Chapter 3237: Fire and Blood Ves couldn't decide upon the name of his new hammer, so he decided to flip an imaginary coin. "Hammer of Brilliance it is, then." It didn't really matter how he labeled it. He didn't intend to make much use of it. Who actually used a hammer in this day and age? A modern multitool that was able to transform into many different forms could perform hundreds if not thousands of different functions. From hammering nails, filing surfaces, drilling holes, removing dust and so on, multitools and other technological gadgets could perform the job in a much more precise and effective way! "It's a symbol, not a tool." Using a hammer to do work was as primitive as using a doorknob to open a door. It was laughably primitive! He didn't plan to fool around with his toy a lot. If not for visiting the Vulcan Empire, he would have never come up with the idea in the first place. This was also why he decided to make a hand-sized hammer instead of another object. The Vulcanites may have improved a lot from their humble roots as mining slaves, but most of them were still rough and uncultured compared to the likes of the Purnesses. Anything that was too deep or subtle would fly right over the heads of the dwarves. If Ves wanted to make an impact on their psyches, then he had to look recognizable to them. The traditional depiction of Vulcan, whether he came in the form of a human or a dwarf, was always paired with a hammer. Though Ves didn't recall using any hammers back when he possessed Rion Aaden during his last Mastery experience, they were so strongly associated with both Vulcan and dwarves that it made too much sense for the god to wield one in his hands! "I need to look as relatable as possible to the dwarves if I want to have any hope of hoodwinking at least a portion of these idiots." As time continued to pass, General Verle's projection appeared by his side again. "We're as ready as we can be, sir." "How are our mech legions?" Ves calmly asked. "Our Avatars of Myth, the Living Sentinels, the Flagrant Vandals, the Swordmaidens, the Penitent Sisters and the Eye of Ylvaine are all in their best condition. Our Heavensworder auxiliaries are also ready to do battle." "What of our expert pilots?" "Venerable Tusa, Venerable Stark, Venerable Orfan and Venerable Dise are fully prepared to meet the enemy expert mechs in battle. Venerable Joshua has decided to attach himself to the Penitent Sisters like before while Venerable Jannzi has chosen to hold the line with the Living Sentinels." Ves grimaced a bit. He still ached at the fact that the latter two expert pilots would remain severely underutilized. Their expert mechs were still months away from completion so there was no chance at all for them to duel against the enemy expert mechs on an equal basis. "It will have to do." He sighed. "I see from the local plot that the Dented Coin is still in the star system. This place is not going to be safe for much longer." "From what I've been told, the Pershams don't want to break relations with us. They also want to stay in the star system in order to witness the battle and make sure that the Dwarven God Cult doesn't distort the account of this battle. For example, the aggressors could lie about who struck the first blow and who was making aggressive maneuvers." Ves frowned. "I don't want to broadcast this battle to the public." "I think it's too late for that." General Verle replied. "It is not bad for us to show our capabilities. We have hidden our fangs so much that we aren't being taken seriously by many people. If we show that we can defeat or at least draw even against three military mech divisions, we will be able to gain a lot of respect. Maybe it makes more sense to hide our capabilities in the Milky Way, but we can't afford to show any weakness in the Red Ocean. If we show the pioneers beforehand that we have ways to punch above our weight, we'll probably be able to deter many rivals." "We enjoy the MTA's protection for two years from the moment we enter the Red Ocean." "And how has its permission to enter the Vulcan Empire worked out?" General Verle shot back. "Not everyone respects the MTA. Although it is foolish to do so, there are always people who don't conform to the rules. Besides, that only delays the threat by the same duration. We will go back to becoming vulnerable to predation after our protection period is over. The only difference is that enough time has passed for you to come up with stronger mech models and new trump cards. Don't be too attached to the solutions we currently possess. Since you think it is unlikely we will make use of them for the first two years of our expedition into the Red Ocean, it's better to make use of them now regardless of how much we expose." This was quite a troubling decision to Ves, but if General Verle thought it was better to let the cat out of the bag, then he was inclined to trust the man. "Very well then. The Dented Coin can stay and keep looking. The dwarves themselves will probably spread the footage to their fellow brethren in the Vulcan Empire anyway. Let them look. They will learn that Vulcan is not to be trifled with." Ves savagely grinned. "Uhm, pardon, sir?" Verle momentarily looked confused. "Oh, nothing. Please proceed with your duties." As the dwarven fleet continued to close in on the Larkinson Fleet, the former didn't bother to transmit any demands to the latter. The Ferril Provincial Army wasn't looking to win a painless battle. The only way to invigorate the Dwarven God cultists and prove to every Vulcanite that humans and dwarves were irreconcilable was to fight the cruelest battle as possible! Only fire and blood would be able to baptize the modern citizens of the Vulcan Empire just as it had transformed the original dwarven rebels on Desala X! As the dwarven fleet with its