"To be honest, this wouldn't be necessary if our faction leaders formed a consensus by themselves." Jovy quietly admitted to Ves. "You mean if two out of three of them agreed on the same plan, the last holdout would have no choice but to play along?" "That is correct. If the Xenotechnician and the Polymath both united around a single plan, then it is not beneficial for the Fist of Defiance to express any further opposition. His resistance at that point will no longer serve a productive use, but will instead lead to costly delays and a drastic reduction in our chances of success. Even a god pilot who is famed for his stubbornness and defiance as him understands that he must prioritize the greater interests of red humanity over his own feelings." Ves finally understood the true significance of this conference. To think that he originally thought it was just a professional gathering where mech designers could meet with their peers and present their ideas to each other. "Since you guys have resorted to these appeals, I take it that each faction leader insists on implementing their own specific plans." "A three-way split has occurred that is paralyzing our faction." Jovy confirmed. "Each of the leaders have spent weeks trying to resolve it, to no avail. None of us wants this impasse to persist any further, so our Master Mech Designers and other high officials have been invested with the power to solve this problem." This was an unlikely turn of events. Effective power passed from the most eminent leaders to the cadre who ranked lower in the hierarchy. A situation like this not only tested the appeal of every faction leader's unique plan, but also tested the strength of their network within the cadre. He was sure that the Survivalists who were not committed to any particular side would become the focus of a lot of appeals in the coming days. In addition to that, the faction leaders also had to ensure that their existing supporters did not change their minds and side with another camp. All of this sounded more and more contentious to Ves. He felt glad that he was a non-entity in this all-important power struggle. He was more than happy to remain a bystander and become a witness to a vital turning point of red humanity's early history. The intermission slowly passed. Everyone tactfully ended their conversations and refrain from speaking any further. The next speaker appeared on the central podium. Though Ves and a lot of people were disappointed that the Fist of Defiance was too indisposed to present his plan in person, the man he chose to speak in his place was a pretty good substitute. The Mace of Retaliation had shown up in order to present the god pilot's vision! Just as his name suggested, the Mace was a direct descendant of the Fist. The former was the most successful protege of the latter and made it all the way up to senior ace pilot! There were rumors that the Mace of Retaliation had reached his current limit a long time ago and could undergo the Mech Body Merger Process anytime he wanted. However, many years went by without any further developments. A lot of bold and reckless ace pilots would have taken the plunge a long time ago even if they intuitively knew that their chances of success were too slim. The Mace of Retaliation was not one of them. He chose to stand in front of the same juncture and settle for inaction. This was the most prudent choice, but not the most courageous one. Perhaps the Mace had waited too long and lost much of the momentum that originally propelled him to his current height. The conditions to become a god pilot were too brutal. Any flaw would drastically be magnified and used to ruin a hopeful ace pilot's chances of surviving the profound transformation process! The Mace of Retaliation's personal history was not a subject of debate at this time. Right now, he spoke on behalf of the only god pilot of the Survivalist Faction present in the Red Ocean. No matter what, the Fist of Defiance's right to speak remained strong. Even the Star Designers had to respect their only top combatant's opinion. "Ladies and gentlemen." The Mace began to address the gathered Survivalists. "My grandfather understands the dire situation that red humanity just as well as anyone. He cannot bring himself to agree with the Xenotechnician's approach. How can our race possibly throw away all of our pride and much of the reasons that have made our people strong in the face of adversity? To consort with the duplicitous and traitorous cosmopolitans is nothing less than drinking poison to quench your thirst. Our enemies remain enemies no matter how much we meet their demands!" Clearly, the Fist of Defiance had a lot to say about the Xenotechnician's proposal to resort to diplomacy to solve the current crisis. Unlike the old geezer that came before, the 250-year old ace pilot boldly raised his voice and channeled all of his aggressive emotions into a domain field that everyone could perceive! "Do you think that the aliens will truly forgive us for attempting to commit genocide on all of them? No! Our enemies have no credibility at all! They will only seek to take advantage of us. Kneeling and begging for their protection will only cause us to give up all of our initiative. Do you feel comfortable with handing over so much power to our oh so reliable 'allies'? I certainly do not think so! This does not sound like a compromise to me. This is nothing less than a complete surrender as far as we are concerned! No longer will we be able to make our own choices and decide our own future. The traitors and aliens will effectively control our fragile society at that time. IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?!" Ves did not believe that anyone in the audience actually wanted to say yes to this question. Cooperating with the aliens did not solve the fundamental inadequacies between humanity and the other races. The allies of today could easily turn into the enemies of tomorrow. "We are human! We are the conquerors of the Milky Way! We are the warriors who have beaten every single alien civilization that has sought to topple us in the past!" The Mace of Retaliation roared to the gathered people! "Should we cast away our illustrious legacy and throw away our dignity in the hopes that enough aliens will be merciful towards us? I SAY NO! MY FATHER SAYS NO! We will rather die than allow our fellow humans to disgrace themselves! If our defeat is