Elder Cultivator

Chapter 907

Even with a significant amount of effort going to capturing outlying bases, the assault on Rotaire was still planned and ready to execute in an acceptable amount of time. The messages from the surface hadnt ruled out the possibility that they were keeping some sort of terrible weapons on the planet itself, but they were smarter than to keep some of their bioweapons where it could spread around their own planet. Especially the last bastion of the Void Scrying Sect.

Aside from the void ants on planet, most scout forces kept their distance to avoid potential capture, as the enemys predictive abilities hadnt simply evaporated. They would be less effective, certainly, with many of the Void Scrying Sect having perished, but they still had many core members.

Before they actually made what they hoped to be the final assault- at least with regards to the Void Scrying Sect and their allies, if not actually the full presence of the Trigold Cluster in the lower realms- they had to adjust their occupying forces on Anrade and Egnos. While they hadnt detected any brewing rebellions, that could change the moment they appeared weak. Which meant that unfortunately they had to leave a good portion of their forces behind.

The Lower Realms Alliance had been able to draw upon more of their further forces since they had sufficient warning, but they also had one other mitigating factor they hoped would help. That was others from the Trigold Cluster. Or rather, who had been under that same banner.

This was the faction of Tor and the Shining Spears, along with the rest of those theyd so far won over to their side. They controlled a handful of smaller planets in their own right, and including them in the stabilization efforts was the first step towards some sort of peace. Not reconciliation, since they werent part of those theyd truly been at war with. And hopefully they could convince others of that as well. While there were a great many fanatics among the Trigold Cluster whether it was the upper or lower realms, not all of them were that way.

And even if they had been, some people took exception to planets with people they knew being blown up. They might have chosen to believe their allied factions over the enemy in the war about what happened to Zunrose- but when word came from local sects, verified with their own investigations, they had to at least listen. Hopefully, that would keep things stable for a while.

-----

It was almost routine for Varghese, swooping into a system and binding its star. And he didnt like it at all. Binding stars was great, of course, but war was not. Necessary perhaps, but still unpleasant.

This time was a bit different, as the urgency was different than normal. It was difficult to say whether it was lesser or greater, because while there didnt seem to be any significant fleets outside of the system that the Void Scrying Sect could call upon there were fleets from the Fearsome Menageries faction on the move. Attempts to communicate had resulted in little more than a repeat of the warning to stay out of their way. Not the friendliest of groups, as it turned out.

Rotaires star was a simple red dwarf. A small star, but sufficient to support life at the proper distance. And the planet itself was quite a sizable one, its diameter perhaps a third larger than Inistra- which made its surface area nearly double. Not the largest planet by any means, but quite significant. On the other hand, a larger planet meant any sort of planetary barrier had to be larger as well- which was more expensive to create and maintain.

Their allied fleets arrived before the other Trigold faction, estimated to be about a day. That wasnt necessarily enough to assault a planet, as taking down the barrier could easily take that long. If they pushed themselves they might manage it earlier, but then they would be exhausted when the other fleets showed up- which was not a good state to find themselves in, regardless of whether or not this particular fleet intended to attack them.

Optimal projections indicated there was something they wanted on Rotaire, something they were willing to fight to recover. Less optimal outlooks indicated they wanted to stop the alliance from gaining more territory, regardless of the civil war going on. What was actually going on was frustratingly unclear. It wasnt as if they hadnt tried to communicate.

Combat strategy was kept flexible. The local fleets remained conservative, staying inside the planetary barrier, so Varghese was able to connect to the star in a relatively relaxed manner. All that, and he was just another combatant. He wasnt upset about that- he understood he was still young, and it would be ages before he could stand up like Anton, if ever. He was already strong enough to defend his home, and an unexpected sect head and part of planetary leadership. He had no complaints, but he still felt the urge to grow stronger.

If the Trigold Cluster could cause them this much trouble like this, what would they do for their next invasion, seeking revenge? They wouldnt be so limited in what or how they could prepare an assault, and considering they had invaded a large number of worlds on a schedule for untold cycles they certainly had forces to spare. If they simply consolidated those forces, they might repeat the devastation of Shrenn and Tenouna upon other planets.

Yet at the same time, those two stood out as an example that it was possible to survive even a scouring of planets. They werent exactly vibrant and strong, but they survived. And working together, they were prospering.

Varghese joined the assault on the barrier, which was much less exciting than it sounded like. While there were some weapon firing from inside the barrier, their danger was dampened by the constraints of barriers themselves. There were few barriers so perfectly balanced that an arbitrarily large bundle of energy could pass through without being hindered at all, no matter how intentionally tuned they were.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Only the smallest and most agile ships and the largest, sturdiest ones were focused on the assault. The much greater numbers of the individual fighters made up for their relative weakness, and they could help wear down the barrier by depleting its energy with numbers. The largest ships- ascension class battleships and the like- all carried Assimilation cultivators as well.

