At this stage of the battle, the apparent plan of the enemy strike force became clear to Ves and the other leaders.

The enemy split up their fleet in two pincers which slightly arced apart from each other in order to pin the expeditionary fleet down from two sides.

From the orientation of the Golden Skull Alliance, the left side was dominated by the Friday Coalition's elements of the enemy fleet. All of the elite mech units as well as their expert mechs soared forward in an obvious attempt to break through the lines of their opponents with unstoppable momentum!

The Praetor Clan and the Planat Clan took responsibility for the right side. Neither the Larkinsons nor the Glory Seekers were too familiar with the unit composition of the Garlener Clans, but Ves was not too intimidated by the mechs they fielded.

While they were unquestionably up to military standard, the traitor clans were evidently unable or unwilling to bring their crack troops.

"They're seasoned regulars." Major Verle's projection spoke in an appreciative tone. "The mech troops fielded by the Friday Coalition's friends have a stable and reliable quality to them. Their relatively unexciting mechs reflect their stated purpose in battle, which is to form a solid wall and occupy their opponents as much as possible. They aren't shock troops who are needed to breach defenses, nor are they required to outmaneuver their opposition in order to achieve victory in one fell swoop. Look at their overall mech composition. It's largely medium mechs with a modest proportion of heavy mechs sprinkled in. They only have enough light mechs to perform the necessary scouting and interception roles."

He had a good point. Ves had already noted the overall quality and characteristics of the mechs fielded by the Praetors and Planats. It appeared that their commitment to this operation was not all that great.

"Why have they agreed to fight us at all?" Ves frowned.

"Pardon, sir?"

"Think about it. From what I understand of the sordid history of the Becker Tribe, once the Cross Clan lost its ace pilot and had been driven out of Vicious Mountain, the conflict should already be over. The Becker Tribe has lost all of its conquered territories and even gave up its own star systems as compensation. The Praetors and Planats managed to preserve the core of their territories while also cannibalizing the territories that used to be held by the Cross Clan. This is an irreversible outcome. Killing the remnants of the Cross Clan doesn't serve any strategic purpose."

Major Verle followed the train of thought and began to speculate as well.

"Hmmm. I understand. The Praetor Clan and Planat Clan may have succeeded in preserving themselves, but the Becker Tribe is in poor shape. They need to focus much of their energies on preserving what they have. There isn't much of a rationale to finish the job as the Cross Clan is unlikely to make a comeback and is already on its way out of this galaxy."

Ves pointed at the powerful Garlener expert mechs that were about to clash against each other. "Look at them. These arrogant expert pilots are too impulsive and prone to their emotions. I bet they're the ringleaders behind the cooperation with the Friday Coalition. This is all a private action to them. The only soldiers they were able to command are those who are personally loyal to them. This is how expert pilots work in Vicious Mountain. They have actual autonomy and decision-making power in their star sector."

"That sounds plausible."

They could make good use of these guesses if they turned out to be accurate. If Ves was right about the forces of the two clans, then their rank-and-file shouldn't be too threatening. There was a difference between following orders and fighting for a cause. Perhaps the individual soldiers might harbor some irrational hatred against the Crossers, but now that the main problem had been resolved, it was not worth it to risk their lives to beat down an already fallen opponent.

Ves looked at the moving elements on the map with a hopeful expression. "We don't have to invest too much resources in fighting against the standard mechs of the two clans. We can just rely on the Living Sentinels along with some other perfunctory units to hold back the right pincer with the help of our combat carriers. If it turns out my guess is wrong, our Transcendent Punishers can help hold back the Garleners."

"That's a solid plan, but only if you're right, and that is never certain." Major Verle cautioned. "Still, I'm inclined to believe in you. Only the Fridaymen should be fighting us with the fate of their precious state on the line. We'll definitely need to allocate more forces to prevent them from reaching our ship. The Spirit of Bentheim will certainly be in their sights."

He proceeded to bring these matters up to Colonel Ariadne Wodin and the other leaders. They all recognized that this theory had merit. In particular, the senior officers of the Cross Clan also supported Ves' assertion that the rank-and-file Praetors and Planats were followers.

"It's the expert mech pilots who are truly calling the shots." A Crosser officer briefly explained to them all. "We have identified Venerable Damira Planat and Venerable Albert Praetor among our current opponents. Both of them are most certainly the masterminds behind this private action."

The power that both expert pilots exuded in their expert mechs was impressive. To be honest, the Garlener expert pilots on both sides were on a different level compared to the rest.

This was the power of veteran expert pilots who matured in a volatile star sector!

This was the power of expert pilots who lived in an environment where their kind was revered!

It would have been quite frightening if the Larkinson Clan had to fend off the Erin Tear, the Trost and the Imperial Verdict on its own. Fortunately, the Cross Clan's own powerful expert pilots kept these powerful machines in place, if only to take revenge on the traitors.

While the situation still looked manageable, that was only the case if the three aforementioned enemies were eliminated or remained locked in combat.

If just one of the powerful enemy expert mechs achieved victory, then a chain reaction would quickly ensue that would spell the defeat of the Crosser expert mechs and subsequently trigger the collapse of the rest of the expeditionary fleet!

