Ves contemplated Casella’s proposal. Her offer actually sounded good. Ves had not been able to adequately supervise the efforts to form his Premier Fleet. Due to his busy schedule, he simply passed it off onto others, but that apparently produced a lot of delays and oversights. He did not even realize that this was a problem in the first place. This either meant that the people he put in charge of the military affairs of the Premier Branch were not competent enough to do their jobs, or they lacked the unity and communication necessary to gain a clear overview of all of these problems. Ves had a feeling that both may have played a role in all of the faults mentioned by Casella. If this was the case, then it became even more important to put a competent leader in charge. "Are you sure you want to assume control over this mess?" Ves asked. "Back in the expeditionary fleet, you withdrew from managing day-to-day operations in order to spend your time on more strategic issues. Ace pilots such as yourself should not be bogged down by trivial issues that are unworthy of your attention." The ace pilot that was currently piloting the Minerva had a response ready. "You are not wrong, sir. In order to turn your Premier Fleet into a strong and cohesive mech force, I must spend much of my time on the minutiae of forming a military organization. This is a serious commitment, but I think it is more than worth it for me to spend my time on this endeavor." "Why so, Casella?" "Because this is a rare opportunity to form a powerful first-class military force that has the potential to become the most powerful private mech organization in the Red Ocean. The expeditionary fleet came about in a rather haphazard manner. Nobody put too much thought on how to organize it and how many achievements it could make in the future. With the Premier Fleet, I see an opportunity to do better. This new force of ours must become the sharpest sword that can cut through the most powerful alien fleets and phase leaders!" The Command Field maintained by the Minerva grew more charged as she spoke. This indicated that she was highly invested in this plan! Ves definitely liked what he heard. "Alright, but if you are really serious about this, then you should reorganize the staff and hire a lot of professionals in order to limit your burden. You can’t do everything by yourself." "My plan already goes into detail on that. Due to the escalating war, it will be difficult to recruit qualified servicemen. Officers, non-commissioned officers and senior engineers will be in short supply. However, with your wealth and status and my attraction as an ace commander, we should be able to recruit enough senior personnel to form the prototype of an elite mech corps." It would have been great if Casella proposed this plan a year earlier. Circumstances would have been more favorable. "Earlier, you talked about trying to forge a stronger mech force by uniting its soldiers with a common belief. Can you tell me what you have on your mind?" "Why certainly." The Saint Commander said. "The expeditionary fleet started out as a quirky alliance of three different mech forces, but it had organically grown into a force to be reckoned with. Its development is completely organic and largely built off its many victories. It is difficult to define its belief in words. Many of its members believe that as long as they are a part of this fleet, they will win every battle. While the last half year or so has put this assumption of winning into question, it is still strong enough to maintain everyone’s confidence. Perhaps the actual belief of the expeditionary fleet is excellence or superior equipment." Though her explanation did not sound adequate, Ves knew what she meant. He was responsible for much of it due to funneling so many resources and living mechs to the expeditionary fleet over the years. Compared to many other players, Ves had always made huge if not excessive investments into his mech forces. From trying to upgrade every second-class mech with a quasi-first-class mech, to spending an enormous fortune in phasewater and first-class materials to design unique and battlefield-defining expert mechs as well as ace mechs, Ves was one of the few leaders who made decisions based on emotions rather than rationality! If Ves spent his money, resources and social capital in a more rational manner, then he could have easily raised 5 more mech forces of the same size! Read exclusive adventures at freewebnovel Acquiring the carriers necessary to transport and provide a home to all of those mechs would have been the greatest challenge, but not an insurmountable one in his opinion. As long as Ves paid a great enough price, he could construct or acquire a handful of second-class orbital shipyards. Instead of doing that, Ves and his allies chose to invest in quality rather than quantity. This was the reason why the expeditionary fleet gained such a strong identity and earned so much fame and glory on the frontlines. It was also why all of its members were able to maintain high morale much easier than others. Their confidence in themselves had never truly shaken even if they had recently retreated from the Bortele System. The soldiers of the expeditionary fleet simply considered the latest turmoil to be a temporary setback. Sooner or later, they would definitely secure a major victory! This was the power of belief! Whereas the mech pilots of many lesser mercenary outfits had already turned into broken men and women due to the losses they suffered at the frontlines, the Larkinsons retained much of their confidence that next time would be better! "Do you intend to turn the Premier Fleet into a first-class version of the expeditionary fleet?" "Partially." Casella admitted. "The expeditionary fleet has operated on a successful model, and I intend to copy most of it. There is nothing wrong with replicating its best practices. I will be making my own