formidable flagships continued its advance, the pressure it exerted on the Larkinson Clan steadily built up. Ves could feel the tension in the air. Seeing that it would be detrimental if his clansmen commenced the battle while maintaining this nervous state, Ves decided to do something about it. There was no better way to invigorate his soldiers than to hold a speech! He stood up, his Unending Regalia creaking as he did so. As he commanded the communication officer to prepare a fleet-wide broadcast, he noticed that he was still holding the Hammer of Brilliance. "Ah, I better put this away." He stashed the hammer behind his seat just in time for the broadcast to go live. Ves instantly schooled himself and faced his remote audience with a serious expression. "My fellow Larkinsons and friends. Today we are confronted by yet another foe. This time, they come in the form of misguided dwarven soldiers. Although they are shorter than normal humans like us, they are not any weaker because of that. They not only come with greater numbers and military coordination, but also believe they are fighting on behalf of their supposed god." His words did not sound as an encouragement to the Larkinsons. In fact, through the Larkinson network, he could already feel everyone's morale dropping yet again. The truth had to be told, though. Ves did not want to deny the reality of this battle. "Yet we have been in this position before. Our previous enemies have all met their end at our hands. We have beaten pirates, taken down warships, defeated the detachments from elite military mech regiments and even felled the dark gods! We have fought and defeated so many overwhelming threats that we are not weak in the slightest!" This was a targeted reminder to all of the new recruits who had joined the Larkinson Clan in the last year. The odds might not look great but the clan had managed to survive against worse opponents! "Today, we will all show these Ferrils and the rest of the Vulcan Empire what a mistake it was to attack our clan. We are giant slayers! We are god killers! We have become so good at butchering other humans that it should be no problem for us to slaughter the foolish dwarves who seek to do the same to us. No matter how many mechs our enemies deploy and no matter how hard their expert mechs can fight, they can never match our power!" "Larkinson! Larkinson! Larkinson!" It only took a small amount of words to dispel the heavy cloud hanging over the heads of his soldiers. Ves grinned as he began to feel more invigorated. He spread his arms! "Trust in your fellow Larkinsons! Each and every clansman by your side will be with you to the end. No matter what is about to happen, never forget that your brothers and sisters are counting on you to do your part and fight!" Every Larkinson had already developed a strong emotional commitment to the clan. Protecting their family was the strongest motivator for his soldiers. They even became willing to fight to death in order to save the lives of other clansmen. It did not even matter whether they shared any blood relations. This was the power of kinship. Through the constant efforts of Ves and other supporters, identity had surpassed the importance of bloodline in the Larkinson Clan! "Now get ready to show these dwarves the folly of attacking our clan. By the end of the day, we shall defeat them so hard that we will become the bane of their existence! Let us hunt these hostile dwarves down until not even a single one of them is able to make it out! Fight for victory and for family! For the Larkinson Clan!" "FOR THE LARKINSON CLAN!" "FOR YLVAINE!" "FOR THE SUPERIOR MOTHER!" "FOR THE GOLDEN CAT!" "MEOW!" It only took a short time later before the battle finally commenced! The enemy fleet did not even bother to provoke the Larkinson Clan into attacking first. As soon as the Lemogo Distat and other dwarven vessels came close enough, their bunker mechs all opened fire! A heavy volley of solid projections soared into space and slammed into the ships of the Golden Skull Alliance! Tons of split and shattered metal debris flung from the ships that weren't agile and fast enough to evade the long-ranged bombardments. A lot of projectiles ended up hitting the capital ships that were in the line of fire. Some ships came away with minor damage such as the Graveyard but other vessels incurred more serious damage to their hulls. "Cover our capital ships!" The formation of the expeditionary fleet abruptly changed. The sub-capital ships of the Larkinson Clan all weaved into walls that largely covered the capital ships. Though these walls made of ships did not come close to offering total blockage, they still hindered the artillery mechs of the Slug Rangers seriously enough that over half of the projectiles in the next volley slammed into the weaker and smaller vessels instead! Though the impacts to their hulls looked quite concerning, most of them couldn't be taken down so easily. "What are we waiting for? Hit them back!" Since they didn't have to worry about the crime of attacking first, the Larkinson Clan finally unleashed its own response! A mixture of positron beams and gauss rounds exploded from the Transcendent Punishers and struck a couple of distant ships! Unlike the Slug Rangers, the Eye of Ylvaine concentrated its firepower in order to inflict serious damage to the bunkers of the opposition. Although this resulted in less suppression onto the enemy units, the Eye of Ylvaine nonetheless managed to overwhelm two bunkers housing Land Cracker mechs. The machines themselves also incurred enough damage to get taken out of the battle. Although only two mechs had fallen so far, this was still an important accomplishment! "Don't stop until we have wrecked all of their Land Cracker mechs!" Commander Taon instructed. The artillery duel had just begin!