"We have to keep a constant eye on these duels." Major Verle wearily sighed. "As long as one of them tilts against our favor, we need to reinforce Patriarch Reginald and his comrades no matter the cost."

The expert pilots from Vicious Mountain truly exhibited a lot of power from the very start!

The duel between Venerable Patriarch Reginald Cross and Venerable Damira Planat was the most eye-catching clash of them all. This was the first time that Ves personally witnessed a confrontation between two high-tier expert pilots and expert mechs!

The resonance meters recorded resonance strengths in excess of 50 laveres between the two powerful expert mechs!

Venerable Reginald Cross held a slight edge as his true resonance levels fluctuated between 55 to 57 laveres.

Venerable Damira Planat was a bit worse off as her true resonance only hovered between 50 to 53 laveres.

Despite this minor disparity, Venerable Damira actually held the upper hand in the duel. The Erin Tear she piloted was an exceptionally tricky weapon master mech that was a nightmare to fight at close range!

The Bolvos Rage piloted by Venerable Reginald Cross was a much more rounded mech. Aside from its external weapons, it also carried a variety of integrated weapon systems.

Ves witnessed the Bolvos Rage launching a volley of miniature missiles at the Erin Tear. The latter mech shot out a small but concentrated volley of lasers from its head, detonating most of the incoming missiles.

Two still went through and exploded a short distance away from the Erin Tear, causing the mech's resonance shield to wobble.

The mech piloted by Patriarch Reginald did not let up on the assault. A pair of shoulder-mounted positron turrets swiveled out and glowed in red before firing a pair of piercing beams at the enemy resonance shield!

At the same time, the Bolvos Rage raised and oriented its wrists and fired a pair of projectiles that quickly fired a couple of plasma bolts!

The Bolvos Rage then lifted its shotgun and fired a blast as it flew closer! The silent but powerful blast easily tore the Erin Tear's already-weakened resonance shield to pieces!

Even though the Planat expert mech lost its first layer of defense, an energy shield appeared fast enough to block the second shotgun blast! While the energy shield immediately destabilized, it had succeeded in its job.

The Erin Tear burst forward and jabbed forward with her weapon configured in the form of a spear!

Patriarch Reginald predicted the attack. His Bolvos Rage had already moved out of the way while putting away the shotgun. Instead, it withdrew a small rod that quickly unfolded in a circle until it formed into a shield!

Ports opened up on the chest and thighs of the hybrid mech. They began to fire small but hard-hitting projectiles that precisely targeted the secondary weapon modules installed on the Erin Tear.

The Planat expert mech did not let the attacks go unanswered. The thick spear in its hands split up in half and turned into a pair of axes. The weapon master mech held them tight and charged them up with true resonance, causing the weapons to be surrounded by increasingly brighter orange glows!

The Bolvos Rage ceased its attacks. Instead, it began to distance itself from the Erin Tear while bracing its circular shield directly in front.

Once the Erin Tear finished charging the pair axes, the mech threw them forward with mighty swings!

The soaring axes spun so fast that they looked like two powerful energy disks as they advanced with speeds far greater than what an ordinary thrown weapon should possess!

The thrown axes reached the Bolvos Rage in no time! One spinning axe impacted the mech's red resonance shield in a mighty collision that would have been deafening if there was any air in place!

The first axe that collided against the mech even had enough energy left over to pressure the energy shield that the Bolvos Rage had already erected!

The second axe didn't even have to expend much effort to get past the energy shield. The already unstable barrier couldn't even prevent the spinning weapon from getting right past and slamming into the solid metal shield head-on with its blade!

A second burst of orange exploded at the collision site!

Due to the Bolvos Rage's preparations, the mech managed to make it out intact, but it's foldable shield had been split in half! The hybrid mech threw the ruined defensive tool away and pulled out yet another rod that unfolded in an identical circular shield.

The mech pulled out another shield just in time to block the hammer slamming forward!

The spent axes had automatically flown back to the hands of the Erin Tear before merging together to form a hammer.

While the Bolvos Rage managed to block the attack, the kinetic energy behind it threw the mech backwards in space.

The Erin Tear did not pause and spurted forward with the help of powerful boosters integrated into its frame. The hammer in its hands morphed into a spear with the sharp tip pointed downwards. The weapon master mech instantly jabbed it into a downwards motion, causing it to pierce through the Bolvos Rage's left foot!

"DAMIRA!"

An omnidirectional red blast exploded from the Bolvos Rage, knocking the Erin Tear back!

"Hahahaha!" Venerable Damira Planat laughed as she stabilized her expert weapon master mech. "You're as slow as ever. First blood goes to me, old friend."

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT!"

The center chest plate of the Bolvos Rage parted aside. The weapon port behind it glowed ominously in red before it unleashed a power beam that pierced through the Erin Tear's recovering resonance shield and burned against the shield that the weapon master mech had formed out of the weapons it held!

The duel between the high-tier expert mechs was far from over. The first round was just the beginning. Both exquisite machines carried so much equipment and modules that the fight would not end until one of them exhausted all of their means.

This was not going to conclude in a short amount of time!