Saint Davia Stark and her precious Amaranto Mark III traveled to the Rubarthan Pact on a fast courier vessel. The Red Association had built plenty of these small and cheap vehicles. Each of them were equipped with excellent superdrives, but did not really possess much in the way of defenses, weapon systems and transportation capacity. That was fine because they were only ever used to transfer confidential information, high-ranking mechs and mech pilots from one zone to another. Human High Command had begun to promote greater circulation of expert pilots and ace pilots. Letting the same champions defend the same star systems allowed the native aliens to make extensive preparations in advance. All high-ranking pilots and mechs possessed their own strengths and weaknesses. The longer they stayed in a single location, the easier it was for the native aliens to prepare targeted countermeasures. This not only caused red humanity to lose crucial battles, but also exposed the expert pilots and ace pilots to greater dangers. For this reason and more, HHC wanted at least some of these human champions to rotate from star system to star system. It should never be easy for the enemy to prepare targeted countermeasures. This was especially important in the Upper Zones where the most important battles took place! Therefore, the Rubarthan defenders of the Monroe Upper Zone located within the Inferno Spear Principality were fairly accustomed to receiving guests from other states and zones. The fast courier vessel received an expected welcome as soon as she transitioned into the Kayana System. Saint Stark had already conducted a bit of research on her next destination. The port system was one of the more important strongholds of the Monroe Upper Zones. Now that the native aliens had pushed the frontlines all the way back to the 5th and final defensive band, Kayana was much heavier fortified than other locations. The Rubarthans made good use of the time bought by the defenders of the 1st to 4th defensive bands. Kayana III was the capital planet and the first to be colonized by the Rubarthans hailing from the Inferno Spear Principality. Its excellent location caused it to develop an ecosystem filled with life adapted to the presence of abundant quantities of medium to high-grade exotics. What was even better was that the powerful exobeasts that evolved to incorporate these exotics inside their bodies usually combined them in all kinds of magical ways. Their organic carcasses and byproducts were filled with exotic reagents that had many wonderful applications in the biotechnology sector! For these reasons and more, the nunsers who came to colonize Kayana III did not dare to terraform or risk the existing ecosystem. They conscientiously kept their terraforming limited to a local scope. Many tracts of land as well as ocean remained relatively undisturbed, allowing the indigenous exobeasts to live like usual. The Rubarthans that arrived to conquer the Kayana System and claim this jewel of a planet for themselves recognized the wisdom of the nunser approach. The arriving human colonists preserved the ecosystem of Kayana III while only slightly expanding their settlements. In the planet’s heyday, Kayana III hosted a vibrant and flourishing biotech sector. Many Rubarthan as well as foreign biotech research institutions and pharmaceutical companies decided to set up shop on the planet in order to take advantage of the biological wealth of the untamed planet. The Hunting Association had also established a stronger presence as of late due to the mutations of so many exobeast. However, the Red Tide Offensive had caused much of this prosperity to disappear. Many civilians evacuated the planet while the local businesses had closed their doors forever. Civilian infrastructure made way for military fortifications. The pristine nature of numerous lands had to make way for construction as well. Though the Rubarthans did not wish to ruin the ecosystem of the entire planet as they still hoped to retake the Kayana System one day, they still tried to deny the attackers an opportunity to harvest a lot of profits from the planet. Compared to Kayana III, Kayana VI and Kayana VIII-E were not as developed before the latest offensive. Kayana VI was a renewable source of phasewater that had supplied the Rubarthans for multiple years. Kayana VIII-E was a moon orbiting a gas giant that was both a source of high-grade exotics and resonating exotics. On top of that, the asteroid belts of the Kayana System also possessed a lot of mineral wealth, though much of it was dispersed and hidden among worthless space rocks. Saint Stark had never entered a star system that contained so much material wealth. She finally gained more understanding why Human High Command prioritized their defense so much. Did she feel better about the fact that ace pilots such as herself had to let the citizens of the Middle Zones fend for themselves? Not necessarily. She at least recognized that the strategies chosen by HHC were more likely to preserve red humanity in the end. There was little point in bleeding so heavily over low-value territories when the most precious ones had fallen in advance. When the courier vessel entered a large space station that orbited over Kayana III, the Minerva Mark III was finally able to step out of her hold. The Rubarthans had prepared a reception for the arriving ace pilot. Dozens of pristine first-class multipurpose mechs stood in rows on opposite sides. Officers and soldiers in dress uniform stood right in front of the massive feet of the machines. Virtual banners hung from the ceiling while a big red carpet had been rolled out in the center. The Rubarthans even played an uplifting tune that swelled the Rubarthans with pride. Standing further away were civilian journalists. Their recorder bots eagerly took in the arrival of the Amaranto Mark III and zoomed in on the unusual appearance and tech of this exotic masterwork archemech. Saint Stark was slightly taken by surprise at all of