"Ves."
"Hm? What's up, Gloriana?"
"Why are we letting our Woodsap chs outside of the protective range of our defensive spell array and Saint Kingdom? I am aware of the need to test the performance of your latest work under a variety of conditions, but this falls well outside reasonable and expected conditions. Are you not afraid that you have thrown away the lives of those test pilots and prototype chs? If the Second Elf falls so soon, then the Terrans and particularly the elves among them will suffer a terrible setback."
Ves looked up from the tactical map that displayed all of the movents of all friendly units currently within reach.
The projected map very clearly did not show the up to date positions of the Woodsap chs sent on a reconnaissance mission.
They only showed the outlines of their last known coordinates before they plunged into the dark miasma.
"I admit that sending them out blind is indeed a highly risky gambit." He responded to his wife. "However, what these deathborn are doing will not remain isolated. Now that they have gained a foothold in our dwarf galaxy, they will only beco more and more common over ti. Red humanity will have no choice but to confront them on the battlefield, just as is the case with the mutated voribugs. In this context, knowing how our Woodsap chs perform when operating in this kind of highly adverse environnt can make a huge difference. It will determine whether the Terrans will invest more resources and manpower into producing more of my works."
"That is assuming that this test will yield a positive result." Gloriana pointed out the obvious fault line in his plan. "There is an absolute gap in power between the Woodsap chs and the enemies that surround us. If they weren't living Woodsap chs, then they would have succumbed within a minute or two. Yet even if they are biochs that are filled with wood energy and life energy, that does not an they can last much longer in a hostile environnt. Their energy reserves are finite. There is only so much that these organic chs can carry. I seriously doubt they can last 5 whole minutes."
Ves' expression grew strained. "To be honest, I do not disagree with you. Setting it as the deadline may be wishful thinking on my part. Nonetheless, I still have hope. Mr. Shuku and his subordinates have not rejected their latest assignnt either. They believe in their own strength. Since that is the case, I am more than willing to take a chance. I know my work well enough that it has the potential to endure the adverse circumstances long enough to complete their tasks and return intact, though not without suffering a few losses depending on the opposition."
"What if there is an enemy phase lord lying in ambush out there? Such an opponent can quickly crush the Woodsap chs, especially now that the latter can no longer draw strength from Casella's Command Field."
Ves shrugged. "Then the squad in question has suffered a stroke of bad fortune. My Woodsap chs can do many things, but confronting a native alien phase lord by themselves falls well outside of reasonable expectations."
Nobody knew what was lurking out there, which was why it beca necessary to send out these scouts in the first place.
Even if all 4 squads got annihilated without being given the chance to bring back any sort of useful intelligence, then that constituted a useful developnt in itself!
It was this presumption of sacrifice that made Ves feel a little sorrowful at seeing them go. He did not regret this action, but that did not an he could remain heartless at the loss of all of those valuable Woodsap chs and Woodsap ch pilots.
"If I had a choice, I would have sent out the Dark Zephyr Mark III already. He is faster than anyone and can survive far greater ordeals."
"The Saint Commander was right to hold Tusa back." Ves disagreed with his wife. "Casella suspects that we are dealing with a competent, capable and well-inford opponent this ti. We cannot take our advantages for granted. Unless we have confird that the enemy has not prepared a specific counter against our ace chs, then trying to fulfill the sa mission with less strategic assets is imperative."
Gloriana found it difficult to believe that this was the case. Sure, the deathborn was able to produce enormous numbers of themselves, but they are all incredibly weak. They only pose an elevated threat because of their high numbers and their obvious synergies with the dark miasma. Other than that, the deathborn are all fodder from the perspective of a powerful ace pilot. Tusa's willpower should be more than strong enough to form an impregnable defense against intangible assaults."
"No offense, honey, but that sounds like pure hubris to . We are already making way too many dangerous assumptions. Yours is so much bigger than others. Have you actually taken a look outside with your naked eyes?"
"No. Where are you going with this, Ves?"
Ves energetically thrust his arm in a random direction! "All of the deathborn we have been dealing with so far only consist of the bottom existences among this M87 race! If they are anything like the demons that I have been working with, then they most definitely have higher variations among them. They should have deathborn that are able to reach the level of a cultivator of the first major cultivation rank. Their numbers may not be as exaggerated, but there is a qualitative difference in strength. There is also the possibility that they have already managed to raise or restore the deathborn of the second major cultivation rank. That roughly puts them on par with the likes of the Goliaths of the mutated voribugs, and you should still rember how much we struggled against these giant insects!"
"So… the reason why we should not send out our ace chs is because of the small possibility of encountering deathborn variants that are strong enough to challenge our best champions?"
"Yes. If our Woodsap chs have the bad luck to bump into one of them, then all we have lost is an expensive but ultimately replaceable ch unit. If one of our precious ace chs encounter the more powerful deathborn variants, then our potential losses may be far greater. The support we can provide is limited so long as there is so much dark miasma in the way."
Gloriana paused for a mont. "Alright. I accept your explanation. Be that as it may, we cannot afford to keep our ace chs idle for so long."
"Casella has already sent out the First Sword Mark III towards the breach in an attempt to plug the gaps and rescue our missing vessels. Look."
The Saint Commander's iconic Command Field had done much to relieve the pressure on the defensive spell array.
However, its diluted nature made it very difficult to push back any concentrated effort by the enemy to claim a region of space.
Saint Dise did not care for this. Her ace swordsman ch flew straight towards the dark and misty bulge and stimulated her domain field to its strongest state!
A Saint Kingdom that evoked impressions of swords, sharpness and tal collided against the dark miasma and the deathborn that were lurking inside.
Both imdiately experienced a strong form of repulsion and rejection that could not be evaded!
"BEGONE, FOUL UNDEAD."
Though their attributes did not specialize in purification or exorcism, the domineering willpower of a genuine ace pilot was not a force that the current forces of darkness could contend with in a direct collision!
The more the First Sword Mark III flew forward, the more dark miasma got dispelled or displaced.
In this new arena of energy field warfare, humans could hardly imagine any energy field that was more powerful than the domain fields of ace pilots and god pilots!
The powerful saints and gods of this extraordinary profession had demonstrated their reality-defying capabilities many tis during the last age.
The new age did not impair or invalidate their strength in the slightest!
In fact, they gained greater relevance and appreciation for their broad versatility. They could pose a strong threat against both corporeal and intangible opponents.
The First Sword Mark III did not even have to swing her Decapitator once or dispatch her superdinsional sword fey. Her superior domain field alone was enough to clear up a lot of polluted space!
Yet as the ace ch continued to move forward, the first missing ship finally reappeared.
"That.. that is the Geirne Fis! That is an RF destroyer!"
The condition of the ship had deteriorated by an enormous extent.
It was as if it had not only aged for 500 years straight without receiving any maintenance, but it also looked dead and desolate in a way that could not be described.
Ves could feel more keenly than anyone else that this once-proud and modern RF destroyer had lost much if not all of her life.
No lights flickered.
The ship did not transmit any signals, even routine or automated ones.
The Geirne Fis had only been engulfed by the dark miasma for a couple of minutes, but it had already undergone a complete transformation!
"Saint Dise, can you… detect any activity inside the warship?"
The First Sword Mark III slowed down her advance and flew close enough to envelop the entire hull in her sharp and tallic Saint Kingdom.
"...Nothing. I sense no life. Only the absence of it. There are only bones inside."
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