When Ves figured out so suitable energy sources to sustain the growth process, he did not imdiately implent the entire plan.
He had a feeling that once he completed his mother's spiritual construct, sothing drastic would happen.
He didn't know whether his mother intended him to create it before the battle or during the battle. If it was so kind of ans to allow the Oblivion Hand to reach his position, then it was best to make it straight away.
However, if it was so kind of superweapon that could disable the Gravada Knarlax in an instant, then Ves was better off holding off its completion until the pirate warship finally ca within engagent range.
Considering all of the possibilities, Ves opted to make the safest choice and hold off until battle comnced.
Until then, Ves only started the growth process but did not feed the huge amount of energy needed to complete the growth.
This was good, because it took a fair amount of ti for the seed to bloom and grow into sothing more sophisticated.
After the growing product used up all of the available spiritual energy within reach, its evolution stalled. As long as Ves periodically fed it with a modest amount, he was able to keep the incomplete product in a healthy and stable condition.
This allowed Ves to keep it on standby until he was ready to resu the growth process. Until then, Ves put the P-stone in his B-stone lockbox before passing the square object to Nitaa for safekeeping.
"Watch over it carefully. Don't let anyone touch the box or the stone that's inside!" Ves seriously commanded his bodyguard.
"I will make sure it will stay secure." His tall bodyguard stoically replied.
Ves looked at her second-hand Fridayman gear and figured he might as well build a customized Unending combat armor suit to increase his security and reward Nitaa for her loyalty.
He had already used up most of the B-stone that comprised Grand Protector Roshaw's bed fra. What scraps he had left was not enough to cover Nitaa's entire body.
"I'll just have to build a suit without this protection, then."
While that ant she would have to forgo protection against spiritual threats, she would still be extrely formidable against material opponents.
A day quickly went by. While Task Force Predator had begun to enter into its highest. state of alert, Ves had squirred himself away in his ch workshop to frantically produce a few pieces of exceptional gear for himself and Nitaa.
He not only built her a brand-new suit of heavy combat armor, he also fashioned a few strengthened gadgets for himself and his bodyguard. For example, he stripped the external structure of her heavy assault rifle and covered it with both Unending alloy and Breyer alloy.
The sa went for other gear such as his jamr and Nitaa's foldable sword. He used small pieces of Unending alloy as the principal material before covering up its unevenness with a smooth layer of Breyer alloy.
During this ti, Ves continually received status reports from Calabast, Major Verle and other important figures in the fleet. He was peripherally aware of the final preparations made by the various ch forces. He also gained enough information to keep track of the movents of the pirate scouts.
Over ti, the pirate scouts acted bolder. They attempted to move closer in order to gain accurate and detailed scans and observation data on the condition of the task force. The Larkinsons had to prevent this at all costs. Every hour, hundreds of Larkinson and Penitent Sister chs sortied into space in order to beat back the brazen pirate scout chs.
The patrols managed to take down dozens of carelessly-piloted pirate light chs, but the damage inflicted on the pirates was trivial. There were many more scouts that were still determined enough to sneak closer!
On the day when Ves had just upgraded the last pieces of personal gear, the announcent that he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
The forward scouts dispatched by their own side finally detected huge energy emissions in the distance. The energy signatures were barely perceptible, but they were growing stronger at a strong but steady rate.
Several Larkinsons had very little doubt that the signatures belonged to the infamous Gravada Knarlax and her escorts.
The battle that Ves and the Larkinsons Clan were most afraid of was finally dawning upon them. In around twelve to twenty-four hours, Task Force Predator would have no choice but to fight against the overwhelming might of the Allidus Alliance!
Ves and Major Verle convened one final command eting. Every important commander and officer personally shuttled over to the Scarlet Rose and t up in the conference
room.
While it would have been more convenient to hold this eting by remote, Ves did not want to give the pirate scouts any chance of eavesdropping on the transmissions. Everyone who entered the conference room looked grim but ready. It was as if they were all staring at their impending deaths. Even if they knew that there was a large chance that so or all of them wouldn't make it at the end of the day, they still retained their fighting spirit.
Warships or not, the Larkinson Clan would not go down without a fight!
Ves threw a look at Major Verle, who promptly comnced the final eting. "Hello, everyone. We have all worked extensively to put the final pieces in place. I won't reiterate them all because we are all extensively familiar with these elents. Right now, this eting is about analyzing the enemy disposition. Our forward scouts have just returned a large amount of fuzzy long-ranged scanning data. While our analysts are still trying to process this data, we can already answer so questions. First, the largest energy signature indeed matches what we expect of a 800-ter heavy cruiser. The Gravada Knarlax or another comparable warship is definitely a part of the enemy punitive fleet."
Everyone's expressions darkened a bit, but not too much. They already expected this outco, though many hoped the intelligence was wrong. Battling a pirate fleet. centered around a heavy cruiser was much different from battling one without such a powerful ship!
