Saint Davia Stark changed the entire dynamic of the battle in an instance. Though there were many Larkinsons that had high hopes for the marksman mech specialist after receiving her newly upgraded mech, few expected her to break through when the enemy forces were still too far away for most weapons to be able to land a hit. Not everyone was able to match the legendary accuracy of puelmer laser gun batteries! A buffer period took place as both sides took stock of what just happened. The Amaranto Mark III never showed up in full view of the public to the dismay of the soldiers that became encouraged by her astonishing performance. The Spirit of Bentheim possessed her own internal channels for mechs and mech-sized objects to move inside her interior. This shrouded the new ace pilot in mystery. Many people would remember this day for the rest of their lives for this overwhelming display of ranged superiority alone. The fight had to go on. Just because the native aliens unexpectedly lost a lesser phase lord was not a reason for them to abort their long-awaited offensive push to the final human stronghold in the Viola Magnifica System! The native alien commanders evidently saw no point in any further posturing or showmanship. The enemy forces advanced faster. The phase lords that previously came under threat were indignant at what a single human ace pilot and ace mech had put them through and were eager to earn back their lost face by crushing the human resistance! Of course, the 3 remaining lesser phase lords did not stupidly fly in the open this time, but conspicuously remained behind the much more massive bodies of the two greater phase lords. The alien assault fleets made their own adjustments just in case the Amaranto Mark III returned. Their warships altered their formations so that the Amaranto Mark III wouldn’t be able to pierce through several hulls at once. It was rather amazing to see how the performance of just a single saint could curb the arrogance of so many aliens and reshape the dynamics of this battle. Saint Commander Casella Ingvar felt genuine gratitude towards Davia Stark for removing an important enemy chess piece off the board. She only felt regret that the latest saint broke through a bit too soon for her liking. If Davia Stark was able to hold her fire and wait until the native aliens had moved within the effective range of most of the guns of the human mechs and orbital defenses, then they could have taken advantage of the Amaranto Mark III’s impressive firepower to take down one or two additional phase lords! This was not an exaggeration. The Saint Commander truly believed that more enemy champions would have fallen if the timing of Saint Stark’s breakthrough had been better. Even if the Amaranto Mark III had lost the most crucial element of surprise, the ace marksman mech’s extremely potent attacks was enough to weaken the spatial barriers of greater phase lord by a significant margin! Certainly, the Amaranto Mark III’s firepower was ultimately not enough to overcome the formidable defenses of the Herald of the Void, but what if Casella added the firepower of her Minerva Mark I along with dozens of Barons and thousands of Knights? The massed firepower of all of those resonance-empowered mechs would definitely put the greater phase lord’s defenses under much greater strain! It would be even better if the Amphis Extremis piloted by Saint Linda Cross was able to approach the greater phase lord and hammer away at the enemy’s battered defenses with the help of its ace mech-grade space suppression module and powerful mace! The combined onslaught of all of these ace pilots and machines would have surely inflicted enough damage to kill or at least drive away the jureg greater phase lord before he even had a chance to demonstrate his combat prowess! Alas, it was not to be. There was no guarantee that Saint Davia Stark would have broken through if she held in her urges and waited until the enemy forces advanced much closer. The guest pilot of the Larkinson Clan clearly struck at that specific timing because her machine made it possible and because she wanted to challenge herself. In any case, the Saint Commander knew better than to look at a gift horse in the mouth. Even if it was not the horse she wanted, having one was better than having none. "What do we do now, Casella?" Venerable Joshua asked. "We wait. We adjust. We prepare. Despite this… variable… our plan has not changed all that much. The enemy force is too numerous for the loss of a phase lord and a dozen battleships to reverse the balance of power. The greater phase lords are the true threat. Their defenses are much tougher. Their attacks hit much harder. Their mobility is quite high as long as they are not being warp interdicted. Their technological equipment has also received major upgrades. Without the presence of a senior ace pilot or the exceptional firepower of an offensive specialist like Saint Stark, I do not see a way for us to kill or cripple either greater phase lords." "Davia Stark managed to kill a lesser phase lord when she was still an expert pilot. Saint Tusa managed to kill a greater phase lord by himself." "Those are exceptional circumstances that cannot be replicated by us so easily." Casella retorted with a frown. "Saint Tusa borrowed the power of a tier 3 Destroyer spear. Davia Stark has completed an impressive feat, but she is out of action for the remainder of this battle. Our only hope of replicating the earlier miracle is for you or another high-tier expert pilot to break through on the battlefield. While I would like to be optimistic, as a mech commander I cannot base my plans on a low-probability event that historically almost never happens." Joshua objected to that approach. "I think you can be a little more optimistic about our chances. It’s different this time. While it is true that this is the first time that Davia Stark is able to properly pilot her shiny new Amaranto Mark III