The Mech Touch

The Red Cabal's counterattack was more sophisticated and difficult to deal with than the leaders of red humanity anticipated!

In the initial years of the Age of Dawn, it seemed that the ability for the native aliens to adapt to the new environment was worse than their enemies.

Humans had experienced multiple periods of rapid growth and explosive technological progression. They were accustomed to producing a lot of new technological innovations in a short amount of time. They also possessed a secret cultivation heritage that gave them a head start in leveraging the greater potential of exotic radiation.

This gave humans the conceit that time was on their side. As long as they managed to hold their defenses against the aliens long enough, they would be able to turn the tables one day.

That assumption came under serious question after Ves learned what happened to Bridgehead One.

It was not just the greater beyonder gate that had entered into a bubble of near-frozen spacetime.

As the very first star system that the Red Two colonized after they secretly crossed the void between galaxies and reached the Red Ocean a number of decades ago, Bridgehead One served as the focal point of all human activity in the new frontier.

Bridgehead One was the base of the tree that represented human-occupied space!

The population density in this heavily transformed and fortified star system was immensely high.

Many of the brightest scientists, engineers, naval engineers and mech designers of the Red Association and to a lesser extent the Red Fleet resided in this crucial star system!

It also held a lot of administrative offices and other important institutions that kept human society running.

The sudden removal of Bridgehead One instantly caused a lot of plans and arrangements to hit a wall!

People were scrambling to adjust their processes and operations in order to make up for the unexpected communications blackout to this critical strategic star system.

Most people pretty much regarded Bridgehead One as the unofficial capital of human-occupied space, or at least the Red Ocean Union portion of it. Any star nation would become severely hampered if they suddenly lost their capital out of the blue.

"I cannot overstate how bad it is that we have lost access to Bridgehead One, if only temporarily." Jovy Armalon said as he leaned over the conference table while staring at the projection of the timespace bubble. "Losing access to all of the headquarters, research institutions and high-tech production facilities that we have built over there is a huge setback, especially now that the Red Tide Offensive has just begun. The lack of progress due to the extreme deceleration of time progression inside the bubble will slow down our technological progression and allow the native aliens to maintain the upper hand for a longer period of time."

"That is especially the case when the Polymath and possibly other Star Designers have been marooned in the spacetime bubble as well." Professor Vector Loban added. "I do not think I need to emphasize how much damage our society incurs when these Star Designers are effectively unable to contribute to the advancement of human science and technology."

Oh yeah. That was the case as well. Ves grew even more pessimistic about red humanity's future in the new frontier. Each and every Star Designer was a productive powerhouse of the highest level.

Just the Polymath alone was responsible for continuing the development of many existing high technologies whose chief developers had all remained behind in the Milky Way Galaxy!

While there were other Star Designers that could compensate for the Polymath's absence, there were many good reasons why the Survivalist Faction only put the failed coup artist under 'house arrest' instead of killing her off entirely.

Red humanity couldn't afford to lose her services!

The mere idea that the Polymath and potentially other Star Designers found themselves cut off and isolated in a bubble where the passage of time had been slowed down to an enormous degree was a nightmare to Ves and every other red human!

"Which god pilot is stationed at Bridgehead One?" Ves asked.

Jovy exchanged glances with Vector before he answered the question.

"This information is classified, but you have a right to know. It is not as if we can keep it secret for long. The god pilot who is assigned to defend the greater beyonder gate as well as keep the Star Designers safe is… the First Flame."

"..."

That was not a name that Ves wanted to hear!

"Why the First Flame of all choices?!"

Jovy gave him a rueful smile. "It is not that complicated to find out, Ves. We knew that the aliens were about to launch a massive offensive, so we needed to station as many god pilots to the front and other key star systems as possible. We also have indications that Bridgehead One may be targeted in a bold deep strike operation meant to destroy the greater beyonder gate. Since the Red Cabal is already aware that we always station one god pilot in this key star system at all times, the alien strategists will certainly formulate a plan based on this fact. It is therefore safer to station two god pilots in Bridgehead One, but the painful reality is that we cannot have it both ways."

"So you tried to have your cake and eat it too by assigning this crucial post to the oldest and arguably strongest god pilot in the Red Ocean." Ves flatly said.

"It makes sense." Vector Loban commented. "It is difficult for people at our level to gain more detailed information on how strong the First Flame may be, but you have witnessed his performance during Operation Night Jazz. He possesses ample power to destroy multiple ancient phase whales in quick succession if he goes full Phoenix. Even if he cannot eliminate all 6 of them, the defenses in Bridgehead One are not trivial. It is the most fortified star system in human-occupied space. We have made concerted efforts to make our main fortifications as phase whale-proof as possible."

