The Victrix added a lot of useful functionality to the Minerva. One of the persistent constraints of ace pilots or any high-ranking god pilot for that matter was their inability to project their power in multiple locations at once. Their power was concentrated in themselves, and that was a deliberate choice. Only by condensing their power to the extreme would they be able to reach critical mass and expand their force of will into a powerful domain. Developing a domain put ace pilots ahead when it came to direct combat. Their willpower had already reached a state that was so strong that they could directly change the laws of reality in an area around their bodies! Yet even if they resonated with an ace mech that was meticulously tailored to complement their abilities, there was only so far their domain field could reach. Not even god pilots were able to project their God Kingdoms across light-years, let alone light-hours! As powerful as they became, the basis of their strength still relied on the concentration of willpower. If they were characters in a role-playing game, then they pretty much invested all of their level-up points into density instead of reach. What was interesting about ace commanders like Casella Ingvar was that she was one of the few rare exceptions to this pattern. Her Command Field was way bigger than that of a typical Saint Kingdom. Unfortunately, the price she paid for this was that she was unable to form a typical Saint Kingdom. Her ability to fortify her own ace mech and amplify her direct combat capabilities had already fallen behind compared to her peers. If the Minerva Mark II by herself sparred directly against the Dark Zephyr Mark III, the Amaranto Mark III or even the Lionheart that had yet to be upgraded into a proper ace mech, the former would lose 10 out of 10 times! This was not only because the Minerva Mark II was only able to generate a form of true resonance whose quality was better than that of a high-tier expert mech, but fell short of that of a junior ace mech. This was undoubtedly an awkward situation to be in! Unlike Saint General Ark Larkinson who at least possessed a strong enough ego to condense all of his willpower into himself, Saint Commander Casella Ingvar had clearly made the deliberate decision to fully delegate her power to her subordinates! This was an extremely difficult decision to make for any high-ranking mech pilot. It was the main reason why ace commanders were so rare. For expert pilots to become so dedicated to projecting their power through their subordinate units rather than their own expert mechs demanded an unparalleled focus on command, leadership and trust. One of the reasons why the Saint Commander was so willing to entrust her safety and her agency to her subordinates was because of the excellent qualities of the mech pilots of the Larkinson Clan. The clan made sure to hire mech pilots with higher qualifications that were not too old. Each of them were competent, capable and most importantly still impressionable enough that they could be trained and retrained to fight and live like Larkinsons. The strong common identity among the clansmen made it easier for them to unify their thoughts and intentions in battle. The Larkinson Clan was also new enough that the degree of infighting among the various internal factions had not grown severe enough to generate a lot of internal discord. All of these factors and more provided Casella Ingvar with ideal conditions to calmly develop her command capabilities and push more and more of her fighting capabilities to her Commandeered and Enfeoffed units. However, all of this also left an obvious weakness in her capabilities. With the current state of the Saint Commander’s development, her personal combat power ranked at the bottom among pretty much every ace pilot! While it was rational for Casella Ingvar to make such a heavy tradeoff, it also meant that Ves and Gloriana suffered quite a headache when they tried to think about how to mitigate this problem. Discover exclusive content at freewebnovel "There are at least three reasons why ace commanders are rare." Ves said as he sat down next to his wife. Both of them were staring at the incomplete archemech design projected above the work terminal. "Three?" Gloriana questioned. "I only thought that there were two." "Well, it is a matter of perspective. Anyway, the first obvious reason is that mech commanders break through at a lower rate than usual. They always have a lot of stuff on their mind, so it is naturally more difficult for them to set aside their rationality and channel their emotions strong enough to push their willpower above the extraordinary threshold." "Understandable. Mech commanders have to spend more time on book learning and strategizing. They can’t be as mindless as ordinary mech pilots who only have to master the basics before pursuing a goal to the extreme." His wife said. "The other is that it is difficult for expert commanders to refrain from taking charge themselves when a fight gets difficult. From this perspective, Saint General Ark Larkinson most emphatically failed this test. He can become extremely powerful to the point where he can even exceed the strength of his peers when he is revered and worshiped by many soldiers, but he has forever denied himself the ability to empower others with his true resonance." Whether Ark Larkinson could still be defined as an ace commander was a matter of debate. Since he was largely reliant on the help of many other soldiers in order to maximize his contributions, people could still argue that he was a ’commander’. Ark just chose to use himself as the vessel of everyone’s hope and desire to attain victory through crushing might! However, there were a lot of other snobs within the mech community who no longer saw this as true commanding. Only Saint Commander Casella Ingvar followed all of the