Chapter 6102 Field Commander Chimera Base came alive again at dawn. Many mech pilots and support personnel woke up early and prepared for a hard day ahead. Although many of the Larkinson soldiers were veterans of at least half a dozen battles, none of them took the upcoming challenge lightly. The Emperor Tree loomed tall over Task Force Solus for numerous months. The calamity plant not only directed a huge amount of hostility towards the Larkinsons, but also showed a frightening capacity to learn and adapt. Those who underestimated the capabilities of this evolved native plant organism had already paid the price. Venerable Taon Melin and Venerable Lanie Larkinson were among this blasted calamity plant's most prominent victims. If everything went well today, the threat posed by the Emperor Tree should end before local sunset. Everyone stationed in Chimera Base should breathe a lot easier once a threat that had been equated to an ace mech multiple times had finally met its end. Nothing should be allowed to stand in the way of red humanity's desire to colonize the new frontier and exploit its natural resources. Only by utilizing the bounty of planets such as Reticula Corein V would the human race gain the strength needed to survive the alien onslaughts in the future! Every Larkinson knew what they were fighting for, so they did not harbor much if any misgivings about invading the Emperor Tree's territory and taking away everything it cherished. Hours before the assault was scheduled to commence, Venerable Joshua frowned as he quickly walked up to the landing zone. His expression showed clear concern behind his transparent faceplate. The reason why he felt so disturbed was not because he was worried about Venerable Isobel's mental state. The talk last night had given him a better understanding of her condition. Though Isobel was definitely struggling to bear her burdens, she was not weak. Her willpower remained strong and stable enough to cast aside all of her doubts, if they could even regarded as such. The real reason why Joshua felt disturbed during this early mourning was because an unscheduled shuttle landing took place. As he stopped before the landing zone, he just managed to catch the vehicle descend from the Solus Gas-covered skies with a dozen escorting mechs, mostly hailing from the Swordmaidens. As the shuttle smoothly landed on the surface, the hatch slid open, allowing a single figure in a menacing-looking red combat armor to step onto the planet. A floating greatsword of transcendent quality hovered right behind the newcomer. The strong willpower emanating from the blade showed that it was hosting Sharpie like usual. The woman already spotted Joshua and made her way over. Once they came close enough, they hugged each other without reserve, though their respective suits made the gesture a lot more awkward. "It is strange to be walking on a planet with 1.3 g. It will take time for me to get accustomed to my greater weight." "I love you and I miss you, but why are you here, Ketis?" The swordmaster lifted her chin. "I am a warrior. It is not in my nature to sit all the way up in orbit while letting the troops under my command suffer at my behest. I have decided to accompany the strike force in person." "That is not necessary!" Joshua heatedly replied! "You are not a pilot! You don't belong on a battlefield of this scale! You shouldn't take unnecessary risks. Just because you are a swordmaster doesn't mean you have to accompany us at the front. What can you even do? It is not as if you can chop the Emperor Tree in half with your Bloodsinger." "It is exactly because I am a swordmaster that I need to be involved! You do not understand, Joshua. My progress is much slower than yours. Part of it is due to the limited amount of times I can prove my courage. No swordmaster is ever able to grow stronger by spending her time in the rear. Training and sparring alone is not enough to forge myself into a stronger fighter. I need to participate." "There is nothing for you to fight out there! The Emperor Tree is too massive for any single human to resist! Let alone its massive roots and branches, its wooden mechs alone can crush you under their feet. We no longer live in an age where swordmasters can kill their way through entire armies." Ketis frowned, but she did not refute this argument. It rankled her pride that for all of her transcendent strength, she was still unable to beat a single ordinary mech. Joshua was right that the age of swordmasters had already passed a long time ago. The human race had already entered an age where mechs could destroy entire cities while warships could crack apart whole planets. Let alone a swordmaster, not even a sword saint could effectively compete against the might of modern technology! That did not deter her from trying, though. She readily admitted that swordmasters and sword saints only possessed limited value in the current age, but she believed that her status would undergo an explosive transformation if she managed to promote to a sword god! According to the legends of the Heavensword Association, sword gods were so powerful that they could force entire armies to surrender before they drew their blades. They could traverse through space without relying on spacecraft and they could cut through the hardest materials as easily as slicing through pieces of fruit. Although not even Ketis believed in these dubiously sourced myths, they were enough to inspire her and give her hope. