Chapter 6099 Isobel's Return

Chapter 6099 Isobel's Return

Numerous transport shuttles and transport vessels descended from the orbit of Reticula Corein V.

The transport craft all flew under the escort of plenty of Larkinson mechs. The airspace of the untamed planet was not safe. There were times when flocks of avian exobeasts attempted to assault the flying metal vehicles.

According to the information published by the Hunting Association, one of the reasons why exobeasts always took the initiative to attack human mechs and craft was because they were greedy for high-quality metals.

Many human mechs were made out of excellent exotics and hyper materials that had been carefully selected or developed for specialized purposes.

All of this development unintentionally turned mechs into delicacies to the primitive senses of many powerful exobeasts.

So long as they managed to absorb the best alloys that made these human mechs so powerful, the exobeasts would definitely be able to grow stronger and tougher bodies!

Fortunately, the airspace remained clear for the time being. The region surrounding the Emperor Tree had long been emptied of most native wildlife. The escort mechs ended up doing nothing aside from looking intimidating.

There was one mech that stood out from the remaining escorts. This was the only expert mech among the new arrivals.

The Promethea had returned to this untamed planet once again!

As Chimera Base slowly came into view, the Larkinsons stationed on this hostile and inhospitable planet cheered when they saw the resplendent expert rifleman mech arrive with the rest of the reinforcements!

A few minutes later, the Promethea stepped inside a hangar bay and took up a position next to the Everchanger before powering down her systems.

The third order living mech had already begun to swap stories with the Everchanger over a private communication channel.

Meanwhile, a female high-tier expert pilot exited the cockpit and floated down to the surface.

A welcoming party consisting of Venerable Joshua and Venerable Dise greeted their returning colleague.

"It is good to see you again, Isobel." Joshua greeted the woman.

"We will need your fire to burn the tree down." Dise straightforwardly said.

Venerable Isobel maintained a stoic expression. "I cannot guarantee that my fire will be enough to burn the Emperor Tree down."

"I don't think it will be that bad." Joshua responded as the three moved towards the headquarters of Chimera Base. "Sure, the Emperor Tree is huge, but that just means there is more flammable material for you to burn. The tree is enormous and commands a huge amount of wood energy, but it is not good at concentrating all of its power. We truly think you have a good shot at burning it down. We only need to buy you enough time to start a fire and let it spread with as few interruptions as possible. The tree will definitely resist your purple flames with all of its might."

"I see that Saint Tusa is not among the reinforcements. Although I do not like to admit it, the two of us are outmatched by the Emperor Tree. I cannot say for sure whether your participation is enough to tip the scales. We do not have much of a safety margin." Dise remarked.

"The clan decided that it is not necessary to transfer Saint Tusa to this planet." Isobel replied. "There are more and more signs that the alien offensive has become imminent. If it starts in the next two weeks, then our expeditionary fleet must be ready to defend the vulnerable strongholds that will come under heavy attack. The risks are not small, but every linefighter will receive a massive amount of war merits if they hold back the aliens during the first critical days and weeks."

"I hope that you have implemented enough safeguards to prevent the pilots from getting deceived by the Emperor Tree." Isobel stated.

"Don't worry." Venerable Joshua said. "Our ranged mech units will be stationed far away enough to avoid the worst effects of Solus Gas exposure. The Flagrant Vandals have already scouted the areas and confirmed that their mechs can still maintain their connections to their design spirits. Part of the reinforcements consist of Sanctuary and Pacifier mechs. Both models are able to spread out Lufa's glow, which should prevent the Emperor Tree from tampering with the minds of our mech pilots."

The Larkinsons took other precautions. This was not the first time that something like this happened. There were plenty of humans that developed a lot of safeguards against mental subversion.

As Isobel examined the extensive list of precautions, she grew a little more reassured.

Perhaps the Emperor Tree might be able to circumvent a single precaution, but it was doubtful that it could overcome all of them at once!

The Larkinsons did not want to give the Emperor Tree another chance to survive. The upcoming assault had to succeed in order to reduce the danger to the Solus Gas harvesting operation.

"If an emergency happens, will we be able to count on another round of orbital bombardment to bail us out?" Isobel critically asked.

Joshua nodded. "The Transcendent Punisher Mark III's stationed on the Wild Torch will open fire at the Emperor Tree as soon as they receive the command. We don't want to resort to this option if we can help it. Doing it once has already alerted the calamity beasts located on the same hemisphere as the Emperor Tree. There are exobiologists that think that if we attack from orbit yet again, we will attract at least four different calamity beasts at once. We do not know why, but these powerful beasts are very sensitive towards such attacks."

"This planet is their territory." Dise said. "If we limit ourselves to occupying a single site, the rulers of this globe will not care too much. If we reveal any intention of wiping out all of the calamity beasts in order to claim the entire planet, then they will not be stupid enough to let us beat them one by one."

Task Force Solus needed to avoid this outcome at all cost because it did not possess the numbers and firepower to defeat so many calamity beasts at the same time!

The story would have been different if the entire Larkinson Army launched an all-out offensive against the local exobeasts, but that was clearly excessive.

There was no need to escalate the conflict and risk the destruction of the source of all of the Solus Gas.

The upcoming assault also served as a test for this reason. The Larkinsons wanted to know if they could get away with killing the Emperor Tree.

The Larkinsons were already prepared to pack up their most essential goods and evacuate Chimera Base in haste if they guessed wrong.

After hearing that the planners took the possible reactions of other calamity beasts into account, Isobel no longer concerned herself with this risk factor and focused on other variables.

"I see that the patriarch has requested for us to retrieve numerous intact samples if possible."

"That is correct, Isobel. He badly wants us to capture an intact purple wooden mech and any other powerful imitations of our living mechs. Our mech technicians have already equipped our expert mechs with additional capture gear and other gadgets. The patriarch also wants us to capture the core of the beast."

"The tree has a core?"

"That is what the biotech researchers have guessed after studying the samples." Joshua replied. "The thinking is that since the wooden mechs are powered and controlled by a central tree heart, the Emperor Tree probably possesses one as well. If this is the case, we should make a serious attempt at digging it out intact. It has great value to our clan."

"That is going to be difficult. We do not even know where it is located..."