Jovy formed a confident expression. "The Polymath and other Star Designer can contribute to the fight in ways that you cannot imagine, Ves. There are multiple superweapons in the star systems that have reached masterwork or even grand work levels of quality. Then there are the first-class mech corps and warfleets of the highest standard. If the ancient phase whales are leading an armada of alien fleets, then the forces stationed in Bridgehead One can halt the enemies in their tracks. I do not see a way for the 6 ancient phase whales to survive our combined forces."

"Can't they just… run away when they realize that they are outmatched?" Ves questioned.

"Our current theory is that escape is not possible. The spacetime bubble has to be strong enough that god pilots and Star Designers cannot breach them with their vast might and technological options. In order to pass this test, the ancient phase whales that have set it up must also resign themselves to the fact that they are subject to the same restrictions."

"I see. So the aliens essentially turned Bridgehead One into a slow-motion death match. Neither the humans nor the aliens can run away. They have no choice but to fight to the death… while the rest of the universe zips through time."

"That is a decent description of what will likely unfold inside the spacetime bubble." Jovy admitted. "Personally, I have great confidence that the First Flame and the rest of the human forces trapped inside the star system will be able to crush the alien invaders. The real issue is the spacetime bubble. Breaching it is not so simple. Trying to destroy it by force may produce dangerous outcomes. At worst, a spatial storm of an apocalyptic scale may erupt that will annihilate almost everything inside the star system. This is why we have concluded that it is better to unravel it with as much finesse as possible."

Ves looked thoughtful.

"Hence why you want the Spacelock over there. He possesses the greatest command of space outside of the ancient phase whales. If anyone can unravel the spacetime bubble, he stands the greatest chance. Maybe the people trapped inside may be able to do the same, but… the passage of time inside the bubble has slowed down to such a massive extent that it may take hundreds of days in realspace before the First Flame and the Polymath manage to cook up a brilliant response."

The failsafe employed by the Red Cabal was simply too diabolical!

The native aliens truly managed to inflict a blow that severely inconvenienced red humanity to the point where it may fall behind due to the absence of several critical True Gods and powerful institutions!

If the native aliens had any sense, they would definitely press their advantage and strengthen their offensive in an attempt to make as many gains as possible without encountering as much resistance.

It was no wonder that the Red Tide Offensive started off with such an overwhelming opening push!

The native aliens were racing against time. They made a big bet that they could break through red humanity's defensive lines and collapse the defenders before Bridgehead One rejoined the rest of the cosmos again.

If this was the case, then Ves had less confidence in the Spacelock's ability to unravel the spacetime bubble. The Red Cabal and their cosmopolitan lackeys could not possibly overlook the interference from the Rubarthan god pilot.

As Jovy and Vector continued to supply additional information about the enormous implications of Bridgehead One's continued isolation from the rest of human society, Ves understood that they were all in deep trouble.

"Assuming that the spacetime bubble cannot be solved from the inside or outside in a short amount of time, what the hell do we do? Tell me you guys have a plan."

The two mechers exchanged glances yet again. That was not a good sign.

"The Survivalist Faction always has contingency plans on hand." Jovy said with a touch of confidence, though he sounded a lot less certain than before. "One of our rules is that how unlikely it may sound in many cases, we must always plan for failure. We are already adjusting to the fact that Bridgehead One has become unavailable to us. The good news is that we have not placed all of our eggs in a single basket. We have invested in the development of multiple central star nodes that can partially cover the responsibilities that Bridgehead One used to fulfill."

"What about the war effort?"

"We have plans for that as well, Ves." Vector Loban answered. "Do not expect any drastic turnarounds, though. Our best hope is to dispatch our peak ace pilots to the front and wait for one of them to successfully break through. War is the ultimate crucible of gods and heroes."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

The Transhumanist grinned. "That makes this even better. It doesn't matter if 10, 20 or 30 peak ace pilots step onto the road to no return and ultimately fail to reach their destinations. As long as just 1 of them have managed to break through, then our chances of withstanding the Red Tide Offensive grows that much stronger. Only by producing enough god pilots will we be able to take the first step in stabilizing our borders and stop the native aliens from making any further territorial gains. With an impenetrable defense, we can proceed with the next step, which is to use the greater beyonder gate to conduct many deep strike operations at once."

This layout only comprised of two steps so far, but neither of them were easy to realize!

Several years had gone by, but none of the known peak ace pilots such as the Mace of Retaliation had shown any signs of breaking through.

Perhaps one might emerge in the coming months, but Ves did not get his hopes up. The ascension of a god pilot was such an unlikely event that it was little different from winning the lottery!

As for starting red humanity's counterattack, the spacetime bubble clearly stood in the way of taking the next step!

"It seems that the Red Cabal are truly determined to deny us every possible advantage." Ves grumbled.

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