After the Saint Commander learned of the most current state of what Imon Ingvar turned into, she made herself scarce for a few days. She locked herself in her guest room and spent her time thinking and meditating. Though Ves showed a bit of concern, he trusted that Casella would not engage in self-destructive behavior. She had too many reasons to fight. There was no way she would compromise her ability to command her troops on the battlefield during this dangerous period of time. Ves tried his best to shove his concerns about the ace commander aside and went back to his work. The Minerva Mark II Project, the Final Glory Project and the Arboreal Project were all making brisk progress. Although the low-ranking mech designers no longer had the right to make unlimited use of the smart AIs, that rule did not apply to Ves and Gloriana. Both of them understood that speed was of the essence. They were willing to make heavy use of the services of Polly, Momo and Aria if that was what it took to complete a big project several weeks or months in advance! Although the two Senior Mech Designers understood that relying so heavily on automation not only deprived them from valuable design experience, but also caused them to overlook small opportunities for unplanned improvements, they couldn’t help it. The news from the frontlines continued to generate a sense of urgency among the general population. The Krakatoa Middle Zone was already beginning to suffer from widespread raids and invasions! States such as the Colonial Federation of Davute and the Karlach Colonial Republic had belatedly entered into a full war footing. Everyone that failed to get a ride out had to work for the defense of their planets no matter the cost. Many factories that still produced consumer goods until recently were now forced to produce all sorts of mechs, Carmine mechs, starfighters, tanks, turrets and other war materiel depending on their capabilities. All forms of market activity had ceased! The supply of raw materials became a lot more difficult due to alien raids and highly volatile price fluctuations. It was impossible for shipping companies to ship goods from A to B as normal. Just as many people predicted, many planets found themselves forced to fuel their local industries with resources that were close at hand. Many planets and settlements struggled to produce enough finished goods without being able to import specific materials and components. Local operations could only secure shipments of essential goods at wildly inflated prices! Even then, not everyone fulfilled their contracts. When states risked annihilation, confidence in their currencies and their ability to repay debts came into doubt. Defaults and contract violations were on the rise as opportunists and profiteers sought to take advantage of vulnerable states. Although the Red Three attempted to crack down on any behavior that damaged the integrity of markets, there were way too many violators to hunt them all down! Explore more stories with freewebnovel The situation became especially dire in the Middle Zones that were being hit the hardest at the moment. Even the Premier Branch began to feel the pinch. A lot of Upper Zones actually depended on imports from the Middle and Lower Zones to feed their industries. The rapid and unexpected shortfalls compromised the supply chains of many factories. While the supply disruptions were not too severe at the moment, Ves and many other clever players had already begun to place a lot of orders in advance! They wanted to take advantage of the fact that they could still purchase a wide variety of essential goods to build stockpiles of energy cells, ammunition, fuel, universal parts, nutrient packs and special materials whenever possible. While it was fine if a few groups engaged in this hoarding behavior, it was a different story if everyone else did it as well! The Larkinson Clan was not able to gain any advantage in this aspect. Aside from being able to rely on its own factories established in many different star systems, it was a nightmare to gain priority when ordering goods from third parties. Many companies made no pretense of participating in the free market anymore. They stopped putting their products on the shelf and directly shipped their goods to their friends and patrons if possible. While the Larkinson Clan had been better prepared for contingencies than most, even its clansmen had become affected by complacency. They naively believed in the propaganda that the 5th defensive band would hold. They all looked like fools in hindsight. As the Red Tide Offensive continued to push more and more red humans to the brink, Ves tried his best to do what he could, and that was to finish the ongoing mech design projects as quickly as possible. He wanted to do more, but he lacked the time, power, resources and expertise to do anything else. The war had started too soon. If he had a decade more time to develop his power base, he could have been in a much stronger position! Unfortunately, Ves did not get to choose this kind of stuff. He had no choice but to force himself to work under suboptimal circumstances. As Ves continued to rush his mech design projects to completion, he received an unexpected request for a private meeting from the Saint Commander. His expression flickered before he chose to meet her after his current design session came to an end. A few hours later, Ves and Casella entered into a secure mech hangar. While Ves originally wanted to meet the ace commander in his office or his design lab, she specifically requested to meet in a more secure venue. She also insisted on piloting her Minerva during the meeting. This immediately told Ves that she wanted to talk about subjects that may be controversial to the powers that be. She did not want to risk anyone else learning about what they talked about. Her Command Field, while strong, was not as forceful as a more traditional Saint Kingdom, but it was still strong enough to detect listening devices and shut them down by force. When Casella entered