The plan was set.
The Larkinsons, Glory Seekers and Crossers quickly came to a consensus. The greatest priority was to contain and eliminate the enemy expert mechs.
It didn’t matter if the Fridaymen, Praetors and Planats adopted a different strategy.
With 5 expert mechs and around 4100 standard mechs, the Glory Seekers and Crossers would definitely succeed in forcing all 11 enemy expert mechs away from the main body!
Ves actually didn’t expect the Glory Seekers and Crossers to resolve the enemy expert mechs quickly.
Expert mechs were truly monsters on the battlefield, and their battle effectiveness couldn’t be judged according to normal standards. Their vastly superior performance granted them a lot of agency in any battle.
Whenever expert mechs enjoyed an absolute advantage, then they would leverage their destructive firepower to the fullest in order to defeat as many enemies as possible!
When a swarm of standard mechs besieged the expert mechs, the latter could switch to adopting hit-and-run tactics. As long as the expert mechs tried their best not to get hit, they could easily whittle down their pursuers over time.
The general saying that 1 expert mech was capable of defeating 100 standard mechs was an oversimplification. The common saying only truly applied if both sides fought each other head-on! In practice, expert pilots rarely exposed their expert mechs to needless danger.
Therefore, even if the Glory Seekers and the Crossers vastly outnumbered and outgunned all 11 enemy expert mechs, there was still a possibility that the latter might come out on top!
“Such cases have happened in the past.” Major Verle spoke to Ves after the meeting. “Ordinarily, we shouldn’t worry too much, but there is one variable that puts everything in a different light.”
“Unit L.” Ves mentioned.
“Exactly, sir. The Charlemagne and the Scarra can either be utilized to eliminate opposing expert mechs quickly or be used to massacre hundreds of standard mechs in a short amount of time. The task of confronting the enemy expert mechs is not a light one. The only chance our allies can come out on top is to direct as much incoming firepower at their standard mechs as possible.”
In the end, the Glory Seekers and Crossers could not avoid the fate of becoming cannon fodder either.
While Ves idly cradled Lucky’s black-clad form, he put his mind away from this side of the upcoming battle. It was not his responsibility to worry about the enemy expert mechs. He and his Larkinsons assumed primary responsibility of blocking the way of 6000 enemy mechs.
The good news was that the 4300 mechs of the Larkinsons gained the support of 700 mechs of the Glory Seekers and 1000 mechs of the Cross Clan.
That amounted to 6000 mechs in total, which ensured they maintained numerical parity, at least at the start.
What was interesting was that some of the Glory Seeker and Crosser mechs consisted of heavy artillery mechs. The two allies basically loaned all of their bunker mechs to the Larkinsons. They also promised to coordinate the movements of their combat vessels to facilitate a defensive strategy.
This made a fair amount of sense. It was too dangerous to expose their starships against the enemy expert mechs. As long as just one extraordinary mech got close, they only needed less than a minute to take down a sub-capital starship!
It was much better to square off the defenses of the combat carriers against the standard mechs of the enemy. As long as they were being rotated, none of them should suffer any crippling damage, at least for a time.
Ves left the remainder of the battle planning to the professionals. Instead, he continued to tinker around a bit in his personal workshop. At the same time, he formulated the methods he could employ to give his forces an edge.
He first dismissed all of the illegal options. While it was possible for him and his production crews to fabricate some nukes or other controversial weapons, he did not wish to fall out with the Big Two.
He had to strengthen his forces in other ways. Fortunately, he still had plenty of options.
“Right now, the Valkyrie Redeemers, Transcendent Punishers and prime mechs are already enhanced to at least 25 Ves, which is a good starting point but not the limit.”
By default, every LMC mech in the Larkinson Clan was spiritually enhanced right after they were fabricated. This was something that he personally arranged. Some mechs featured 50 Ves or more, but not enough.
“The Superior Mother has plenty of energy to spare.” He muttered. “I should abuse that fact and fill up the mechs as much as their mech pilots can withstand.”
Once he made up his mind, he instructed the Penitent Sisters to deploy their mechs in space in order to prepare for something special.
If possible, Ves wanted to bring all 200 or so Valkyrie Redeemers in the hands of the Penitent Sisters to the Spirit of Bentheim, but there wasn’t space to accommodate so many machines at once.
“I can treat the Valkyrie Interceptors and Hurricanes of the Glory Seekers while I’m at it.” He muttered.
He hadn’t enhanced their mechs because he did not wish to give them any advantages over the Larkinson Clan. Due to the current crisis, he couldn’t be so petty anymore. He had to grasp every opportunity to strengthen his odds as possible.
There was another reason why he wanted to bring all of the Valkyrie mechs in the expeditionary fleet together. Ves transmitted an order to Venerable Joshua to bring out his Valkyrie Prime too in order to complete the assembly.
After a bit of thought, Ves figured he might as well go all-out. He ordered a crew to bring out the statue of the Superior Mother from the Hexer shrine aboard the Spirit of Bentheim and drag it into space.
Once he boarded a shuttle that brought out of his flagship and stopped a couple of kilometers away, Ves checked the seals of Unending Regalia and looked at Lucky.
