The Mech Touch

6042 5 Defensive Bands

The air in the virtual conference chamber grew heavier at the mention of the coming alien offensive.

Nobody had any reason to look forward to this major turn of events. The native aliens had been steadily amassing more and more warfleets at their staging points just outside of human- occupied space.

An increasing amount of people knew about this impending threat. Even the Red Cabal had to know that their movements had long been seen by their enemies. The surprise factor was almost entirely gone.

The only point of uncertainty was when the aliens were finally willing to launch a mass invasion.

Ves glanced at the powerful figures that attended the meeting. The god pilots and other military officials were conspicuously absent. Most of the people who were free enough to arrive today were those who did not possess any immediate or important military positions.

Despite the lack of leaders who were most involved in the defense of human-occupied space, Ves believed that the remainder still possessed a good understanding of the latest developments of the Red War.

They possessed a lot of high-level information that was unattainable by anyone else!

Since that was the case, Ves might as well try to fish for more insider information. The more he knew, the lower the chance that he would get caught off-guard by future events.

"How big is this upcoming offensive?" Ves casually asked. "I mean, it is obviously a big deal, but does this offensive have the potential to push us back all the way to Bridgehead One, or is it more limited in scope?"

Most of the gathered leaders looked as if they already understood what was going on. The only people who exposed their ignorance were the councilors who hailed from second-

rate and third-rate states.

Typical.

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Master Goldstein adopted an amused expression. The older mech designer knew exactly what Ves was doing.

Fortunately, he was willing to humor the honorary member of the Red Assocation this time.

"Our intelligence services are in the process of collecting as much reliable and variable information as possible. We cannot claim to possess a good understanding of every alien movement. We have already confirmed that the Red Cabal has mobilized an unknown number of phase whales to create pocket dimensions for the sole purpose of hiding their most sensitive and strategic military assets. This is why we can only approximate the total strength and number of the alien attack fleets. For now, there are strong indications that the Red Cabal has amassed enough strength to overrun 3 of 5 defensive bands."

That explanation provoked a ripple of surprise from sof the gathered councilors.

It turned out that even if they received a bit of insider information, their permissions were either too low, or their organizations did not manage to collect as much intelligence as the Red Association.

Regardless, the news that the aliens amassed enough strength to overrun 3 out of 5 defensive bands provoked a considerable negative reaction!

"Er, what is a defensive band?" Ves asked as he felt like he was the only person in the meeting chamber who did not already know this information.

It was not as if he wined and dined with all of the members of high society where people circulated this kind of stuff.

Ves had been neglecting his social affairs in order to focus on his mech design work. He did not regret this decision as he managed to complete the Dark Zephyr Mark III in a beautiful fashion.

Helping Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson break through to the rank of ace pilot was much more important to Ves and the Larkinson Clan than schmoozing with a bunch of bigshots!

Besides, wasn't this virtual meeting a chance for him to catch up to the information he missed?

Master Goldstein projected a simplified map of human- occupied space.

The focus of this projected map rested on the zones that were situated closest to the border to alien space.

"Highlighted on this map are all of the upper, middle and lower zones that directly border alien space. This is our principal barrier and buffer zone against the native aliens of the Red Ocean. If we lose most if not all of these zones, many core zones will becexposed and turn into the latest border zones. This is a catastrophic outcas the border zones are no longer suitable for heavy development. Many industries and trillions of colonists must be relocated further into human-controlled space in order to prevent future tragedies. The loss of resources, strategic depth, living space and etcetera will heavily reduce our chances of gaining the upper hand in the Red War."

In short, red humanity could not afford to lose all of their border zones during this critical time!

It may be okay for red humanity to lose one or two border zones during the upcoming enemy offensive, but the cost of trying to regain them grew exponentially higher if more got lost in the process!

The projection of the map shifted as the border zones were further divided into 5 very lengthy horizontal bands.

"We have subdivided our defensive lines into 5 broad bands." The Master Mech Designer of the Survivalist Faction explained. "Each band comprises a large string of fortified star systems. The most notable anchor locations are so heavily defended that we believe their defenses cannot be breached unless the Red Cabal is willing to dispatch their phase whales or phase lords."

It went without saying that numerous god pilots would be hovering around these key fortress systems in case a phase leader showed up. Any powerful alien leader that dared to show up would definitely be at risk of getting beaten up and captured by one of red humanity's strongest protectors!

Alas, there were too few of them. Human-occupied space might only comprise a small part of the entire Red Ocean, but the quantity of star systems and the amount of light-years that made up the entire length of the defensive bands was still way too much.

Perhaps that was the point of launching a major offensive. So long as the aliens deployed hundreds if not thousands of fleets at a time, there was no way a handful of god pilots could mop them all up in a short amount of time!

