Chapter 7008 Withdrawal to Screed Tanner VI-F (FIXED)

The continued inaction from the lesser phase lords eventually broke the back of alien opposition.

Despite transmitting repeated requests for relief, their gods had turned their gazes away from their faltering phasefighters and warships.

To many alien soldiers, the complete lack of empathy and courage shown by the lesser phase lords practically caused their faith to collapse.

Without faith, how could they possibly muster enough motivation to persist in this battle?

The aliens began to withdraw.

As soldiers, they attempted to organize their retreat as orderly as possible, but that did not last very long.

Many aliens just wanted to put as much distance between them and the deadly human mechs and warships!

It did not help that their human counterparts immediately smelled weakness.

"The aliens have lost their will to fight! Press harder! Do not give them a chance to catch a breath! The stronger our attacks, the faster their remaining cohesion will crumble!"

There was a big difference between an orderly retreat and a complete rout.

The goal of the human forces was to trigger the latter. Not only would the total breakdown in order make it a lot more difficult for the native aliens to reorganize and reform their ranks, but it also made every enemy asset a lot more difficult to defeat!

The alien phasefighters and warships were several times more difficult to defeat when they covered each other's backs and employed sophisticated tactics.

Once they became so panicked and desperate to flee the battlefield, they could no longer pay attention to such operations.

This was exactly what was happening!

The native aliens attempted to withdraw by assigning a rear guard to buy time for others to make an escape, but they had made a critical error!

The forces under the command of the Protector of Karnak lorded over the other forces.

While there was a lot of logic in sacrificing the more disposable assets to preserve the more valuable ones, the aliens were not pawns that could be discarded at will.

If their native god personally ordered their raiding fleets to form such a rear guard, then they may obey this order without question just because they had been conditioned to absolutely obey their deity.

However, the order came from the commanding officers of the forces that defended the Screed Tanner System.

They weren't even gods. They were merely mortal juregs that had reached a high rank by earning the trust of the Protector of Karnak. There was still an enormous gap in status between the two. Even if the former spoke with the backing of a god, that was still not as good as the real deal!

Besides, it was very doubtful that the native aliens were willing to obey the orders of a jureg greater phase lord.

The juregs were fanatically loyal to the phase whales and had always been associated with the Red Cabal.

The phase whales recognized the usefulness of having these stupidly loyal aliens by their side.

Due to these dynamics, the juregs therefore cultivated a reputation for being the bullies and enforcers of the Red Cabal, especially in the last decade when the organization was forced to become a lot more prominent.

Therefore, other major races generally disliked the pompous juregs who constantly tried to persuade alien populations to worship the phase whales before their local gods.

Suffice to say, the juregs did not endear themselves to the orvens, nunsers, zzamayels and etcetera due to causing so many religious disputes!

The trusted jureg commanders therefore generated so much hatred and animosity that the remnants of the alien raiding fleets did the complete opposite!

They not only refused to form a rear guard in order to hamper the human pursuit forces, but they split up and fled in different directions!

What a clever decision!

This naturally made it a lot harder for the human forces to catch them all. The Premier Fleet and the Bluejay Fleet did not field a lot of mechs and warships, so splitting them up would cause them to lack the strength to complete their missions.

There was even a risk that the native aliens would suddenly turn around and launch a counterattack against their pursuers!

Therefore, the best decision that the pursuing human mech forces could make was to follow the largest group which happened to consist of combat assets that still answered to the Protector of Karnak.

The greater phase lord may have become too distracted to pay much attention to the state of his fleet, but he was still able to recognize how it got pulled into a disaster.

Now, the greater priority of this faltering collection of phasefighters and warships was to retreat to Screed Tanner VI-F.

There, the alien soldiers could rely on the fortified space station and other fixed defenses to stall any attack attempts.

Depending on how quickly the humans were able to dismantle the defenses, the subordinates of the Protector of Karnak may judge that it would be better for them to cut their losses and run.

"Come on, fellows! These jureg-led aliens have little to no faith left. It will not take too much of a brow to make them lose resistance!"

A squad of Dracoloid mechs flew towards an alien frigate that was already showing signs of stress.

They were immediately met with intercepting fire from the alien ship's point defense guns.

Many of them had been installed relatively recently. It became clear that the native aliens placed more emphasis on smaller and compact weapons that could effectively intercept both ordnance and incoming strike craft.

The Dracoloid mechs therefore endured a high frequency of attacks. Their azure energy shields immediately took a toll, yet they put their trust in shield link technology as well as Casella's Command Field.

Since the Dracoloid enjoyed both advantages, this mech model was able to show off such amazing combat power.

Yet it was undeniable that it was not the most valuable reward.

The Omega Threshers maintained their distance from other forces and got credited for blowing up a lot of stuff.

"This is so easy! The Omega Laser Cannons are so powerful, and the Phase Disintegrator Guns always succeed in stripping the vessel of their energy defenses."

There was little chance the native aliens will slow down and fight us to death, so the combatants quickly grew hyper aggressive!

