The Torald Middle Zone turned into a highly contested warzone after the start of the Red Tide Offensive. The fighting became intense right away as the overwhelming amount of alien assault fleets crossing the border quickly collapsed the 1st defensive band and tore down the 2nd defensive band not long afterwards. Now, the 3rd defensive band had come under increasingly more serious assault, as the native aliens pulled away more and more assets that had previously been used to conquer other locations. The Arvest Lima System became one of the many sites that the aliens intended to batter down in order to undermine the current frontlines. While the expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance began to fight hard in this logistical and industrial node, another star system also came under siege. The Duqaste System was not as developed as the Arvest Lima System, but it had one gift that made it just as important. There were phasewater deposits in Duqaste. The phasewater that could be found on the seventh planet from the local star was not too much, but the fact that it could be harvested from the bottom of the oceans made it all the more important to hold onto the globe as long as possible! According to the current estimates of the planners, there was not much hope that red humanity would be able to cling to the Duqaste System. The native aliens could send out so many more attackers as the offensive dragged on. The human defenders were less able to reinforce Duqaste because of its much shallower pool of combat forces. The mechers and the fleeters were powerful, but their first-class assets were spread far too thin across the frontlines. Most of them were already committed to defending the hard-pressed upper zones, so they truly could not spare enough powerful mechs and warships to ease the burden in every contested star system in the middle and lower zones. This lack of substantial support caused the linefighters stationed in star systems such as Duqaste to increasingly feel as if they were forced to fend for themselves. General Ark Larkinson of the 77th Warborn Mech Division of the External Group of the Federal Military of Davute stood in front of his fellow high-ranking mech pilots in a briefing room deep inside his flagship. The Davutans had supplied the Warborn with several fleet carriers and enough combat carriers to transport and offer sufficient support to 10,000 combat mechs. Ark was especially satisfied with the flagship. The Letven Archon was a 3.2 kilometer long fleet carrier that possessed a relatively balanced configuration. Although her performance was not great due to budgetary constraints, she was modern and set up just the way he liked it. The Davutans had expressed a lot of sincerity by constructing and delivering this vessel to his mech division. Although the 77th Warborn was officially a part of the Federal Military of Davute for the time being, the implicit agreement between the Larkinsons, the Crossers and the Davutans was that the latter would slowly relinquish all control and possession of the mech division. This became especially more certain as Professor Ves Larkinson and the Larkinson Clan continued to rise in prominence. The balance of power had tilted so far in their favor that the Colonial Federation of Davute actively fawned over the Larkinson Clan these days! The Davute Branch of the Larkinson Clan received a lot of benefits because of this. Life had become easier for Ark as his Warborn received the same degree of funding and logistical support as the Davutan elite mech divisions that belonged to the Internal Group! However, Ark was determined not to freeload off the generosity of the Davutans. He and his men did not earn all of this treatment. It was only due to his nephew Ves that the fortunes of the Larkinson Clan rose. The mech general did not reject all of the logistical support either. The Larkinson Clan was already preoccupied with supplying the expeditionary fleet and building up the armed forces of the Premier Branch. A state that owned a lot of territory was much more capable of supplying mechs, supplies, starships and other goodies. The Federal Military of Davute also hosted a lot of strategic minds and other useful staff. Their advice and recommendations sped up the development of the 77th Warborn and quickly brought its professionalism up to standard. Not that it required a lot of effort in order to make the troops ready for action. Many of the mech pilots consisted of Larkinsons and Crossers who either couldn't make it into the expeditionary fleet or wanted to fight under a different regime. Regardless, much of the cadre and backbone of the Warborn consisted of elite mech pilots that were just as good as the ones from the expeditionary fleet! In fact, a friendly rivalry of sorts had started between the troops of the expeditionary fleet and the Warborn. They both competed against each other on battlefield victories, breakthrough rates, notable combat feats and more. Right now, the expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance had taken the lead. The takedown of the Torment Fleet and the crushing defeat of the Eminence of Torment had caused the combined fleet to earn a lot of glory by adding an impressive victory to its record! The Warborn had fought on the frontlines and won numerous victories as well, but most of its alien adversaries consisted of trash that could be defeated by any decent mech force. General Ark Larkinson finally saw an opportunity to change that. His pride and his duty to the defenders of Duqaste did not allow him to settle for a stalemate like what was happening in other beleaguered star systems. A more substantial battlefield victory in Duqaste would not only strengthen the confidence and sense of belonging of his troops, but also make a small contribution to the defense of human space! As Ark stood faced his fellow expert pilots, they all dropped their casual demeanors as they clearly sensed the general's focused and determined aura. To expert pilots such as Rosa Orfan and Vincent Ricklin, their superior clearly had a different plan in mind than passive defense. There was no other reason for the general to acquire such an aggressive edge. "What's up, general?" Vincent casually broke decorum by speaking out of turn. "You look kind of intense today. Did the aliens step onto your toes somehow?" "The aliens have stepped onto every human's toes since they commenced their latest offensive." Ark responded. "No. I have an important announcement to make." "Oh, this must be good. Let me guess. You invited the alien commander over for tea so that you can set up a decisive battle where both of us can skip weeks of boring skirmishing." General Ark grew endlessly annoyed at Vincent's antics. The younger expert pilotcompletely refused to follow military decorum, and acted as if he was part of a rowdy crowd of mercenaries. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Ark no longer bothered to reprimand Vincent or convince him to act more formal in the situations that called for it. Venerable Vincent fought bravely on the battlefield, and always managed to inspire his fellow troops on and off the battlefield. As far as Ark and many military officers were concerned, expert pilots were allowed to channel their eccentricities as much as they wanted so long as they delivered when their services were needed the most. Venerable Vincent knew that and eagerly took advantage of this implicit deal. "Not quite." The older expert pilot responded to Vincent's random guess. "You are wrong that I have engaged in any sort of collusion with the alien leaders of the opposing forces in the Duqaste System. What you have gotten correct is that I intend to deal a more decisive blow against our adversaries." A projection came to life that showed a map of the star system. Duqeste VII was the focal point of this strategic location. Its bountiful oceans hid sizable quantities of phasewater beneath the surface. Even now, tough aquatic harvesting vehicles were frantically scouring the bottom of the oceans in order to suck up as much phasewater as they could harvest in a short amount of time. Built and operated by the Red Association, the mechers drove the harvesting vehicles hard, but did not dare to engage in any destructive harvesting and ruin many of the natural structures that were somehow capable of producing small quantities of phasewater over time. This signaled that the mecheres were confident that red humanity would be able to mount a counterattack and regain control of the border regions one day. In any case, the 77th Warborn along with many other mech forces had stationed themselves in orbit of Duqeste VII. They all sheltered around or behind the hastily built orbital defense ring that was supposed to stall any determined assault. General Ark did not bring up this map to highlight Duqeste VII. He instead shifted the focus of the projection to Duqeste XI. It was a small rocky planet that was not only cold, but devoid of any life or valuable resources. It also happened to be the current foothold of the invading aliens. "As you all know, Duqeste XI is currently serving as the gathering point and forward operating base of the hostile alien forces in this star system. It is a convenient site for the native aliens to ship in a large amount of supplies and war materiel. They dump all sorts of excess goods inside one of the hastily built underground storage spaces, thereby allowing the invaders to quickly replenish themselves by drawing on the depots. It is one of the reasons why the native aliens have been able to maintain such a high operational tempo." Venerable Rosa Orfan frowned and grew suspicious why Ark bothered to mention these facts. "Wait, sir. Are you planning to launch a raid on Duqaste XI!?" "I am." General Ark Larkinson plainly admitted. "I know what you are all thinking. Launching an active attack on an enemy fortified position is much more dangerous than limiting ourselves to passive defense. However, doing what is expected of us will not allow us to save the Duqaste System. The native aliens have us right where they want us. Ever since they have sent out small to medium-sized squadrons to harass our perimeter, we have been losing a steady amount of small craft. Our opponents are losing several times more phasefighters than our mechs, but the problem is that the native aliens can make up for these losses much easier. We cannot afford to remain locked in a battle of attrition for such a long duration." This was the favored strategy employed by the native aliens when they were unwilling to throw all of their phasefighters and warships straight into the prepared defenses of a fortified planet. The alien assault fleets had lost a lot of valuable alien lives and hardware when they forcefully attempted to break the initial batch of human defensive strongholds. While the victories were worth it as it led to the early collapse of the 1st and 2nd defensive bands, the native aliens did not want to sustain such a high loss rate throughout the entire duration of their offensive. This was why the invaders had slightly adjusted their approach when attacking the 3rd defensive bands. The native aliens were not in a hurry to topple the human fortifications, but sought to grind down the defenders across many smaller engagements. It was impossible for the human defenders to ignore all of these minor incursions. They had to respond, and suffered because of it. This was why General Ark felt it was all the more important to break the current deadlock. "So what is the plan, sir?" "It is quite simple. We wait for the native aliens to send out half or more of their warships and carriers to conduct harassing raids on the perimeter of Duqaste VII. When we have determined that the alien defenses around Duqaste XI has reached its lowest point, we launch a surprise attack and wreck as much infrastructure as possible, among other goals. We absolutely cannot afford to linger too long, or else the overwhelming number of enemy warships and small craft will drown us in a tide." What a bold plan! Although it was not the complete plan that General Ark had in mind, what he revealed so far already sounded incredibly bold! "Wait." Rosa Orfan raised her palm. "How can we possibly approach Duqaste VII without alarming the native aliens? If our fleet departs from Duqaste VII and moves closer to Duqaste XI, there is no way our enemies will be able to miss our approach. Won't they intercept us before we can get close enough to launch a raid?" "No. Not this time. We are not bringing our entire mech division for this raid. Instead, I intend to launch a much smaller and more focused strike involving our high-ranking mechs. I have already discussed my intentions with the mechers. They have agreed to lend us a precious stealth carrier that can quietly deliver all of our powerful mechs to Duqaste XI and extract us when we have fulfilled our objectives." Vincent immediately grew alarmed! "What?! You want us to attack without the rest of our troops?!"