in a serious battle, she has worked hard to improve her practice according to Ketis’ theories. If I, along with a handful of other high-tier expert pilots, manage to break through during this battle…" Saint Commander Casella Ingvar would truly welcome the emergence of so many comrades who she had fought alongside with for years. However, there was no proof yet that the Heaven Earth Man Trifecta could magically improve the breakthrough chances of every expert pilot that believed in the unproven theory. "We shall see." Casella remained uncommitted. "We will switch from defense to offense as soon as the alien forces have suffered enough blows. However, breakthroughs alone may not be enough for us to slay one of the greater phase lords. As long as the Herald of the Void or the Lower Herdmaster remains in fighting condition, either of the two can collapse our defenses and drive us away from the star system." This was the tyranny of a greater phase lord. The same applied to a senior ace mech. Both of them were so much more powerful than other forces that they could swing a battle in their favor almost by themselves! Time passed by. Saint Commander Casella Ingvar and numerous other commanding officers continued to observe the advancing enemies while issuing orders to their troops. Now that the aliens have suffered the first major casualty in this battle, their approach no longer appeared as intimidating as before. The morale of the aliens had definitely taken a blow. The death of any phase lord was a huge deal in alien society. Even gods could die. The collapse of a phase lord, even a lesser one, produced a lot of ripple effects! The most ardent and most organized worshipers of the deceased phase lord had lost their greatest backing. The believers who genuinely considered the phase lords to be divine suffered crises of faith. While the enemy warships behaved as if there was nothing wrong, their crews had likely grown a lot more discouraged than before. If the humans were able to take out a phase lord with ease, then what about their ships? What about their stations? If not for superiors and supervisors watching out for any alien crew members that began to express their doubts, many of the alien vessels would have slowed down by this time! Instead, the alien officers pushed their warships to advance faster, allowing them to end the awkward period where no one was able to hit anything with any reliability. As the alien armada was about to enter into the effective range of many ranged mechs, both sides finally began to open fire at each other with their ranged weapons! Stay updated via empire Few projectile weapons had begun to open fire, but plenty of energy weapons did not show any restraint! Laser weapons, positron weapons, plasma weapons and more crossed through space and either missed their targets or managed to strike at the enemy’s defenses! The native aliens trained their guns at the orbital fortresses for the most part. While the titan shields of the targeted fortified space stations could withstand numerous warship salvos, their shield generators were not able to withstand so many sustained attacks! One fortress got breached due to receiving the highest concentration of warship cannon fire. The titan shield fizzled out, exposing the space station’s metallic structure to the enemies. The native aliens capitalized on this advantage and launched a few more energy weapon salvos that completely wrecked the most essential systems and compartments of the space station! 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 While the orbital defense network was steadily being degraded by the native aliens, the humans did not remain idle. They shot back with all of the guns they could bring to bear against the aggressors! While the guns were unable to effectively target any phasefighters due to how small they were, they had greater success when targeting the enemy capital ships. Unfortunately, there was still a noticeable gap in firepower. It was at this time that the Star Dancer Mark II piloted by Venerable Brutus Wodin had begun to open fire. Though he excelled at dogfighting, Brutus was still a relatively good marksman. His shots did not miss at this distance and he was always able to maneuver his machine at different angles in order to target the best weak points, as much as that was possible when dealing with heavily shielded enemies. Those azure or transphasic energy shields could withstand only so many attacks, though. The alien warships just appeared a lot more durable because they usually roll their hulls and made sure to present their weakest side away from the greatest threat. Venerable Brutus happened to be fairly good at maneuvering around the battlefield and obtaining a superior angle to snipe down his adversaries! He drew upon his skills and experience in order to flank and harass the enemy warships with his ranged attacks. The Hexacris luminar crystal rifle may have become outdated according to modern standards, it was still a weapon that Venerable Brutus had used for years. He learned much of its quirks and issues and knew for certain that his mech weapon would land its shot exactly according to specifications. "Come on, you misbegotten aliens! Your alien and patriarchal society rests on a foundation of sand. By denying the power of women in your uncivilized hierarchy, you deserve nothing but death!" As the Star Dancer Mark II merrily flew further and further away from the human defensive lines, the machine continued to lure more enemies in chasing after the expert rifleman mech! Even if the Star Dancer Mark II’s attacks were not even able to penetrate through the powerful alien energy shields, the mere fact that this expert mech was able to infuriate the aliens could bring the human defenders another advantage! Already, a sizable detachment of elite phase fighters had veered away from the main formation and had entered into pursuit against the annoying expert rifleman mech!