Dark clouds seed to cast over everyone's heads. Though their morale had sunk a bit, there was no way to avoid this blow.
"The sensor data we've obtained has also allowed us to confirm other observations. While there is a small chance the pirates are deliberately trying to mislead us, for now we are confident in our judgent. According to our analysts, the Gravada Knarlax is accompanied by 4 destroyers, 2 frigates and an unknown number of carriers."
"How about their chs?" Commander Orfan asked. "I heard that the enemy armada forcefully tried to recruit every pirate in their way. How much cannon fodder do we
have to go through?"
"8,000 chs."
Several Larkinsons uttered shocking gasps.
"That's impossible."
The Larkinson Clan's ch troops could only field around 860 chs at a ti. That was how many healthy or lightly-injured ch pilots they retained after the costly Battle of
Ulimo Citadel.
The Penitent Sisters were only able to field 200 second-class chs after suffering badly
in the final phases of that very sa battle. While Ves expected much from the Hexers due to the quality of their chs and the new battle network he created for them, they could not shoulder the entire weight of the battle.
Even if the 200 Penitent Sisters confronted the 8000 pirate chs without any other enemies, it was hard to say who would win!
Each Penitent Sister ch would have to take out 40 pirate chs to even the score. This was a tall order even if second-class chs possessed a crushing advantage. "If we look at the chs alone, our Larkinson and Penitent Sister chs are
outnumbered by eight-to-one." Commander lkor stated. "With our strength, it should be doable to defeat such a large force, but the coming battle isn't centered around the chs."
Major Verle nodded. "The Gravada Knarlax and her escorts will dictate how the battle will unfold. There are many other factors that can complicate the battlefield. For example, we will definitely put our newly-produced superweapons to use, and I can imagine the pirates might be thinking the sa. We also have to take.. more esoteric considerations into account. A repeat of the dark sphere might throw everything into
chaos."
"We know what is possible now. We won't be caught flat-footed this ti." Ves interjected. "While I can't go into the details, we have already prepared our own plans to complicate the battlefield. However, take into account that our asure is likely a double-edged sword. While we have implented so precautions that should hopefully lessen the burden against us, we can't guarantee anything further."
A lot of commanders and officers expressed confusion at what he said, but he really couldn't afford to say anything more. It was enough to give them a heads-up on what to
expect.
The eting proceeded tensely. Major Verle outlined the probable enemy fleet disposition and began to call up a couple of simulated battles to give everyone an idea how the battle might proceed.
Many of the scenarios ended in an utter defeat for the Larkinson Clan. No matter what their side did, the pirates simply threw a mob of 8,000 pirates in their direction while letting their warships crush the vulnerable Larkinson and Penitent Sister carriers!
If any of the Larkinson chs ca closer, the enormous amount of secondary weapon batteries affixed to the Gravada Knarlax would surely chew them to pieces!
The only scenarios where the Larkinsons achieved a painful victory was when a lot of factors were in their favor.
"We still have a realistic chance of winning the upcoming battle." Major Verle attempted to boost everyone's confidence or at least stave off the onset of despair. "Leaving aside unknown and unpredictable factors, just our chs and ships alone can still pressure the pirates to the point where they expose vulnerabilities. As long as at least a couple of converted Penitent Sister combat carriers manage to ram the Gravada Knarlax, our follow-up attacks may be able to take the pirate flagship down. If all of our expert candidates manage to advance to expert pilots at once, then the montum of the battle will briefly but crucially swing in our favor" Not everyone believed that the latter would happen. Ves hadn't actually gone around to advertising the wonderful effect his spiritually-enhanced chs had on his expert candidates. He didn't want them to inadvertently blab that sensitive detail in an area that was monitored by the MTA.
While ves knew it was hard to explain four simultaneous breakthroughs, he still possessed confidence in being able to Devil Tongue his way out of this predicant! The discussion continued, but no one gained much useful information. Major Verle rely repeated so key ssages in order to make sure that everyone was on the sa page. The next battle would certainly push everyone to their limits. This made it harder to enact elaborate plans, especially if anomalies dropped over the entire battlefield.
In these kinds of situations, it was important to make sure that every commander and sub-commander knew their role and place on the battlefield.
Ves wanted them to be able to operate independently without waiting for orders from a superior they couldn't get ahold of. If this was not the case, one of the asures he planned to employ risked doing a lot of damage to his own troops!
"You should hold a final speech when we are close to moving into engagent range."
Major Verle turned to Ves. "Each of us are here for several reasons. So of us fight for ourselves. So fight for the betternt of their children. Others are fighting for you and the ideals you espouse. No matter what, we are all bound and united by the sa
clan. As our patriarch, we need your voice to remind us what we are fighting for. Can you do that, sir?"
Ves smirked. "Consider it done."
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