rules and fully abided by the traditions of this subprofession. "What is the third reason?" "Death." Ves immediately replied. "Ace commanders are like heavy artillery specialists. They have a disproportionate impact on the battlefield, but their self-defense capabilities are low. While they can still thrash high-tier expert pilots, they stand no real chance against any other ace pilot." His wife turned and gazed at his face. "Does it truly matter, Ves? We are currently fighting against an alien force that employs entirely different units and doctrines. Most phase lords are incapable of crushing expert mechs at a distance, let alone ace mechs. Their lethality at close range is extremely high, but their physical might is useless at range unless they are extremely good at throwing giant projectiles. Phase lords can project their power across moderate distances quite well if they specialize in spatial manipulation, but ace mechs are usually resistant enough against this that they can usually weather the pressure, at least for a short amount of time." In general, ace mechs struggled to defeat and kill phase lords because the latter always possessed extremely formidable energy and physical defenses. Their absurdly strong spatial barriers and outrageously huge bodies always hindered mechs that did not stand out in terms of offensive power. Phase lords also struggled to kill ace mechs because the latter’s Saint Kingdom could shrug off pretty much every variety of attack. In addition, aside from a few rare exceptions, ace mechs were always highly mobile and could easily come and go where they pleased. All of this meant that unless one side possessed the ability to trap or quickly eliminate a formidable opponent, it was nearly impossible to claim a kill! Of course, there were many other variables on the battlefield that could affect the outcome. Ace pilots and phase lords rarely fought by themselves. Other forces were still able to tilt the balance in their favor. "It does matter." Ves responded to Gloriana. "Throughout my years, I have continued to put my trust in my assumptions. I assumed the Bright Republic wouldn’t betray me. I assumed the Ylvaine Protectorate wouldn’t betray me. I assumed the Friday Coalition would not be shameless to turn against me. I assumed that there is no need for me to learn how to defend myself as I will always have enough protectors by my side. Well, guess what? I have been proven wrong each time. As long as there is a non-zero probability that things can go wrong, you can never rule out an accident that will check your arrogance." His wife frowned. "I understand your perspective. What you say is true. A strong mech can still be felled if the enemy is capable or lucky enough to exploit its weakness. However, this truth applies to every mech that we have designed. It is impossible for us to make the Amaranto Mark III a strong duelist at close range, much as it is impossible for us to turn the Dark Zephyr Mark III into a ranged powerhouse. We have chosen to specialize almost every mech that we have designed up to this date. Only the Mars, the Everchanger and the Lionheart are strong enough to take care of themselves in many different scenarios, but what they gained in versatility, they lack in focus." "None of those mechs are invincible." Ves conceded. "However, their fault tolerances are much higher because they are fast and strong enough to take care of themselves. The Minerva Mark II lacks a Saint Kingdom, so her ability to amplify her performance with true resonance is too weak at the same level. A single ranged champion can snipe the Minerva Mark II from a distance if there is not enough. A single melee champion can crush the Minerva Mark II with relative ease as long as he gets close enough. We can rely on good positioning, excellent scouting, strong interdiction tech and lots of mechs in defensive positions to keep the Minerva Mark II safe, but how long will that last? The Minerva Mark II only has to be ambushed once for her to fall." Gloriana narrowed her eyes. She knew him well enough that if he put so much effort into explaining a problem, he most definitely thought of a potential solution. "Since you are so afraid that this low-probability outcome may come true one day, then I am sure that you have thought of a response. How do you suggest we mitigate this problem?" Ves began to grin. "It is hopeless to rely on Casella and the Minerva themselves to grow strong enough to fend off enemies. My proposal is to design the Minerva Mark II as the heart of a larger amalgamation of mechs, ones that she can easily Enfeoff into Barons or stronger." "Why not design the Amaranto Mark II so that she can easily interface with the Bastion or another high-ranking mech?" "It is too difficult to guarantee that they will be part of the same force." Ves responded while shaking his head. "Also, forcing mechs such as the Bastion or the Blood Star Mark II to carry a vulnerable ace command mech on their backs will heavily degrade their performance and add a lot of concerns. I am also afraid that Casella’s Command Field will interfere with the other ace pilot’s Saint Kingdom and vice versa. Ultimately, I want the Minerva Mark II to gain a degree of self-sufficiency. I don’t want Casella to rely on the protection of other expert pilots or ace pilots to bail her out of a sticky situation. This is not favorable to the development of her willpower." "Okay? I understand your argument, but I still do not have a good idea how you intend to solve it. How do you expect Commander Casella and the Minerva to defend themselves if they are being cornered by a phase lord one day?" "Like this." He said. He activated a projection that showed an important moment during the last battle that took place in the Viola Magnifica System. It showed numerous puelmer elite phasefighters joining together to form a combination gunship!