Chapter 6100 Two Third-Raters Chimera Base grew busier as the Larkinsons stationed on the surface of the untamed planet prepared for the upcoming assault. A lot of Transcendent Punishers and other mechs would remain behind in order to defend the Larkinson Clan's only foothold. Hundreds of mechs would set out tomorrow and finish off the Emperor Tree once and for all. Pretty much every Larkinson wanted the calamity plant to die after it had essentially ruined two of their up-and-coming champions. A lot of Larkinson mech pilots wanted to fight a hearty battle against the Emperor Tree, but they could only play supporting roles tomorrow. A large number of ranged mechs would keep their distance and pelt the massive Emperor Tree from an elevated position with their luminar crystal weapons. Melee mechs such as the Stormblade Samurai and the Storm Sword would accompany the ranged machines and protect them from any enemy hordes. Light mechs were ready to act as scouts and couriers. The greater concentrations of Solus Gas not only compromised visibility, but also interfered with remote communications. The Flagrant Vandals had to make up for this shortcoming and contribute in their own modest ways. Few Larkinsons expect that this would be enough to kill the Emperor Tree. The massive alien organism had already demonstrated strong regeneration properties. Even if it was possible to gradually exhaust the Emperor Tree's massive reserves over a lengthy siege, the Larkinsons refused to take any chances. The Emperor Tree adapted too damn quickly! Time was against the Larkinsons. The longer it took to take this powerful enemy down, the greater the risk that it would develop an effective counter against mechs! None of the Larkinsons knew for certain what to expect this time. Task Force Solus may have learned a lot of details about their opponent during the last mission, but the Emperor Tree also became a lot more familiar with its human adversaries. It became important for the Larkinsons to defy the tree's expectations and attack it in ways it did not expect. Isobel played a key role in this plan. The Promethea may have been stationed on this planet in the past, but the expert rifleman mech never unleashed her full power during her first tour. Even if the powerful firestarter lit a bunch of mind-controlled exobeasts on fire, the Emperor Tree might not have been able to observe this directly from its distant location. Venerable Isobel had to endure a lot of pressure for this reason. The expert pilot was not accustomed to this, but her strong willpower compelled her to display plenty of confidence. No matter what, she could not fail! As night fell onto this side of the untamed planet, Isobel stood on top of the wall facing the direction of the Emperor Tree. The Emperor Tree was too far away to be seen with the naked eye. There was so much Solus Gas in the way that everything in the distance grew increasingly hazier and more difficult to discern. Isobel was not even able to step outside without wearing a protective suit. She did not want to inhale any Solus Gas and other toxic substances in the inhospitable environment. Since there was nothing to observe from the distance, Isobel swept her gaze at the ground before her. A large amount of craters, burn marks and other messy debris littered the terrain. The Emperor Tree no longer dispatched beast waves at Chimera Base, but it was clear that the previous attacks resulted in a lot of damage. Who knew what the Larkinsons would face once they challenged the tree at its home ground in earnest. "Isobel." The female expert pilot turned around and greeted her approaching colleague. "Joshua." The two high-tier expert pilots were already able to sense each other from their willpower. They were so distinctive that they could sense each other before they entered into their vision. Joshua calmly approached until he stood next to Isobel. He looked out over the wall and took a cursory glance at the scarred terrain. "Are you confident?" "I have to be." She said. "Everyone is counting on my fire. I cannot refuse and I cannot fail. If I cannot burn down the Emperor Tree, then why do I even exist?" Joshua sensed the unusually heavy emotions in her words. "Are you doubting yourself?" "Expert pilots do not doubt." "Don't lie to me, Isobel. That is what everyone thinks is the case, but you and I know better. We are still human, mostly. If we lose the ability to doubt, how can we possibly survive all of those battles?" The female pilot directed a speculative look towards Joshua. It looked as if she did not quite agree with his statement, but did not feel the need to argue the point. However, Isobel could not deny that she was not entirely certain whether she possessed the strength to take down the Emperor Tree. "You have fought the Emperor Tree before, haven't you? How difficult was it for you to damage its trunk?" "It's impossible for the Everchanger in his current state to harm the big tree." Joshua frankly admitted. "It would have been much easier if my expert mech got upgraded and if I could still borrow the power of a design spirit. Since none of that is the case, I don't don't have the power to inflict more than localized damage. I can break the bark and cut into the trunk, but the Emperor Tree has so much wood and wood energy at his disposal that he is able to regenerate the damage within seconds." "I am not surprised. Your Everchanger in his base form is not equipped to defeat this type of enemy. Your battle partner is too small in scale compared to the big tree. If your machine was the size of a juggernaut, then your giant sword swings alone would have been able to chop off half of the massive tree trunk at once." The differences in power between the expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan had become an increasingly more controversial subject. Many clansmen clearly noticed that there was a radical difference