Chapter 7367: Consolidation Plan The Battle of Philaster Crestia may have caused painful losses to the Ascended Giants, but it had also done a lot of good. It deflated the unreasonable overconfidence of the human phase lords. They no longer bought into their illusion of omnipotence and invincibility that the heavenly authority of the Red Ocean had forcibly rammed into their heads. Their brainwashing finally broke now that reality had cruelly taught them a lesson. However, the Ascended Giants became so discouraged that their leaders had to take measures in order to prevent them from wallowing in their depression. This was why the Divine Harpoon suggested for them to embark on a more reasonable campaign against their more familiar adversaries. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞 While the native aliens were constantly evolving due to technological and doctrinal advancements, they were still far more predictable than the new and bizarre mutated voribugs. The weakened and demoralized Ascended Giants needed greater certainty in order to recover their fighting spirit. True powerhouses possessed the capability to deal with unexpected surprises no matter the situation, but the Ascended Giants had not yet reached that level. They possessed the brute force to contend against champions equivalent to Level 7 Goliaths, especially with a numbers advantage. Yet their many shortcomings also caused them to turn into easy pickings against enemies equivalent to Level 8 Goliaths. The gap between the two could not entirely be bridged by relying on an increase in brute force alone. Skills, equipment, strategy, logistics and many other variables had to be raised before the Ascended Giants became strong enough to cement their places among the ranks of powerhouses. This was clearly not a one-dimensional issue. The entire Phase Lord Department had to invest an immense amount of effort to rise to the occasion. The Ascended Giants also had to lower their egos and intensify their collaboration with other human powers. They clearly couldn’t solve all of their problems by themselves! They needed to forge a gathering of strong allies that could offer powerful material and technological assistance. Naturally, there was no way these groups would help the human phase lords for free. The Ascended Giants could not offer a wide variety of goods and services, but they happen to excel in one particular area. Military force. Even if the Ascended Giants could not measure up against ace mechs in numerous aspects, they still had one powerful advantage. They were numerous and they were largely ’uncommitted’. Although the Phase Lord Department had already split them up into squads and spread them out across the frontlines of the Red War, these small units could easily be recalled and redeployed in a more deliberate fashion. In their search for allies, the Dark Apostle and his leadership team racked their brains for options before settling on a suitable option. The first-rate colonial superstates or rather empires possessed the most acute need for military support. The Rubarthan Pact was in the worst shape. Even with the reinforcements promised by the Cybernetic Empire, it would still be difficult to stop the mutated voribug invasion entirely. However, the Dark Apostle and his subordinates quickly ruled out the option of approaching the Rubarthans for a contract. They had lost all willingness to fight against the mutated voribugs. Even if the Ascended Giants deliberately avoided the Goliath Hive, the Superswarm Hive and the Solari Hive were not any weaker! The latter two hives might lack their own Goliaths, but they made up for it with sheer numbers of cannon fodder! The Ascended Giants at their current level lacked the endurance and other strengths to wipe out huge amounts of swarming bugs. The big and clumsy phase lords were simply the wrong tool for the job. This was why the leadership team quickly settled on offering the power of their Ascended Giants to the Terrans. Even if the mutated voribugs had recently caused the Rubarthan front to become the center of attention of red humanity, that did not mean that the native aliens had ceased to become a serious threat. Perhaps the major alien races stationed closer to the rapidly expanding territory conquered by the mutated voribugs had eased up on their assault against human-occupied territories, but that did not apply to the ones stationed further away! The ancient phase whales and most senior leaders of the other alien major races were not stupid. From their perspective, the mutated voribugs had become the most acute threat in the short term, but red humanity most definitely remained the greater threat in the long term! The long and exhausting history of the human race exemplified their ability for growth and adaptability. Every serious alien empire that contended against human civilization in the past inevitably lost because they underestimated the hairless pinkskins! No matter how weak they seemed, the humans always possessed the ability to turn from prey into predator as long as they enjoyed enough development time! Their technological progression was unnaturally fast. Their leaders possessed an abundant amount of cunning and foresight. Their soldiers possessed both the skills and tenacity to confront superior adversaries. In other words, it was a mistake to underestimate the human threat! Humans had already conquered half of a much bigger galaxy than the Red Ocean in the past. There were plenty of reasons to believe they could do so again! Therefore, the Red Cabal still insisted that the native aliens persist in their extremely costly assault against red humanity! Many individuals, both human and alien, did not understand the logic of these high-and-mighty alien leaders, but that did not affect the latter’s judgment in the slightest. The Terran Alliance suffered the brunt of the intensified alien aggression. The native aliens on the Rubarthan side had reoriented themselves to defend against the rapidly expanding mutated voribugs. The alien assault fleets assigned to invade the Red Ocean Union achieved no significant results as of late due to colliding against the concentrated forces of the Red Association and the Red Fleet. Now that the Red Two’s vaunted god pilots