adaptations and changes in order to better fit the first-class environment and the specific objectives of the Premier Fleet. I also do not want to reproduce the shortcomings that hold the expeditionary fleet back." "The expeditionary fleet is actually a combined fleet of the Larkinson Clan, the Glory Seekers, the Cross Clan, the Adelaide Third Fleet and the Boojay Clan." Ves pointed out. "It may have started out as an attempt to forge several pioneering organizations together, but it has grown into something different. Even then, it is still made up of multiple different forces. The Premier Fleet is different. It should only be made up of Larkinsons." "Not in my opinion, sir. At least not on paper." Ves blinked at that. "You need to clarify that, Casella." The Minerva took a step forward. Her Command Field seemed to gain more weight. "This is the primary reason why I wanted to discuss my plan to you under these circumstances. You may be correct that the Premier Fleet will officially consist of Larkinsons, but unofficially that may be different. Have you overlooked the fact that not one, but two additional first-class forces are at your disposal? You even fought alongside them fairly recently." It took a short moment for Ves to connect the dots. "Are you talking about the Bluejay Fleet? That… doesn’t count. They are strictly assigned as my protection detail. Their mandate does not include fighting battles that do not have any direct relations to keeping me alive." "That may be the case for now, but that may change in the future. Camaraderie forged on the battlefield can come a long way into uniting different peoples from different organizations and cultures together. I have witnessed this in the expeditionary fleet, and I believe I can foster it in the Premier Fleet." Ves was surprised by the boldness expressed by the Saint Commander. She was much more daring than he initially assumed! "You are talking about poaching the ships and mechs of the Bluejay Fleet." "Yes. We are talking about 1 heavy cruiser, 1 reconnaissance cruiser, 7 destroyers, 1 corvettes and 2 combat carriers. Then there are hundreds of RA first-class multipurpose mechs. Each of them are fairly modern and enjoy a sample of the best high technologies mastered by the Red Association and the Red Fleet. Do you not feel tempted to bring all of these formidable assets under more direct control?" "The mechers and the fleeters will never allow this to happen!" "Do they? I have a different opinion about this. Since the mechers and the fleeters never recalled these precious mechs and warships, they have taken into account that you may take them over sooner or later. Believe me, Ves. The RA and the RF will not mind if you effectively grab them for yourself, even if you cannot do so in an official capacity." Ves widened his eyes. Casella’s outlook sounded outrageous. Even if he entertained notions about taking over the Bluejay Fleet himself, he never had the guts to go through with it. The success rate was too low. The Saint Commander evidently thought differently. "How will this even work?" "On the surface, the Bluejay Fleet will still belong to the mechers and the fleeters." Casella explained. "In reality the soldiers serving on it have already surrendered their loyalty to you and our clan. We can even attempt to induct them into the Larkinson Network. So long as you respect their bottom lines and do not force them to divulge the secrets of the Red Association and the Red Fleet, I can guarantee you that the Bluejay Fleet will otherwise be fully at your disposal!" "You will have to make the mechers and fleeters willing to become more loyal to me than their original organizations." Ves skeptically said. "I don’t think that is easy to do considering that the RA and the RF are two of the most powerful superorganizations in the Red Ocean." Casella chuckled. "Your outlook is too simple. You are correct about the RA and RF, but the mech pilots and spacers of the Bluejay Fleet are largely isolated from their centers of power. They have accompanied you for multiple years. On a personable and tangible basis, they are much more in contact with each other and our clansmen. We can take advantage of these interactions to build up an increasingly closer relationship with these soldiers. Over time, they will effectively become our assets, just as how the alliance partners of the expeditionary fleet largely follow the lead of our clan." "That sounds… vague." Ves furrowed his brows. "I can see how it can work, but your plan doesn’t sound reliable." "This is admittedly the weakest component of my plan. Our ability to win over the loyalty of the soldiers of the Bluejay Fleet will depend on multiple factors. Chief among them is how the Red War will unfold. The more our side is losing, the more the RA and RF will lose their legitimacy. When order is crumbling, the old rules that have kept us all together will begin to fray. Chaos is a ladder. It is much easier for us to cast a new order among ourselves when everyone else is too busy putting out fires across human-occupied space." That sounded as if she wanted the Larkinson Clan to turn vulture in a time when red humanity had to come together. It was a proposal that the Saint Commander would never come up with in the past. She was too noble to resort to such unethical or illegal practices. However, after Ves had revealed his Chosen Envoy to her, Casella became a lot more focused on accruing power as opposed to saving as many humans as possible. On the one hand, the progression of the war made it difficult for her to realistically save everyone that was under threat. It was hopeless for a single ace commander to stop the entire invasion by herself. All she could do was to safeguard the lives and interests of herself and the Larkinson Clan as best as possible! Only by increasing their war capital would they be able to strengthen their ability to survive the threats of the future.