The cat’s Misfortune Harness Mark III incorporated many upgrades from the previous version. It also possessed a smoother and more streamlined profile.
“You look quite good, but I feel like you’re missing something.”
“Meow?” Lucky tilted his head.
“Ah, I get it now! You need a cape!”
“Meow!”
“Oh come on, they’re nice! They’ll not only increase your stature, but also make you cuter!”
“Meow meow meow!”
“Okay, okay!”
Ves temporarily shelved his plan to affix a cape on the Misfortune Harness and stepped outside the shuttle.
He emerged out into open space. After a brief moment of disorientation, he quickly regained his bearings. His Unending Regalia was fully vacuum-sealed and possessed plenty of oxygen to keep him breathing.
He mounted a standard flight backpack module to the slot on the back of his custom-built suit. While he wasn’t very proficient at controlling his flight, he managed to achieve a stable course towards the hundreds of Valkyrie mechs that answered his summons.
Every single Valkyrie mech formed a giant wall with plenty room in between. They respectfully maintained their position in front of the statue of the Superior Mother that a couple of shuttles had brought.
The Penitent Sisters and Glory Seekers were both Hexer in origin. They both worshipped the Superior Mother. Now that they assembled in front of the origin of the Supreme, every mech pilot fell silent.
The statue was just too special. After inexplicably being struck by lightning, it gained a special charm that Ves couldn’t quite figure out. It happened to have an especially strong attraction to those who held the Superior Mother in their hearts.
While Ves floated forward until he stopped in front of the statue he made, Lucky used his own flight abilities to float around in a circle.
“Glory Seekers. Penitent Sisters. Venerable Joshua. Let me be frank. Each of you bears a heavy responsibility in the upcoming battle. While planning is still ongoing, your mechs shall constitute our main strike force against the elite mech units of our enemies. Do you know why? Because you are our sharpest spears on the battlefield!”
Every Hexer and ex-Hexer who listened to Ves over the communication channel felt proud at this. The Valkyrie Redeemer and its variants achieved considerable success in the Komodo War, so the mech pilots had faith their role would not be small in the coming battle!
“As part of our most powerful offensive unit against the soldiers of the Friday Coalition and the Vicious Mountainers, it is your responsibility to strike lethal blows against them. Every other mech and starship at our disposal will act as the anvil to your hammer. This is a glorious task, but also a heavy one. The enemy is well aware of the disruption that Valkyrie mechs can induce. They will be on guard against your attack runs and prioritize their counterattacks on your machines.”
“We are not afraid!” Venerable Joshua responded. His Valkyrie Prime proudly raised its spear. “We will attack until there is no enemy left standing!”
“For the Superior Mother!”
The other Valkyrie mechs raised their spears as well!
Ves was surprised at how many of them followed suit. While Venerable Joshua managed to earn the respect of all of the Penitent Sister mech pilots, the Glory Seekers should have been more reticent.
However, it seemed they received orders beforehand. It could also be that the mech pilots assigned to the Valkyrie Interceptors and Hurricanes had already received extensive influencing from their machines.
In any case, their obedience made things easier for Ves.
“Your confidence inspires me, but confidence alone is not enough to vanquish our foes.” Ves gestured to the statue. “In order to give you the advantages you need to defend our fleet, I will beseech the Superior Mother to grant you and your mechs an additional blessing!”
The Hexer mech pilots reacted ecstatically at his announcement! Even if they had no idea what form this blessing would take, they all believed that the Superior Mother’s ‘son’ had the ability to channel her power!
Ves did not delay any further. He still needed to prepare a lot of other special measures.
He concentrated his mind and began to connect to the Superior Mother. He began to issue some instructions to the ancestral spirit.
It was much easier for her to extend her presence around the statue that birthed her. With so many Valkyrie mechs gathered together, there was no way for her to miss them all. The Hexer mech pilots all held their breath as they felt the statue come to life.
With the help of Ves, the Superior Mother started to channel her spiritual power to every Valkyrie mech barring the Valkyrie Prime.
The mech pilots felt as if their machines were changing before their eyes as some part of them became greater than before. This must be the blessing that Ves had promised!
This was the first time that Ves employed spiritual foundation enhancement on so many mechs at a time. He unilaterally commanded the Superior Mother to saturate every Valkyrie mech up to 75 Ves.
While he could have taken a more fine-grained approach, he didn’t have the time to do so. 75 Ves was the most that ordinary mech pilots could bear as long as the mech wasn’t hostile to them. If a couple of mech pilots happened to become disabled due to incompatibility, then that was a risk that Ves was willing to accept.
Fortunately, none of the mech pilots showed any alarming signs. While he became aware that many Glory Seekers began to feel some discomfort, this was merely because the transition from 0 Ves to 75 Ves was too abrupt.
This was why he performed this blessing ceremony first. He had to give the Glory Seekers enough time to adjust to their enhanced mechs.
Ves wasn’t sure whether any of the mech pilots gathered here would break through during the battle. Enhancing their mechs increased the odds of this happening, but he did not hold out his hopes.
The Superior Mother channeled an enormous amount of spiritual energy at a time. Ves was quite impressed at her generosity.
“Are you happy with your blessing?” Ves smiled. “Well, don’t leave yet, because there’s more!”
