Ves did not expect for the Arboreal Project to beco a ans for the Terran Alliance to increase its bargaining power in front of the Cybernetic Empire.
It made a certain amount of sense, though.
The stronger the Terran Alliance beca, the less dependent it beca on the Cybernetic Empire's help.
The Polymath invented a lot of great solutions, so of which had been proven to be effective against the native aliens.
It was natural for her to bargain hard for her tech and services, especially considering that her hard work would eventually get leaked and proliferate outside of her control once her innovations got into the hands of others.
This clearly did not sit well with the Terrans who did not want to be reduced to the Cybernetic Empire's vassal state.
The good news was that the Terrans were not as desperate as the Rubarthans. The Voribugs would have to go through the Rubarthan Pact and the Red Ocean Union first before they ever managed to threaten Terran borders.
This gave the Terrans a lot of breathing room, though the fact that they only enjoyed the protection of a single god pilot spurred the native aliens into invading their space.
Compared to the Red Ocean Union frontline which was currently being swept by at least two gods pilots and two dreadnoughts at any ti, the Terran Alliance's frontline was a lot more tranquil!
The Terrans were therefore on a ti limit. They needed to try their best to convert the bunkers of their carriers, install shield links in all of their first-class multipurpose chs and develop more effective weapons that they were previously denied from using such as gamma laser armants.
Even that might not be enough to stop the onslaught of native aliens who desired to wipe out red humanity from their ho galaxy at any cost!
It took ti for the native aliens to shift their strategies and deploynts. The Terrans hoped to use this buffer ti to prepare as much as possible.
Hence why the Terrans suddenly latched onto potential miracle works such as the Arboreal Project.
Ves therefore had a fruitful talk with Master Laila Rebecca Devos. The Terrans suddenly beca willing to provide a lot more material support that actually mattered.
These freebies ca in the form of assigning renowned research institutions to solve the various technical problems, increasing the amount of processing power devoted to this project and any related side projects by at least an order of magnitude, permitting the use of classified and proprietary Terran tech and more!
In light of all of these massive and expensive benefits, Ves did not really pay too much attention to the potential contribution made by the Grand nder.
Ves believed the only reason the Terrans sought out the aid of this Terran Star Designer was to prevent the complex variant of the Arboreal Project from unnecessarily delaying the completion of this project!
He was glad that the Terrans did not attempt to increase the involvent of the Grand nder any further, because that would not have ended well for Ves and the Terrans.
He may have sought to collaborate with the Terrans to bring his vision of a Woodsap ch to life, but that did not an he wanted to surrender much of its ownership to another ch designer, even if it was a Star Designer!
Before Ves concluded his call with Master Laila Rebecca Devos, Ves brought up one more matter.
"Are you guys hoping that my Arboreal Project can effectively fight against the mutated voribugs?"
The physical projection of the Terran Master responded with a mysterious smile.
"Such an idea has co across our minds. The performance of the Rubarthan forces in the initial invasion and the subsequent demonstration by the 27th Assimilators Warfleet of the Cybernetic Empire Ard Forces has been illuminating to us. These incidents have taught us that the voribugs are not enemies that we can simply defeat on the battlefield. Entering into hostilities against this race ans entering into a perpetual battle that will not end until one side has completely exterminated the other."
Ves began to smirk. "My own assessnt is not much different from yours. Since this is the case, I can see why you Terrans have developed a greater interest in the one variant of an advanced Carmine ch that is more accessible than others and also happens to possess the greatest endurance and longevity. The Arboreal Project has successfully inherited the most valuable traits of the late Emperor Tree. Combined with the new control system that you are cooking up, you should be able to quickly raise a ch corps or two that can potentially stop the voribugs in their tracks… that is, if they ever manage to introduce your borders."
"The mutated voribugs will co sooner or later." Master Laila Devos said with certainty. "They are unlike any of the other enemies that we have fought before. It only takes one enterprising native alien or cosmopolitan to smuggle a single voribug into our borders and deposit it into an empty star system. Before we know it, the entire location has spawned nurous voribug hives that subsequently begin to invade a dozen other adjacent star systems, and from there the insect plague will continue to multiply on an exponential scale. We cannot afford to be caught off-guard and suffer incalculable damage. We have an opportunity to do better than the Rubarthans."
Ves nodded in agreent. He approved of the cautious Terran stance. Their preparations may end up being redundant, but it was better to prepare for a rainy day.
"You guys are really banking on Gaia to help you win your battles."
"We have to, Ves. We are reluctant to admit it, but we do not have that many advantages over the Terran Alliance. Having Gaia at our disposal is one of the factors that distinguish us from the others. If we entangle so of our ch lines with this great existence, then we can not only protect our work against unauthorized theft, but also borrow the power of what can ostensibly be called a god."
This spoke of an unusual degree of willingness for the Terrans to adopt new and unusual tech.