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖 Even if sword gods were not able to match the power god pilots due to obvious reasons, Ketis did not believe she would be much weaker! Besides, she was not just a sword practitioner. She was also a mech designer. As long as she worked hard enough to become a Star Designer, she would be able to design and forge the most perfect sword for herself. The Bloodsinger had already accompanied her for a number of years. So long as she continued to baptize it with Sharpie's willpower and upgrade its material composition in accordance with her sword style, Ketis possessed a great amount of confidence that her blade alone would come close to matching the power of a god mech one day! If she managed to make further progress from that point, it was not impossible to reach a magnificent future where she could cut apart god mechs with just her sword alone! Ketis did not dare to share her ambitions with Joshua or anyone else. Her ideas sounded way too absurd and overconfident to others. They were all so awed by mechs and the majesty of god pilots that they literally could not foresee a time where they could all be defeated by a powerful enough sword. While Ketis most definitely wanted to prove them all wrong, she knew she needed to work hard for a long time until she was able to realize her goal! She not only needed to work hard as a mech designer, but also as a swordmaster. She already had a taste of what it was like to be a sword saint when she wielded the Heavensword a few years ago. She understood quite well back then that it took a lot more courage and conviction to strengthen her willpower to such a massive extent. Compared to her insane ambitions, how could she harbor any fear and apprehension towards accompanying the strike force in the upcoming operation? Ketis did not bother to argue with her husband anymore. "I am coming along. Period. You cannot stop me, Joshua. I need to be there not just because I need to experience the heat of battle, but also because I can be present to issue orders and improve morale. I can also pay closer attention to the troops and ensure they are not secretly being bewitched by the Emperor Tree." "Does that mean…?" "I am not going to ride in the Everchanger or the First Sword's cockpit." Ketis reassured him. "I will be riding in the cockpits of one of my Storm Swords instead. I have already modified one to accommodate an extra passenger and added a few additional command and control modules to it. The Storm Sword will be assigned to guard the ranged mechs that are tasked with taking potshots at the Emperor Tree from afar, so you can rest assured that I won't actually get too close." Her husband indeed grew a little less alarmed over her decision. There was still a risk that the Emperor Tree would dispatch a horde of minions to assault the mechs stationed in the rear, but this was not that big of a threat. The powerful Storm Swords and other Larkinson mechs should easily be able to mop up a horde of rabble. If the Larkinsons underestimated the troop numbers of the Emperor Tree and became beset by too many creatures, then the mechs could always take advantage of their mobility and fall back to Chimera Base. It would be a shame for them to lose the ability to support the three expert mechs tasked with confronting the Emperor Tree directly, but at least the rest of the strike force would be drawing away an important component of the enemy's powerbase. The ability to advance and retreat in a hurry was one of the essential demands that Ketis imposed. The Emperor Tree might still have surprises in store that made it unwise for the Larkinson mech units to maintain their positions. It would be a lot harder to keep the mech units on the move if they were also responsible for escorting a squad of Transcendent Punishers. It was times like these that the Larkinsons wished they had a more mobile artillery mech in their mech roster. A cannoneer mech armed with an old-fashioned artillery cannon was perfect for this kind of mission. In any case, Joshua no longer tried to stop his wife now that Ketis had made it clear that she did not intend to get close enough to the Emperor Tree to swing her sword at its trunk. If she wanted to oversee this operation as a field commander, then so be it. He did not want to get in the way of her ambition to become stronger. Time passed as every Larkinson prepared for the big operation. Even the ones that were assigned to stay behind all looked serious as there was a small chance that the Emperor Tree would attempt to strike their base. Soon enough, all of the mechs assembled in front of Chimera Base. They were all accompanied by dozens of shuttles that carried additional energy cells, spare equipment and other supplies. The Everchanger, the First Sword and most notably the Promethea all stood in front of the assembled machines. Only the expert mechs received the privilege of fighting against the Emperor Tree within the danger zone. Bringing along other mechs was just asking for trouble. It was already a risk to bring along the other mechs given that the Emperor Tree may yet be able to deceive the minds of mech pilots. Before the strike force set off towards the site of the Emperor Tree, Ketis chose to address her troops. She had exited the cockpit of the Storm Sword and stood atop the head of the machine of her own design. A thrill of excitement surged in her body as she was set to preside over a 'hunt' of a greater scale. The Emperor tree needed to die. She wouldn't be able to gain the satisfaction of ending its life in person, but it must perish regardless. She held her Bloodsinger in her hands and transferred Sharpie back inside her head. From the moment her companion spirit returned to where she belonged, Ketis became filled with a strong conviction and sense of purpose! The pursuit of power became her greatest obsession!