Ves began to perform over forty successive tests. Each ti, he deployed a varying amount of Penitent Sister ch pilots. After stimulating the Superior Mother's crown, they spontaneously adopted different formations depending on their circumstances.
It turned out that the Superior Mother was able to induce six different formations, each of which corresponded to the six phases of existence.
For example, the first test exhibited the last phase of existence. The formation based around the supremacy of won was capable of unleashing a strong burst of power. Unfortunately, without the requisite strength and number of ch pilots, the woman-oriented formation was very draining.
The second test showcased the fourth phase of existence. Apparently, the formation based around the damnation that every life form had to go through was oriented around beating attrition and outlasting the enemy.
The remaining four formations each excelled in different aspects. Where they actually ca from was a mystery. Ves didn't think they ca from Cynthia Larkinson. She may be many things, but he was pretty sure she didn't know anything about chs, either from a pilot or designer's perspective.
Perhaps the ancestral spirit derived these formations from all the ch pilots she ca in touch with during or after her creation. Ves still recalled the many ch pilots that took part in the ritual that birthed her. Subsequently, all of the bonds the Superior Mother ford with her worshippers may have also given her insights on formation and ch combat.
"I could be wrong, though."
There was sothing very odd about these formations that he couldn't quite figure out yet. Commander Chancy already confird to Ves that it was unlikely that any Hexer outfits or military ch regints utilized any of these formations.
When the Penitent Sisters tried to recreate the formations without activating the battle network, nothing unusual happened. The formations were decent but did not bestow any abnormal advantages.
Without any spiritual shenanigans, the formations lacked aning.
It took a lot of trials to gain these extensive results.
Just a single ch company wasn't enough to engage with the battle network over and over again. Seeing as none of the Penitent Sisters who maintained a thick connection with the battle network suffered any maladies, Ves decided to throw all caution to the wind and connected every other Penitent Sister ch pilot to the sa network!
With hundreds of test subjects to work with, Ves no longer had to wait until the participants of his tests had recovered from their ntal and spiritual exhaustion. He could rotate a fresh batch of ch pilots on a continuous basis.
It only took two days for Ves to gather an ample amount of data.
Perhaps his most surprising finding was that the inclusion of just a single ch pilot with spiritual potential made a huge difference in the load-bearing capacity of the unit that was channeling a formation.
The duration of the formations doubled and in so cases tripled after the inclusion of ch pilots with spiritual potential. Whether this was because spiritual-active ch pilots redirected much of the burden to themselves or because of other factors, Ves wasn't sure. He was just glad that his latest innovation had beco a lot more practical now that it was capable of lasting longer!
This wasn't all. Any spiritually-active ch pilot was not only capable of enduring more strain, but also gained greater awareness during the process!
This was an important discovery! Any ch pilot that managed to avoid getting subsud by the Superior Mother's vast presence was able to actively nudge the formation to act in a certain manner more conducive to the battle at hand.
This effectively ant that the formation gained significantly more purpose and direction. Although the difference was rather subtle, it hinted that stronger ch pilots might be able to gain an even greater voice in the battle network!
Was this the principle behind Master Huron's asymtrical neural networks?
It was too bad that the Penitent Sisters didn't boast a single expert candidate or expert pilot. He would have to form a new network centered around the Swordmaidens in order to explore this research direction.
In any case, through all of these successive tests, he and the Penitent Sisters slowly understood so of the rules behind the formations and how to make better use of them in battle.
When Ves t with Commander Chancy to review their conclusions, he handed her a modest list of ch pilots.
Chancy reviewed the nas on the data pad. "Are these the ch pilots that are capable of extending the duration of the formations?"
Ves nodded. "They are all special and worthy of greater investnt. Even if you don't do anything with them, it is still useful to spread them out among your ch companies."
"What happens if we concentrate them in a single unit?"
"Adding more will lengthen the duration of the special formations even further, but not by much. In fact, I think it's wasteful to add more than two special ch pilots in a single formation."
This was because while the additional spiritually-active ch pilots could channel much of the energy flowing through the battle network, they couldn't do much to help the remaining ch pilots withstand the Superior Mother's presence.
Maybe it would be different if Ves threw an expert candidate or expert pilot in the mix. Their strength gave them the capital to resist the powerful pressure of a strong spiritual entity, and their force of wills might interact with the battle network in a surprisingly different fashion.
Commander Chancy decided to accept Ves' recomndation. She intended to distribute the ch pilots on the list evenly across all of her ch companies. That way, their formations would all be able to last a decent amount of ti.
"Do you have a na for this mysterious blessing?" She asked.
"Hmmm…"
Ves hesitated for a bit. He hadn't really thought about it yet. He was tempted to call the phenonon a battle network, but he didn't want to reveal more than what was necessary.