and dreadnoughts no longer bore the burden of defending the Terran and Rubarthan fronts, they did a far better job of defending the narrower front of the only territories that still submitted to their authority. This was the price the Terrans and the Rubarthans paid for their rash act of declaring independence! Certain conspiracy theorists even suspected that the mechers and fleeters would be happy if the Terran Alliance and the Rubarthan Pact got overwhelmed by the alien invaders! While Ves did not think that their relations had deteriorated to the point where they secretly wished they would get destroyed by the aliens, their cooperation remained lukewarm at best. The only reason why they stuck together was because they all understood the fundamental truth that the loss of any major human power would push the remaining ones closer to extinction. As long as this remained the case, the human polities would never completely fall out with each other. Of course, almost everyone lacked strength. Even the Red Ocean Union could benefit from additional reinforcements. It was just that the Terran Alliance was in a much worse position. While the Light of Sol was by far the fastest god pilot in the Red Ocean, he alone bore the burden of protecting the Terran front. The Red Cabal understood this truth very well and directed more assault fleets towards the Terran border regions as of late. While the Terrans were still hanging on for the most part, the increased pressure accelerated the depletion rate of both mobile and fixed assets. Ves could easily deduce from this information that the Terrans had a greater need for reinforcements than before. He even had access to intelligence that indicated that the Terran Alliance had entered into negotiations with the Cybernetic Empire. The latter still had a respectable amount of high-tech war planets and warfleets on standby. Of course, just like the Rubarthans, the Terrans definitely had to make a lot of concessions if they wanted to convince the Polymath to dispatch her forces to another front. This happened to be an excellent opening for the Phase Lord Department. When he discussed his plan with his chief of staff, she sounded quite supportive. "This is a good turning point for the Phase Lord Department." Eliza Mo Ragadan said after a moment. "The prior actions and not-so-stellar combat record of the Ascended Giants has caused their trust and reputation to plummet. We have received reports that state that their deployments alongside other human forces have encountered plenty of friction. From personality clashes to a fundamental lack of trust, it is clear that our strategy of ingratiating themselves alongside random fighting forces is not working. Recalling them and deploying them to the Terran front where the local defenders cannot afford to be picky is a much wiser course of action. Consolidating them will not only allow them to leverage their teamwork further, but also keep them disciplined. This will make it much more likely for them to leave a positive impression behind." It sounded silly, but public relations was essential. The Phase Lord Department needed to earn a lot of goodwill in order to regain everyone’s trust and receive greater support from the Red Collective and other major players. "I think it is time to put the gang back together." Ves stated. "The Premier Fleet has been fighting on the Terran front for a while now. Saint Commander Casella Ingvar and the other Larkinsons over there have a much better grasp of the local and regional conditions than us. I believe it will benefit us all if the Premier Fleet and the Bluejay Fleet consolidate in a single force. Combined with reinforcements in the form of dozens more Ascended Giants, we will become far more than a volunteer force. We will not be able to smash practically any alien invasion force that descends on a Terran star system, but also launch a counterattack and take the fight to the enemy!" Eliza Mo Ragadan was sharp enough to tease out his underlying ambition. "It sounds as if you are planning to do more than consolidate your Ascended Giants. Are you intending to recall the other Larkinson ace pilots that are currently fighting independently?’ Ves grinned. "Exactly." He had enough of spreading his assets and the assets of the Larkinson Clan around! Compared to the benefits of spreading them around and letting them broaden their horizons, Ves would much rather have access to all of their power and capabilities! The most recent battle against the Ixith Goliath had scared him quite badly. The same engagement had also given him a lot of respect towards a concentration of power. He believed that he and his Larkinsons could no longer afford to muddle around across half-a-dozen different battlefields. They needed to take the initiative. Only by forming an invincible fist that consisted of multiple ace pilots as well as a phalanx’s worth of Ascended Giants would they be able to smash apart any alien resistance and complete more ambitious missions! His chief of staff looked thoughtful. "I can understand your desire to concentrate your forces, but your authority over your clan is not as absolute as before. If you want to realize your plan, you will not only have to convince its new matriarch, but also every single Larkinson ace pilot." "Leave it to me." Ves confidently said. "The Saint Commander may be a leader in her own right, but she respects my opinion. As for the other Larkinson ace pilots, they have spent enough months on their individual tours. I believe that they have already begun to miss the times where they fought alongside their fellow clansmen. It will do a lot of good for them to converge again. Compared to fighting alongside random forces, it is much more meaningful for them to lead the Larkinsons to victory." "Very well, sir. That should cover the Larkinsons. Do you need me to initiate contact with the Terrans?" "No. Not yet, Eliza. I have several friends among the Terrans. I will introduce my proposal to both the Devos Ancient Clan and the Streon Ancient Clan. As long as they are willing to host us, our negotiation team can handle the rest. We still need to make sure that we turn this into a profitable venture. They may be our friends, but business is business." "Of course, sir."