Chapter 7320: Commanding the Giants Ves observed the advancing Goliaths through Blinky’s senses. There were so many Goliaths. Most of them advanced along the same axis as the Voribug Organic Battle Moon, but there were also dozens more that had swung around to pressure the orbital defense network from the sides. That made it tricky to neutralize their threat. Despite their decision to split up their forces, they still brought so many Goliaths that they easily outnumbered the defending champions stationed at every quadrant. If the Ascended Giants could allocate their numbers proportionally to every side, then they might be able to prevent any enemy group of Goliaths from breaking through in every direction. Even a single breach could result in catastrophic consequences. As long as the mutated voribugs managed to get inside, they could not only ravage the remaining planetary facilities that were still operational, but also cut off the surface-to-orbit supply lines that kept so many assets useful. Not all Rubarthans evacuated from Philaster Crestia III in advance. While they had made a lot of strides in automating their factories and logical facilities, a certain human presence was still necessary in order to ensure that everything ran smoothly in an increasingly more complex environment. One of the main reasons why the defenders were able to persist for so long was that the surface factories constantly launched energy cells, ammunition and spare parts into orbit. The surface was also home to large-scale surface-to-orbit defensive cannons. While they were only useful against large targets, they could still serve as an additional source of suppression against enemy Goliaths. Their downfall would make it much harder to wear down the enemy flesh monstrosities. In short, the defenders could not afford to give the native aliens an uncontested route to the surface. The lower the number Ascended Giants allocated to the quadrants, the lower the success rate and the higher the casualty rate. Ves and the Dark Apostle found it far too difficult to decide how to divide their forces. They were ultimately not professional soldiers or commanders. Since that was the case, it was better to punt this matter to a more competent individual. "Divine Harpoon." The Dark Apostle contacted the strategos. "What are your thoughts?" Though it sounded obvious that the supposed polemarchos of the Ascended Giants had no idea what to do, the Divine Harpoon tactfully sidestepped this issue and voiced his proposal. "The allocation of our forces should be determined by our goals and priorities. Not every giant is the same. Outside of myself, an Ur-Titan is at least twice as strong as a Faceless Giant at minimum, but the latter also possesses a greater variety of capabilities. What do you value the most? What do you value the least?" "I want our giants to grow stronger. That is what I value the most. This battle is an opportunity for them to temper themselves. While it is important for them to experience true peril, I do not want to leave this star system with half of them in coffins. As for what I value the least, I don’t care too much about holding this planet. I just don’t want to lose too badly." The Dark Apostle replied. The Divine Harpoon nodded at his leader in understanding. "Your priorities align closely to mine. If I was in control of our deployment, I would split up our forces in six groups as opposed to two. We should first form 4 four teams consisting of 1 Ur-Titan leading 3 Faceless Giants. I have already worked out the team compositions in advance in order to achieve optimal synergy and survival chances." That was a clever idea! Although a team consisting of 4 Ascended Giants was not that strong or numerous, it should at least be strong enough to reinforce the quadrants and prevent them from collapsing too quickly. "Next, 8 Ur-Titans will be assigned to slow down the advantage of the Incubator. I do not have much hope that they can stall the battle moon entirely, but they are powerful enough to take care of themselves. Their existing familiarity and teamwork will allow them to fight alongside each other with little friction. This is important as a mistake could easily cause them to fall into the VOBM. Such an accident must never be repeated." Now that they understood the Incubator a little better, the giants must never be caught off-guard like the Divine Wheel and the Divine Aporia. "What about the remaining giants?" The Dark Apostle asked. "The remaining 3 Ur-Titans alongside you and I will be part of the reserves. I shall oversee the different teams and coordinate with the other human forces if necessary. The remaining Ur-Titans should primarily be responsible for guarding you and creating opportunities for you to perform. Your new weapon looks formidable, and I can sense it may be particularly effective against our current enemies. Your main responsibility is to stand by any teams in danger and to exploit any promising opportunities that arise." That sounded like a remarkably comprehensive plan. Ves and the Dark Apostle did not possess the expertise to critique this proposal, nor did they have any desire to do such a thing. The Divine Harpoon certainly came up with a much better set of instructions than they could have devised! "Alright. Let’s go with your suggestions. You take command. I will act under your direction seeing as you are the professional here." The Dark Apostle readily conceded. Just because he managed to take over the Phase Lord Department did not mean he possessed the qualifications to command them in battle. Though the Dark Apostle hated to admit it, he still felt that he could have prevented the deaths of the two Faceless Giants if he just managed to figure stuff out a little better. Even if the enemy battle moon seemed harmless at first, he should have figured out a better solution to collect intelligence from the alien megaconstruct. It was too late for that now. The only remedy that the Dark Apostle could make was to step aside and let a professional commanding officer like the Divine Harpoon take charge. The giants all began to fly in different directions after they received their respective assignments. The more