in combat effectiveness between the oldest and the newest machines. Joshua chuckled. "That is just a fantasy. I have learned a lot of lessons from the previous battle. My Everchanger is too weak compared to all of the newer expert mechs. I don't like to make excuses for my failures, but I really do not think I would have gotten held up by all of those purple wooden mechs if my machine was as strong as the Lionheart or the Dark Zephyr Mark III." The differences in power between the expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan had become an increasingly more controversial subject. Many clansmen clearly noticed that there was a radical difference in combat effectiveness between the oldest and the newest machines. The Everchanger was not even the oldest of the expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan, but Joshua deeply experienced the disadvantages of age last time. He resented the inability to burst out as much power as the newer machines. "Your time will come soon enough." Isobel consoled her fellow expert pilot. "The patriarch will never forget you. I bet that he has something special in store for the Everchanger." "I am afraid that it will take at least a year and half before the Design Department before I get my turn." Joshua signed. "The longer I have to wait, the longer I am being held back by my machine. Once the aliens start to invade our border on a massive scale, I will have to fight a lot of battles without the benefit of upgrades. It is going to be frustrating for me to survive those battles without making as many gains as before." "I don't think it is useless for you to fight while you have reached your bottleneck. If you can't improve vertically, you can still improve laterally. You can master a new skill or weapon." "I suppose I should widen my horizons." Joshua remarked. "What about you? How will you attempt to improve in the coming months and years?" "I have so much more to learn. There is a lot of depth in fire that I have yet to explore. I have mainly been focusing on making it easier to spread my flames and burn down every material. Even if my resonance strength has reached its current limit, I can still explore ways to make my flames hotter or increase its effectiveness against transphasic energy shields." "You sound as if you do not have much hope in breaking through. Shouldn't the upcoming battle be a good opportunity for you to break your limits?" "I have no expectations for a breakthrough, Joshua. I do not feel I am ready for it. Why should it force it if that is the case? I am still fairly young among expert pilots, and I do not think I have developed my fire powers well enough to earn a promotion. We may have reached our bottlenecks at record speeds, but all of that haste has left us ill-prepared." "Tusa managed to do it, and he belongs to the same generation as us." Joshua pointed out. "Some of us can get lucky once in a while." Isobel said. "The Dark Zephyr Mark III is truly a good mech. Maybe we will be able to break through on the spot as well once our machines receive their upgrades, but we will both have to wait longer for that to happen. My Promethea may be newer than your Everchanger, but I don't think it is that much better." The Promethea belonged to the generation after the first six expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan. It was released at a point where the Larkinson Clan had yet to make so many exaggerated gains in the Red Ocean. That meant that Isobel had greater reasons to look forward to the Promethea's future upgrade. The Miracle Couple improved so much in the last few years that they could bestow all kinds of powerful new features onto an outdated machine! "Joshua." "Yes, Isobel?" "Before you joined the Larkinson Clan, did you ever imagine that you would grow this powerful at this age?" "Of course not." Joshua snorted. "I was still a citizen of the Bright Republic at that time. All I wanted back then was to become a good mech pilot. I never dared to think about becoming an expert pilot, let alone reach the point where I actually have a chance of becoming an ace pilot. Nobody in the Bright Republic thought it was possible for third-raters like ourselves to pilot powerful quasi-first-class mechs." "I was the same as you." Isobel said with a wistful smile on her face. "Do you know where I originally came from, Joshua?" "You once told me you came from the Sentinel Kingdom." "That is right. We Sentinels used to take pride in the belief that our Kingdom was the strongest third-rate state in the Komodo Star Sector. It sounds silly now that I think back on it, but we truly thought we were the best. We had to confront the worst of the pirate gangs that emerged from the Nyxian Gap from time to time." "Why did you join the Larkinson Clan?" "Because I yearned for more, I think. Many people joined the Larkinson Clan when it promised to take us away and break the boundaries that prevent us from going up in class. So far, I have no regrets in my decision. The patriarch has done a far better job on delivering on his promise. Let alone promoting to second-class, every Larkinson already has a chance to promote to first-class. I am continually grateful to the clan for giving us a more accessible way to uplift ourselves." "All of those opportunities don't come cheap. We had to fight a lot of battles to get where we are today. Just a month ago, you took part in the Battle of Torment. A lot of soldiers got killed if I recall." Isobel's expression worsened. "I suppose that is true. Expert pilots like you and I can handle ourselves on the battlefield, but all of those other earnest Larkinsons still have to brave a lot more danger. Thinking about what they have to endure to become stronger is preventing me from feeling satisfied with what I have accomplished so far. I do not want to waste my chances when there are so many other mech pilots who dream of attaining my power."