"Sadly, no." Ves shook his head. "We cannot justify the expenditure of so much weapon-grade superdimensional matter for a ranged mech. Other mechs such as the Lionheart Mark II and the Bastion Mark II need it more. You will have to make do with a short plasma sword and a compact armor-grade superdimensional knife as backup solutions. The Promethea Mark II may fare much better at close range than her predecessor, but she is still optimized for ranged combat, so please keep your distance from your enemies."

The plasma sword and the superdimensional knife may be fairly strong in their own right, but they did not shine compared to her main armaments.

In fact, if Ves had any choice, Saint Isobel would never resort to these sidearms!

It should be enough for the Promethea Mark II to resort to hit-and-run attacks to burn her enemies long before they got close!

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