the pomp and circumstance. She had already been informed by the Rubarthans that they would organize an occasion to greet her, but the ace pilot never knew that she would be met with so much attention. Enjoy more content from freewebnovel Did Saint Tusa receive this kind of treatment all of the time? Davia Stark did not let her surprise freeze her in place for too long. Her Amaranto Mark III only paused briefly before moving forward at a smooth, confident and controlled pace. Though Stark kept her Saint Kingdom suppressed, she couldn’t prevent it from spreading out and coming into contact with so many Rubarthan soldiers and mechs. The soldiers were all happy to welcome her arrival. They were proud of themselves, but they could not deny that it was always good to receive additional help. The Rubarthan mechs also presented Davia Stark with interesting sights. Due to the Larkinson Clan’s ongoing association with the Terran Alliance, Saint Stark had come into contact with Terran mechs a few times. The differences between Terran mechs and Rubarthan mechs were obvious. Compared to the former, the latter clearly favored ranged combat more. Many Terran first-class multipurpose mechs were designed so that their long-ranged armaments softened up their opponents while their close-ranged weapons finished them off with great power. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎 In order to make sure that their mechs were lethal enough at close range, the Terrans made many design choices that limited the capacity for ranged armaments and devoted more space to enhancing anything that helped with melee combat. The Rubarthan Pact on the other hand tended to treat their ranged armaments as primary weapons and their melee weapons as backup solutions. The mechs gathered inside the spacious hangar bay of a space station all reflected this design approach. Their designs allocated a lot more capacity towards accommodating higher calibers, stronger capacitors and many other relevant components. While the Rubarthan mechs could still swing a sword or bayonet in order to fend off opponents that came close, they would much prefer to back off and keep pelting their enemies with plasma bolts, energy beams, kinetic rounds and missiles. Saint Stark felt a little more at home among these first-class multipurpose mechs. These were soldiers who had taken ranged combat to the highest level. She suddenly understood a little better why the Rubarthans stared at her machine with so many hot eyes. Everyone in the Larkinson Clan and the Golden Skull Alliance had already become somewhat familiar with the Amaranto, or at least her previous incarnation. The Rubarthans probably never saw a machine like the Amaranto Mark III. She was simultaneously a seventh generation living mech, a masterwork mech, a transphasic mech, a hyper mech and a Solus mech, if only barely. Yet it was not these technological identifiers that the Rubarthans fixated upon the most. The ace pilot could deduce from the emotions of the Rubarthans within her Saint Kingdom that they admired and desired to pilot a machine like the Amaranto because she pursued an extreme that few of the locals were willing to commit towards. The Amaranto Mark III was a mech designed around the concept of extreme firepower! This not only reminded the Rubarthans of the famous Ragnarok piloted by the Destroyer of Mechs, but also gave them the belief that Saint Stark could assassinate any phase lord so long as her ace mech possessed a clear line of sight! Their expectations were too high. Stark was reluctant to disappoint them by telling them that she could not one-shot every phase lord that appeared in her crosshairs. As the Amaranto approached the other side of the hangar bay, she stopped before a podium that already hosted a number of Rubarthan dignitaries. Saint Stark tuned out the boring boilerplate speeches. While she could feel that the Rubarthans were sincere enough, they couldn’t help but use her arrival as an opportunity to play to their citizens. "...please exit the cockpit of your fine masterwork mech so that you may address our citizens." That was her cue to open up the cockpit of the Amaranto and emerge from the chest of her machine. She floated down and soon faced her own mech as well as the many Rubarthan soldiers and mechs. "I thank you for your warm welcome." She began to speak. She was not entirely comfortable with addressing the public, but she was not about to make a fool of herself. "In my youth, I looked up to the New Rubarth Empire as a state that continued to set an example for many states, including my own. It is an honor and a privilege for me to grow strong enough to earn your recognition and fight by your side." Though Saint Stark did not harbor any special sentiments towards the Rubarthans, she still admired their history and how much they had done to curb the arrogance of the Terrans. It was a shame that the Big Two came and reduced the New Rubarth Empire from a powerful star empire to a mere state. "As a decades-long guest pilot of the Larkinson Clan, I may not be able to represent my hosts directly, but I can tell you that the Larkinsons also admire you. Many of its rules and customs are based on the meritocracy that you have exemplified across your history." The Terrans possessed a longer heritage, but the Rubarthans had a greater influence on the societal development of modern human civilization. "Here in the Kayana System, I arrived to do my part in protecting your colonial superstate and the many people who reside in your territories. I have come to observe, to learn and to fulfill my purpose as the protector of all humans who are not able to take up the fight themselves. I hope that my performance in the coming weeks will be satisfactory! I shall endeavor to teach the invading enemy phase lords a lesson that they will not forget!" The Rubarthans cheered! Even if her words were not that important, her attitude and the respect she had shown to her latest hosts had already endeared her to the locals!