The Terrans had always been rather cautious when it ca to adopting new tech and solutions.
They rarely preferred to embrace dubious innovations that had yet to prove their value on the battlefield, but the crises that erged as of late had forced their hand.
Ves actually noted that the Terrans may have greater plans in mind with regards to Gaia.
The design spirit gone rogue had been rather quiet as of late. Ves rarely heard any news about her and she hadn't gone out of her way to pull off any stunts.
As far as he knew, she had spent years quietly accumulating power while making up for her inadequate foundation.
Perhaps enough ti had passed for her to take on a more prominent role in Terran society.
The debut of the Arboreal Project was probably a good ti for her to beco a household na among the people!
Ves grew quite interested in this developnt. Even if Gaia had long slipped from his control, he still considered himself to be her creator. This ant that he still felt responsible for her success and actions.
"Does it not bother you that Gaia is not human in origin?" Ves asked.
Master Laila Devos shook her head. "We have conducted a thorough analysis on her and deed her acceptable. She is not human, but she is created and nurtured by humans. As powerful as she is shaping up to beco, we still have our own ans of keeping her in check. The Light of Sol and any future god pilot that we may welco into our ranks serve as effective deterrents. Besides, we have already co to a mutually beneficial understanding with her. She understands that only we can best support her growth and evolution. No other people is as devoted to Old Earth as us. We are her chosen people."
She spoke those words with more than pure logic. She had already generated a certain degree of faith in the young True God.
Ves found that to be a little concerning, but this was nothing compared to the greater problems afflicting red humanity.
After he ended the call, he continued to devote his ti to designing the Arboreal Project.
The Terrans acted quickly and already allocated much of the promised resources and facilities at the disposal of Master Laila Devos.
She had chosen to set aside her own projects in order to serve as a full ti project manager and coordinator for this job.
As a Terran and a Master ch Designer, Laila Devos was fully capable of communicating with her fellow Terrans and keeping the inflated egos of arrogant scientists and developers in check.
Ves would have suffered a perpetual headache if he had to manage all of the Terran experts by himself. With Master Laila Devos handling these issues, he could devote his full ti to preparing his Woodsap ch to fight against the enemies of the present and future.
He beca quite interested in improving the Arboreal Project's ability to effectively fight against the voribugs.
TE Wood possessed a certain ability to grow and multiply. This could potentially be used to devour the carcasses of dead voribugs and deny the hostile swarm from recycling them into new offspring.
However, Ves and the Terrans had never tested this capability to the extres required to stand a fair chance against the voribugs, which was why the had to conduct a lot of stress tests.
They managed to make a number of discoveries.
First, TE Wood's ability to reproduce more TE Wood was impossible without additional stores of phasewater and Solus Gas on hand.
Fortunately, a Woodsap ch was fully capable of producing lesser wood variants that were present in its database.
The problem was trying to form wood variants using scavenged materials that were not present in the database.
The Terrans needed to set up an intelligent and adaptable routine that essentially turned every Woodsap ch into a highly specialized biotech expert and materials scientist.
It was not strictly necessary to go through all of this trouble, but neglecting this issue would severely impair the Arboreal Project's ability to win a battle of attrition against the voribugs.
The Cybernetic Empire evidently chose to rely on smart tal to defeat the voribugs at their own ga.
The Terrans chose to lean on their biotechnology attainnts to do the sa.
It was a risky bet, but one that Ves approved. No good would co in attempting to match or defeat the Smart tal Tower.
As Ves and the Terrans made massive progress in completing the Arboreal Project, Ves finally received a response from the Cybernetic Empire.
Hugo Fournier called Ves in person to provide an update on the negotiations between the Larkinson Clan and the Cybernetic Empire.
"Good day, Professor Larkinson. You and your Larkinsons are driving a hard bargain. After much consideration, we have agreed on a limited technology transfer. You have made a strong request to gain access to three of our smart tal models: the NanoGatherers, the NanoSmiths and the NanoWarriors, is this correct?"
Ves nodded with a grin. "That is right. So what can I expect?"
"Well, it is out of the question for us to give you the designs and technical docuntation of our latest iterations of the three smart tal products. They contain advancents that have great implications to other smart tal products. We are willing to give you access to files related to stripped down versions of outdated designs. Depending on your choice, they may be 2 to 4 decades old. Do not underestimate these versions. Her Imperial Majesty is responsible for creating their base versions, and contain nurous improvents that present a multi-generational gap compared to what the Red Two and the others can produce."
That sounded reasonable. Ves already expected the Cybers to hold back their latest advancents.
"So what choice do I have to make?"
"You can choose whether to add our NanoWarrior design to our technology package, but doing so will strip features from the other two smart tal designs. Please consider carefully whether you deem it necessary to obtain a version of our NanoWarriors."
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