(Juxta Military Base, Perimeter Grounds)
The wind had picked up slightly as Leo walked beside Charles, their boots crunching over gravel while faint hums from power lines and distant drills filled the air.
Above them, destroyer-class ships rested on docking rails like dormant beasts, silent but brimming with menace, waiting for war to summon them forward.
Charles took a long drag from his cigarette, letting the silence settle, letting the weight of their last conversation hang between them. But as they rounded the bend near the ms station, something in his posture shifted. His tone lost its emotional edge, being calmer, colder, like a blade being unsheathed for instruction.
"You see, son," he began, voice even and deliberate, "there are a lot of tactics when it es to capturing a planet."
He paused, gesturing lazily toward the sky as if the stars above were pawns in a game only he knew how to play.
"But the first step is always the same."
He tapped the ash from his cigarette and watched it scatter before continuing.
"You disable the planetary mana shield."
Leo turned slightly, eyes narrowing, absorbing every word.
"There are different kinds of mana shields," Charles went on. "What we use are single-core shields. One generator protects the entire planet. Which means one point of failure. You guard that, and the whole thing stays up."
He rubbed his chin, the weight of experience clear in his stance.
"Downside is, it burns through mana like crazy. Expensive, high-maintenance, but easy to defend if you know what you’re doing."
He resumed walking, hands clasped behind his back, his stride steady and unhurried.
"Now the other option’s a multi-core shield. Usually six or seven generators spread across the planet’s surface, all linked together. Much more efficient. Easier to repair. But also far more vulnerable."
He glanced at Leo.
"With those, you don’t need to destroy the whole web. Just find the weakest node, the softest target, and break it. You create a gap. A way in. And lucky for us, those cheap righteous faction bastards love their multi-core setups."
Leo frowned slightly.
"So in most cases, we only need to destroy one?"
Charles nodded.
"If it’s a multi-core planet, yeah. Hit the weak spot. But for single-core planets, like Juxta, it’s a different story. One entrance. One generator. And it’s usually guarded like the gods themselves are living inside."
He pointed toward a tall, gray-black tower not far off, where surveillance drones moved in slow, looping paths around the spire.
"You see that?"
Leo followed his line of sight.
"Deep beneath that tower is the Juxta Shield Core. The real generator. It’s buried under reinforced steel, cloaked in spatial barriers, and surrounded by enchantments we don’t even document anywhere."
Charles gave a faint snort.
"Only a handful of engineers are allowed within range, and that too only with a military escort.
And even then, they will be powerless to damage the core, because even if you blew the tower above ground to rubble, the core wouldn’t flinch. That structure above ground is just for show. A decoy meant to draw fire."
Leo gave a slow nod as he absorbed the knowledge attentively.
"To destroy a mana core powering a planetary shield, you need to destroy any structure that links the high density mana crystals to plicated machines.
That’s when you know you succeeded.
When the structure you destroy had lots and lots of mana crystals powering it.
You understand?" Charles asked, as Leo nodded in understanding.
*Huff*
Charles let out a long exhale of smoke, then took another drag before continuing.
"Good, now that you’ve followed me this far, let me tell you what happens after you crack a hole and breach the mana shield."
"What happens next isn’t about soldier strength. It’s a pure game of strategy, and technology."
He raised two fingers.
"You bring down their air defenses. Fast and hard. You send destroyer-class ships to fire from orbit. You level their military bases. Burn forests. Flatten mountains. Push their army back into the cities where civilian presence makes it harder to strike clean."
"And once you’ve won the skies?"
He gave Leo a sidelong glance, testing.
"You deploy infantry," Leo answered quietly.
A small smile curled on Charles’s face.
"Exactly. That’s when you walk in. On foot. One district at a time. You secure power stations, seize government buildings, cut their supply routes. You impose curfew. You suffocate the city until surrender is the only option."
His voice slowed now, the gravity of his words catching up again.
"And here’s the part that separates us from monsters. We have a civil agreement with the Righteous Faction. A pact."
Leo looked over, brows raised.
"A pact?"
Charles nodded.
"If we take one of their planets, and civilians survive, we’re obligated to return them.
We name a price, the standard’s a thousand MP per head. Once they pay, the humanitarian ships e in, load the civilians, and leave us a clean planet."
"But that doesn’t apply to soldiers," Charles added, voice lowering.
"Or civilians who mit war crimes. Anyone who harms our men loses that protection. And anyone in uniform? Their fate is decided by the manding officer. Whether they live or die... that’s on you."
Charles said before falling silent again, as for a while, they walked without a word, the air between them thick with understanding.
Supply ships moved in and out along the far edge, crates stacked with fresh gear for the next month, however, neither Leo nor Charles paid them any mind.
"Listen to me, boy—" Charles said eventually, as he placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder.
"War is not a tournament. You’re not there for glory. You’re there to mand destruction. Cities will fall because you told them to. Families will die because your strategy worked."
"And when the dust settles, you’ll be the one sitting at the table... deciding the value of every life you didn’t take."
He held Leo’s gaze.
"Are you still with me?"
Leo nodded, voice low but steady.
"I’m with you."
Charles gave a slight nod, dropping the last of his cigarette to the ground, and crushing it under his boot.
"Good. Because this isn’t a game. War will change you boy.... Hell, I might even have to start calling you Leo, by the time you’re back."
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