More and more aliens had been pushed to the brink of exhaustion. Their reaction speeds slowed and their ability to respond to danger had atrophied.

More alien assets began to show flaws.

Numerous phasefighters accidentally crashed into each other and forcibly connected them to the chamber. This was a catastrophe that should have never taken place!

Several alien frigates had decided to band together in order to reduce the pressure, but only ended up stabbing each other in the back.

Crazy incidents like this unfolded across the battlefield.

"Sir! Many of the alien forces have moved beyond the range of the Minerva Mark II's Command Field. Continuing to chase after them will make our fleets much more vulnerable. What is your decision, sir?"

"Do not pursue." High Captain Gilbert instructed. "If you do, you risk coming into contact with the lesser phase lords that are lingering in the periphery. Wiping out all of the lesser phase lords and alien remnants is too difficult and unrealistic for us. We must focus on completing our primary objectives."

The Saint Commander chimed in as well.

"Do not feel tempted to pursue. No matter how weak a collection of alien warships may be, they can still outnumber and outgun any pursuit force. We need to focus on more urgent priorities."

Many mech pilots groaned, but they knew better than to disobey.

Instead of setting off to pursue the miscellaneous routing enemies the mechs restrained themselves and remained on guard. Any surprises could put their imminent victory in jeopardy. They needed to be ready to respond to any counterattacks.

Now that the main opposition had melted in front of them, the two victorious fleets advanced towards Screed Tanner VI-F at a steady pace.

The Saint Commander did not relax even though her forces had managed to break the back of alien resistance in this star system.

Scaring away the enemy phasefighters and warships was different from eliminating them permanently.

She still held a bit of vigilance towards the native aliens. No matter whether they were juregs or nunsers, so long as they were numerous enough, they may still have ideas about turning around in order to fight!

In order to reduce this possibility as much as possible, the human forces took preventative measures.

The Premier Fleet and the Bluejay Fleet lost many potential opportunities to capture and convert the notorious alien vessels.

Many of the crippled hulls had been destroyed as a precaution. The humans weren't stupid enough to give the alien crew a chance to restore the ships and launch a surprise attack while the humans were caught off-guard.

Once enough hulls got destroyed, the Larkinsons finally gained enough reassurance.

The Saint Commander no longer ordered her troops to blast apart the next alien hulls. The human warships instead had to send in their marines and hopefully capture enough valuable goods by leaving the hulls intact.

It was also possible to capture the warships and convert them to their own use. However, this was a risky proposition that would likely cause the Larkinsons to suffer losses and delay their departure from the Screed Tanner System.

This was why the boarding parties ruthlessly killed every alien crew member in the way and prioritized the theft of phasewater and other high-quality resources.

The humans did not take the bait!

They did not attempt to capture the alien warships. The Larkinsons lacked experience in this aspect. They much preferred to let their mechs do all of the work, but their machines were too big and clumsy for this sort of work.

"It feels so frustrating to let so many cowardly alien phasefighters and warships leave." A Dracoloid mech pilot complained. "I could have destroyed at least two more alien frigates or destroyers if we could move further than the prescribed limit."

"The Saint Commander is holding us back for our own good, Rick. Have you forgotten that these alien raiding fleets originally traveled to the Screed Tanner System in order to offload their plunder? The real valuables should still be left in the large amount of stockpiles on the surface of Screed Tanner VI-F!"

The strategy chosen by Casella Ingvar made a lot more sense in that context. The moon base was the real prize.

In order to enrich the Larkinson Clan, the Saint Commander grew eager to secure the enemy base and prevent the enemy from transferring all of those goodies!

"We need to send a powerful enough advance force to intercept inbound alien starships and lock down those treasures if possible."

"I shall send ahead my Viscounts." The Saint Commander informed everyone.

The current Viscounts had already completed their tasks. No intact warship was left within the range of the Minerva Mark II's Command Field.

This was a ridiculous amount of space!

Yet despite being able to extend the range of her domain field to over 145 kilometers, Screed Tanner VI-F was located much further away at the moment!

Most Commandeered mechs would lose their empowerment after they moved too far away from the source.

This should have happened to the Viscounts as well, but in reality they retained the same level of strength as before!

200 kilometers, 500 kilometers, 1000 kilometers.

The Enfeoffed Dracoloids merrily flew away from the flagship that hosted the Minerva Mark II and did not doubt their power in case they were met by enemies.

Instead, they remained strong, and it was all because of the metal owl that shadowed their movements!

It hadn't been too obvious before, but now everyone could see and figure out that the Victrix extended the Minerva Mark II's Command Field!

Casella's appreciation for the Victrix rose. She could hardly imagine life without this handy owl fey by her side. Ves had done an excellent job at bringing it to life and filling it with a sense of purpose!

She was also incredibly impressed by her Viscounts.

They had already been instrumental in defeating the enemy warships and causing the native aliens to lose their confidence in the battle.

Now, the Saint Commander intended to find out if they could perform well when operating by themselves.

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