her cockpit and interfaced with her machine, her Command Field immediately became a lot stronger. Without even trying, the Minerva Mark I was still able to expand the radius of her Command Field well over 100 kilometers! This was fairly impressive when fighting in space, but it was absolutely massive on a typical planet! Of course, the Saint Commander tried her best to contract her Command Field so that she wouldn’t be disrupting the lives of ordinary Terrans in nearby towns and cities. For the time being, Casella maintained a high degree of awareness of everyone and anything that was located in and around Diandi Base. She was not able to spare people from feeling that they were being monitored by a powerful ace commander, but Ves had already sent out an announcement in advance. Most soldiers and workers simply shrugged and tried their best to resume their duties. As Ves was situated closest to the active Minerva, he experienced her Command Field the most. His Spirituality was strong enough to block and resist her influence if he wanted, so he was not too worried that she would be able to puppet him like a minion. In fact, everyone subject to her Command Field had the option to resist the Saint Commander’s influence. She never wanted to control people by force. Ves took advantage of this moment to gain a better insight into Casella’s mental state. She was more focused today. Compared to a few days ago, she not only managed to get rid of her confusion, but also wiped away her feelings of disappointment and dismay. The current version of Casella had become a driven woman. She exuded a firm but not too overpowering sense of purpose. The Saint Commander clearly wanted to get stuff done. That was good. An ace commander that was being active was far better than one who wallowed in her own misery. "Alright, Casella. I am here, and you are in your mech. What is it you want to talk about?" Ves directly asked. "I invited you here because I have a plan." The speakers of her Minerva carried her voice across the mech hangar. "I have decided that since I will soon pilot a first-class ace mech, I want to do so on my terms. I will not be going on a tour as is traditional." That caused Ves to frown. "Are you sure about that, Casella? The purpose of a tour is to familiarize yourself with the more advanced aspects of what it means to become an ace pilot. You will also be able to receive exclusive guidance from highly experienced senior ace pilots for free. Both Saint Tusa and Saint Stark have praised the treatment that they received." "I am aware of the benefits, but it is unnecessary for me." Casella said in a factual tone. "Both of the two ace pilots have shared their summaries of the guidance that they have received. That is enough for my purposes. Besides, I can still obtain guidance from the ace pilots in service of the Devos Ancient Clan her on New Constantinople VIII. Their advice may not be completely fitting to ace commanders such as myself, but it will do. It is much more important for me to remain with you in the Premier Branch." While Ves actually welcomed her decision to stay close and become available to defend his life, he did not want her to stunt her growth due to her decision. "Why do you want to stay so bad?" "Because I am necessary here." She spoke as her Command Field grew a little more intense. "I have been observing the Premier Branch and inquired about the state of its armed forces. What I have found is… disappointing." "Disappointing in what ways?" "Everything." Casella did not hide the disdain in her voice. "The structure is non-existent. The recruits are predominantly first-raters who have yet to truly integrate into the Larkinson Clan. They do not even have their own dedicated mechs yet. The mech carriers for them are haphazardly thrown together and not yet fully assembled to boot. The staff is overworked and lacks direction." Ves winced. "Perhaps you have a point, but all of those issues will be dealt with sooner or later. It is not particularly difficult to fix them all so long as the Premier Fleet comes under better management." "It is not enough." Casella responded. "Even if you and your staff are able to address these shortcomings, the Premier Fleet would still be flawed. The prototype of your Premier Fleet lacks any noticeable tempering. It is brittle and will easily break when deployed on a serious battlefield." "We can hire combat veterans or uplift the veterans from the expeditionary fleet to partially address this problem." "It will help, sir, but that does not necessarily address the most egregious problem with your so-called Premier Fleet. This crucial variable is the single most important factor that separates newly raised forces from battle-hardened troops." "What is it that the Premier Fleet is missing?" "Belief." Ves raised his eyebrow. "Are you serious?" Casella snorted. "I never joke about these kinds of matters. Perhaps you are misinterpreting my meaning. I am not talking about belief in a religious sense, but belief in yourself, your comrades, your people and your organization. Take the expeditionary fleet for example. It has forged its reputation over many hard fought battles. It has built up extensive martial traditions that culturally sets it apart from other armed groups. The mech pilots who serve over there are no longer regular soldiers or veterans anymore. They are members of the renowned expeditionary fleet of the Golden Skull Alliance. Just the mention of the two key words is enough to make them swell with pride. This is but a small description of why the expeditionary fleet consistently outperforms many other second-class mech forces." Ves understood what she meant. As a leader who had participated in many of the battles of the expeditionary fleet himself, he too developed a strong belief in the Larkinson Army’s ability to overcome stronger and more numerous enemies! "I think I get it now." He said as he became more engaged in her plan. "So you want to stay in order to rectify the Premier Fleet and whip it up into shape?" "Yes."