There may be another factor that gave the native aliens the confidence to succeed in their offensive.

"Wait." Ves spoke. "Since the native aliens are prepared to invade our space despite knowing that our god pilots can stomp all of their warfleets in sequence, have they managed to cup with a response against our top assets?"

"The Red Cabal bears a strong grudge against the RF's dreadnoughts and an even stronger hatred against our god pilots." The Web Mistress responded this time. "The phase whales have suffered irreplaceable losses that have heavily traumatized their race and community. Many humans believe in the stereotype that the phase whales are slow to respond and unable to respond to changing circumstances. This is not entirely accurate. The results of Operation Night Jazz has created many new hatreds, as the loss of every ancient phase whale has generated grief among many more phase whales and other important alien dignitaries. Alone, their ability to respond may be limited, but together, their collective efforts may allow them to gain a fighting chance against our god pilots."

Her voice carried a substantially different weight than Master Goldstein. As one of the 14 Star Designers in the neighborhood, she was a genuine True God as well as one of the best mech designers in the new frontier!

Ves briefly envied her high rank and status, but he quickly set these feelings aside. One day, he would becjust as important as the likes of the Web Mistress.

What was important was that the Web Mistress believed that the Red Cabal had cup with possible counters against god mechs!

If the aliens gained the capability to kill or at least repel a god pilot, then red humanity was in deep trouble!

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"Trust in our god pilots, Professor Larkinson." Master Goldstein spoke. "The phase whales are not weak, and we must be wary of their profound mastery in the manipulation of space. However, god pilots are the pinnacle of human excellence. They are forged to withstand extrthreats beyond anyone's imagination. The cosmopolitans may have attempted to explain the severity of attacking our god pilots, but the phase whales cannot fully shake off their arrogance."

It sounded as if red humanity was making the exact smistake. Ves knew quite well how difficult it was to defeat a god pilot, but that did not mean there was no way to defeat one. Nothing was absolute.

At least the leaders took into account the possibility that red humanity would get pushed back despite the efforts of the god pilots to stem the tide.

"So how bad is it for us to lose 3 out of 5 defensive bands?"

"The Torald Middle Zone that you are familiar with and numerous other zones will turn into contested territories." Another councilor from a second-rate state replied. "It is not as awful as losing all 5 defensive bands during a single offensive, but if the aliens are able to make this much progress, then our remaining defenses will becmuch more strained. You can expect the aliens to dispatch more raiding fleets to the zones that were previously untouched. Important star systems such as the Davute System may suffer surprise attacks."

Human-occupied space would beca lot more strained if that happened! Much of the wealth and prosperity of Davute and other star systems situated close to the border zones relied upon maintaining a high degree of order.

If traders and other people felt less safe in these regions, they would definitely begin to liquidate their assets and relocate to the reare as fast as possible.

This was a catastrophe that was only a bit less severe than losing all 5 defensive bands!

As such, it becimperative that red humanity held the line as much as possible. Losing 1 or 2 defensive bands was a lot less severe as the aliens wouldn't be able to threaten the core zones as easily as in the previous scenario.

"Why don't we disrupt the alien offensive rhythm by launching counterattacks into alien space?" Ves suggested. "We don't have to embark on a deep strike expedition in order to hit the aliens where it hurts."

Several leaders smiled or chuckled.

"Why do you think most of our god pilots and other military personnel are absent at the moment? We have already considered every conceivable proposal. Just as how the Red Cabal is adjusting their strategies against our god pilots, we are also preparing countermeasures against the impending alien offensive."

Ves grew a little more reassured when he heard that. He might not like the Red Two, but he had to admit that their leaders were generally highly competent at their jobs. They would never let the aliens have their way.

"Do you know when the native aliens will finally launch their offensive? Do you have an approximate date?"

Master Goldstein shook his head. "Nobody knows the answers to your questions. We know that only a single highly revered ancient phase whale has the authority to decide on this matter. Since we do not have access to this top alien leader at all, we do not have enough clues to make a reliable prediction. It is possible that the alien offensive may commence tomorrow. Your forces should be prepared for a difficult campaign. Every linefighter must participate in the defense of human space in one fashion or another if they wish to retain their status."

The expeditionary fleet had already retreated to the Bortele System as far as Ves was aware of. The Battle of Torment had inflicted a lot of damage and losses, so it was not possible for the Golden Skull Alliance to maintain their presence right behind enemy lines.

That was good news. It meant that the expeditionary fleet would not get caught up in the first initial wave of attacks. The Golden Skull Alliance would be able to wait and see before deciding where to deploy and which star systems to defend.