If any outsiders heard this na, they would definitely conclude that Ves ripped off Master Huron's work.
While it wasn't shaful to take inspiration from other people's work, doing so without attribution or without respecting the source was deeply troubleso.
Ves did not wish to make use of the word network at all. He had always spoken vaguely about the Larkinson Network because he didn't want Master Willix and the MTA find out about all of his spiritual engineering projects.
He thought about using the word formation instead. That was more fitting. There was no way to hide the chs adopting distinct formations, so he might as well base the na around them in order to attract outsiders away from what really mattered, which was the spiritual battle network.
"Let's call them battle formations." He decided after a couple of minutes. "These battle formations are distinct from regular formations due to the 'blessings' they can evoke."
The middle-aged Penitent Sister Commander furrowed her brows. "This is a rather underwhelming na for sothing so grand."
"That's the point, commander. I don't want people to know about them or be on guard against them. The battle formations are capable of conveying substantial advantages to our ch pilots, but they are not infallible. If our enemies are prepared against them, then the battle formations will only exhaust our ch pilots in vain."
Though Commander Chancy wanted to assert that the Superior Mother's formations were unbeatable, her better sense pushed through. Even she could think of ways to negate the advantages of the battle formations. For example, the most convenient thod was simply to deny battle and wait until the battle formations reached the end of their durations!
"I understand. I will make sure my won will keep the details of the battle formations to themselves. Each of them have stated that it's a great privilege to beco a vessel of the Superior Mother. They will not do anything that compromises the sanctity of this exalted ritual. It's just..."
"Is there anything you want, commander?"
"We have noticed that it takes your personal intervention to enable our Penitent Sisters to grow closer to the Superior Mother. While it makes sense that you are able to do so since you are her son, can you give us a ans to convert more of our Sisters?"
Ves imdiately shook his head. "No. Access can only be granted by . Do you think anyone can approach the Superior Mother?"
"There are many non-ch pilots in our midst who would love to gain a closer relationship with the Superior Mother. For example, Head Designer Staros deserves this honor for all of the work she has done in keeping our chs running. Commodore Evern will also be delighted if you grant her the sa honor, and so do many more Penitent Sisters."
He couldn't do that. Battle networks were much smaller in scope by design because of their greater effects. Battle formations were only useful for ch pilots, so letting in soone else took up a valuable slot.
Only when the living spiritual constructs that supported the network grew more powerful would so additional slots open up, but that took ti.
"I am open to exceptions, but not too much." Ves compromised a bit. "Let's leave this matter aside until after we have left the Nyxian Gap. Right now, we have very little margin for error, so I don't want to complicate this matter further. Make sure to limit your suggestions to those who have earned this right."
"Will do, sir."
The relationship between Ves and most of the Penitent Sisters had ward up ever since he hoodwinked them into thinking he was literally the Superior Mother's son. While this was factually true, Ves didn't want to emphasize it too much. He just wanted to convert these powerful ch pilots to his side so that they wouldn't abandon him when he needed them the most.
Before he left the Penitent Sisters and allowed them to explore battle formations at their own leisure, he implented one more change.
One of the more perplexing aspects about battle formations was the ergence of impressive-looking but largely aningless energy silhouettes.
He disliked them quite a bit. There was no substance to them all and their presence might give the Big Two as well as the Five Scrolls Compact so clues that Ves did not want to reveal.
He tried various thods to get rid of the energy projections, but none of it worked. They always showed up as long as the ch pilots engaged in battle formations.
"The two are inseparable!"
Since there was no way that Ves wanted to abandon battle formations, he decided to cover up the energy silhouettes.
It wasn't that hard to do so as long as Ves employed so technical ingenuity. He licensed so projection software from the galactic net and programd an AI-driven software system.
The purpose of this new software was very simple. Whenever the Penitent Sister chs engaged a battle formation, the projection modules built into the fras of the chs automatically projected a lifelike visage of the Superior Mother over the energy silhouette.
With the help of sophisticated AIs, the projections perfectly matched the movents of the energy silhouettes!
Ves essentially covered up the spiritual phenonon with a purely technological phenonon!
Not only did the giant projection look a lot more impressive, but it was also useful for waging psychological warfare.
What would it be like if hundreds of different battle formations simultaneously projected giant figures at the sa ti? How would enemies react if all of those intimidating-looking projections charged into their lines?
"Hahaha! That will be a powerful show, especially if we combine it with glows!"
Other ch designers would probably regard it as a flamboyant quirk. After all, despite looking powerful, the projections ultimately didn't do much except affect the morale of both sides.
It was much like waving a flag, he thought.
"Hopefully, others will see it like that as well."
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