Ves observed them, the more the allocation made sense in his eyes. The Ur-Titans did not cooperate often with the Faceless Giants, but they still shared the same root more or less. The latter also looked up to the former, so the men did not show any discomfort or rejection. The Ascended Giants soon began to intervene in the fighting. The ones assigned to the four quadrants immediately moved into action. None of them could afford to stand aside because the existing human forces proved inadequate in holding back the Goliaths. "Ignore the Level 4 and 5 Goliaths for now." The Divine Harpoon guided the troops. "Although they are strong, ordinary expert mechs combined with heavy fire support can hold them back for a time. The Level 6 and 7 Goliaths are much more threatening. Focus on eliminating them first." The Level 7 Goliaths were especially destructive against the defenses. They were stronger, faster and much more durable than all of the other megavoribugs currently in the field. The strength that enabled them to contend against ace mechs also turned them into unstoppable wrecking balls whenever they managed to get close to the orbital defense network. They were putting such immense pressure on the orbital fortresses that the soldiers stationed in the vicinity were already alarmed! Few conventional weapon systems could inflict any significant damage to their large and bizarre bodies! Even when all of the battleship-grade cannons mounted on a space station concentrated their firepower at a Level 7 Goliath, the massive creature only suffered surface damage that could easily be patched up after devouring a large amount of smaller bugs. The severe shortage of high-ranking expert mechs and ace mechs on this battlefield made it difficult to put down all of the high-level Goliaths in a short amount of time. As a Goliath from the formidable Ekstrom strain approached an orbital fortress, it quickly lowered its head before charging forward! The massive bug did not care that the orbital fortress was still protected by a half-depleted titan shield. It instinctively knew that as long as its momentum was strong enough, its horn should be able to shatter the energy shield and punch a hole deep into the orbital fortification! Creating a single breach was enough. The millions of cannon fodder bugs following in its wake could easily do the rest once it took advantage of the newly created gaps! The fall of a single orbital fortress might not sound much, but was actually disastrous. Each of them formed the linchpin of a section of the orbital defense network. Its sudden absence would spark ripple effects that would make it a lot harder to hold back the voribugs. For this reason, the giant team assigned to this quadrant did not hesitate to give up other goals. The orbital fortress could not be allowed to fall so soon. Different from their prior performance during the reconnaissance mission, the Ascended Giants now confronted the Goliaths in full gear. This was much more familiar territory to them. Many of them had already sparred against the Goliaths in past skirmishes, though this was the first time they did so in a large-scale engagement. What was also new was their Rubarthan-issued plasma weapons. The 2.5x plasma halberd wielded by the Ur-Titan looked especially formidable. Its active plasma blade alone could rival the length of some of the plasma swords wielded by mechs! Of course, its energy consumption was also astonishing, which was why the Ur-Titan’s raiment also included an upgraded power reactor on its back. As the Ur-Titan took the lead, he bravely confronted the Level 7 Ekstrom Goliath! While the smaller and weaker Faceless Giants spread out and tried to surround the Goliath from different directions, the plume-helmeted Ur-Titan did not choose to break the Goliath’s charge directly. Trying to stand in the way of an Ekstrom Goliath’s charge was as foolish as trying to stand in the way of a crashing starship! Instead, the Ur-Titan also began to circle around before building up a lot of momentum! He charged straight into the side of the Ekstrom Goliath, using his shoulder pauldron as a batterim ram! The massive horned beetle-shaped bug suffered such a serious blow that he helplessly flew off-course! Before the bug could correct its flight, the Ur-Titan began his offensive. He proficiently used his plasma halberd to slash and burn through the Ekstrom Goliath’s hardy exoskeleton. While a Level 7 Goliath’s exterior was not that easy to overcome, this was a plasma weapon made for giants! Even if it was not derived from a particularly special or unique design, it bore most of the characteristics of Rubarthan plasma weapon technology, which also included the ingenious improvements made by the legendary Plasma Shaper. This meant that the weapon possessed many advancements that others found difficult to replicate! Even if the mechers and the fleeters had always tried their best imitate or reverse engineer the Plasma Shaper’s latest works, they could never surpass her in her field of specialization. The plasma halberd vaporized much of the exoskeleton upon contact. Though a single hit was not able to penetrate the thick shell of the Ekstrom Goliath all at once, the Ur-Titan remained patient. A Level 7 Goliath was not that easy to kill, certainly not a Goliath strain that was known for defense. Yet with every plasma weapon strike, the Ur-Titan continually weakened the megavoribug. From the joints of its limbs to the softer and thinner abdomen, the Goliath that was known to be a formidable brawler failed to avoid the injuries. It could only ignore the burn wounds accumulating on its exoskeleton and do its best to hit back! With the help of its multiple long and sharp limbs, the giant insect managed to strike the Ur-Titan numerous times. However, the Ascended Giant’s superdimensional raiment easily resisted the attacks while suffering nothing but shallow scratches! It was only because the Ekstrom Goliath concentrated phasewater at its limbs that it was able to inflict noticeable damage at all. Yet when a phasewater bioweapon had to contend directly against superdimensional armor, the latter obviously won out even if its grade was only medium!