inevitable, then it is better to keep our back upright and fight to the bitter end!" The Mace of Retaliation made a good case against the Xenotechnician's plan. No one was really willing to engage in diplomacy. The senior ace pilot was just the person who gave voice to all of their true feelings on this matter. The only problem was that the Survivalists needed a better plan than engaging in mindless resistance against the overwhelming amount of hostile aliens in the Red Ocean. It was at this point that the ace pilot presented his grandfather's alternative. A familiar projection came to life again. It showed the exact same galactic map of the Red Ocean. The current overlay showed the depressingly small amount of territories that red humanity controlled up to this day. "My grandfather and his extensive staff of military strategists and other experts have devised a new strategy to do the impossible and defeat our adversaries while we remain heavily outnumbered." The Mace spoke in an excited tone. "The Xenotechnician is correct that we do not have the numbers and resources to win a head-on collision against the native alien forces, so we will not put our hopes on the frontlines. We should instead seek to strike our foes where they are weak. Our enemies are not invincible. They all have their weaknesses, and it is up to us to exploit them in the best possible manner." The map changed as numerous arrows shot out from human space and started to penetrate the interior of alien space. "Now, you must all be wondering how we can strike at their vulnerable territories. The longer the war goes on, the more warships the aliens have sent to the frontlines, thereby reducing their garrisons in their core star systems which they assume are beyond our reach. Now, we can attempt to make detours and evade enemy interception in order to attack their underprotected rear. This is not good enough. It takes too long and the likelihood that the deep strike forces will be intercepted along the way is too great." That was what Ves thought as well. The native aliens weren't completely helpless against this sort of measure, especially after they had gained a lot of technological solutions from the cosmopolitans! The loss rate would be horrendous. Anyone who agreed to take part in this suicidal venture had to make peace with the fact that this might be a one-way trip! However, the Fist of Defiance's plan was not that simple. His grandson's expression turned vicious as he unveiled a key component of the alternative proposal. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮 A projection of the greater beyonder gate appeared in place. It looked almost identical to the one hovering uselessly at Bridgehead One, but it gained a few technological additions. "The Fist of Defiance has met with many mech designers, scientists and engineers. He has learned that it is possible to modify the greater beyonder gate so that it can open a gate to any portal generated by our starships. If the calculations are correct, the effective range of this long-ranged portal generation capability can encompass the entirety of the Red Ocean! Think about what that means for us! We can dispatch dozens of specially configured stealth frigates to the hinterland of alien space and use them to open a portal between Bridgehead One and any resource-rich alien region of our choosing!" What?! Ves, Jovy and many other people reacted with shock at this revelation! They never imagined that the greater beyonder gate could be repurposed to this degree! Although this technological undertaking was definitely not simple, as long as the mechers pulled it off, the previously useless gate would suddenly turn into a strategic weapon that opened countless new opportunities to strike back against the aliens! Ves had witnessed the Big Two employ their high-end portal jump technology numerous times over the years. It was a convenient way to quickly transport distant vessels to a star system without spending any time in transit. The journey was practically instant as long as there was already a cooperating ship at the end location. The projected map showed what would happen if the Fist of Defiance had his way. It showed symbols that represented a large number of enemy warfleets leaving their respective territories and converging towards the border to human space. Meanwhile, the red humans began to form many deep strike raiding fleets and pushed them all through the modified greater beyonder gate! Those deep strike forces instantly emerged deep into the interior of alien space. They subsequently spread out and began to launch incredibly violent and destructive raids against all of the highly developed and resource-rich star systems that had lost many of their previous protectors! Once the human raiding fleets had left trails of devastation in their wakes, they would gather up again and somehow generate a portal that enabled them to directly make it back to Bridgehead One! The Mace of Retaliation grinned. "Lack of resources? Hah! Instead of borrowing what we need from the indigenous aliens, we should take it directly from their hands! Not only will raiding their hinterland solve our most acute shortcomings, but it will also cause much doubt, confusion and hesitation among our foes! What will all of their warships do when their crew hear that their friends and families back home are under threat? I bet that more than a few of them will no longer spend any thought on the greater good! As long as we can divert enough of the enemy forces away from the frontlines, we will be able to prolong our survival by at least several decades, giving us much more time to overcome our disadvantages!" The projected map played out the scenario envisioned by the Fist of Defiance and his clique. It displayed a scenario where red humanity launched a consistent amount of deep strike raids on specific territories that targeted specific major alien races. When the aliens who were on their way to the frontlines started to hear more and more stories about how their old stomping grounds were getting absolutely wrecked, many of their fleets would probably reverse course and go back in order to stop the devastating raids! Ves was utterly impressed by this bold and daring approach. Even though there were a lot of questionable and risky points to this plan, at least the Fist of Defiance gave red humanity a way to maintain its dignity throughout this conflict!