Everyone did their best to deflect or avoid incoming attacks rather than letting them hit directly, conserving their energy. They needed it for the assault, after all. Ultimately, they were making good progress with the barrier by the time the Fearsome Menagerie fleet arrived.

Discussions about what to do had already been covered, and depended on how they acted. Ultimately, they would do exactly what had been said and little more- they would stay out of the way. If those fleets turned towards them and opened fire, they would respond in kind- with great intensity. They would especially be focusing on the ship that had their new weapon, the one responsible for causing so much damage around Xeotov. Presumably, that weapon had been made with the worldheart that ended up in their hands.

The new fleet stuck together in one larger mass, instead of trying to spread around and cut off the retreat of the alliance ships. They wouldnt be able to completely cut them off even if they made the attempt, but being sandwiched between two fleets would be unpleasant.

They carefully watched the reaction of Rotaire below as the fleet approached. Their own pulled away from one side of the planet as the Fearsome Menagerie headed towards one side of the planet. Even if they intended to reinforce the fleets there, letting them go ahead was valuable- the planetary barriers had to open to let the fleets through, so it would be a good opening. Many of their forces were concentrated in a ring about halfway around the planet, leaving plenty of room but also poised to take advantage of potential opportunities.

But the intention of the fleet was clear soon enough. The civil war was not finished. Attacks of various sorts began to rain down upon the barrier, matched by the fleet already in place.

If it was a ruse, it was certainly an odd one. Every moment that went by, it became less and less likely, as both the attacking fleet and the defensive barriers were being drained. With that said, they didnt relax their guard. They even focused more efforts on scanning the attacking fleet, but the effect on the barrier was clear. More concentrated fire was rapidly depleting Rotaires energy.

Soon enough sections of the barrier began to collapse, but the local fleets vigorously defended the openings, preventing ships from slipping through to attack formations directly- except those attacks that could strike through the atmosphere from space. There were a few of those, with the Ascension-class ships being the primary source.

The most surprising source was Nthanda. Varghese knew of her strength, of course. He also knew of her accuracy. But as she relied very little on natural energy to support her attacks, she needed better materials for her arrows. Even the best materials would be damaged upon entering an atmosphere at high speed, losing momentum and energy rapidly.

But Nthanda wasnt relying on her bow and she wasnt making use of anything that Varghese would call an arrow. Instead, as soon as the barrier had holes she began tossing huge pillars. Varghese could see why she hadnt done that before the barriers began to open up. They actually gained momentum during their fall rather than losing it, their great mass overcoming the air friction during their rapid descent. With the barriers in place, the power of such an attack would be based primarily on her muscle power, and great as it was there were limits to her abilities.

As for why she was the main individual to be using such a strategy, it was better for most to focus on imparting larger amount of natural energy to smaller projectiles, and guiding such a weapon with their natural energy would require both a significant range of control and sufficient power to keep the connection with the vigors of the atmosphere at play. There was one final factor, which was that the materials of the pillars were minimally reactive to natural energy. Without the initial boost they werent much good.

Though Nthanda wasnt quite without competition. Rutera had a few purely technological weapons that made use of the same principles, launching attacks toward shielded sect grounds.

The impact of any such weapons was tremendous, and that revealed why they couldnt use completely unguided versions of such. Unless they were looking to devastate the planet, which wasnt their intent. Instead, they simply wanted to take out the sects and anything actively part of the military. Cities could remain especially since many of them were remnants of the original populace, now lost to time.

It might have been easier to completely exterminate the population of the world, and the idea had been entertained several times throughout the war with the Trigold Cluster. But ultimately, they could not justify such a genocide, as many of the latest generation had no real choice and had no choice but to support the structures in place. But the large sects and clans they had no hope of escaping the coming wrath.

The Fearsome Menageries forces were selective in their assault as well. After all, most of those involved were their people. It was only a particular grouping of sects they had enmity with. Their new weapon did demonstrate its prior effectiveness even more than before. A single shot scattered something through ships in a particular region, and many of them began to fall out of the skies without any direct damage to their systems.

It was the first time Varghese had felt the weapon, and he felt something resonate within him. That confirmed the connection to Zunrose, at least. The star within him trembled for the spirits of the dead. It didnt exactly have feelings, but it still reacted to the great power of the shared event that had caused the original star to artificially go supernova, consuming the planet- except for perhaps the worldheart. And seemingly, a myriad of vengeful souls.

It was good that they might achieve their revenge. And Varghese very much hoped that said weapon could not be turned against them in the future. Even if the Lower Realms Alliance wasnt the cause, the people of the Zunrose might have resentment towards them regardless.