Chapter 477: The Plan
Ryo returned to his temporary residence on the outskirts of Junktown. The room matched his disguised identity—sparsely furnished, possessing only the most basic resting facilities.
He confirmed the door was locked, activated the mechanical deadbolt from the inside, and utilized his built-in equipment to conduct a rapid sweep of the room, eliminating the possibility of surveillance or eavesdropping.
Upon completing the security protocols, he detached a disguised servo-skull he had brought with him.
The exterior of this device was covered in an inconspicuous metallic shell, making it look like an ordinary auxiliary cogitator unit.
Once activated, the servo-skull hovered in mid-air, emitting a low hum as its optical sensors flickered with a faint red light.
Through an encrypted neural link, Ryo established a connection with the servo-skull, retrieving all the intelligence gathered from the transport shuttle's deep scans and Elias's verbal report.
A holographic projection beamed from the base of the servo-skull, rendering a three-dimensional structural map of Junktown in the center of the room, densely annotated with various categories of information.
Ryo's massive mechanical body stood silently before the projection. His processing cores began operating at high speed, cross-referencing and deeply analyzing the intelligence provided by Elias against the prior reconnaissance data.
Elias's intelligence confirmed his previous assessment: Junktown's external defenses primarily relied on the still-functional shipboard weapon systems of the crashed starship, the Van Saar.
The energy supply for these lascannon turret arrays and missile silos was directly connected to the STC core, forming a formidable, layered network of firepower.
A forced external assault, even with the firepower of the Eternal Seeker, would inevitably suffer severe casualties.
More crucially, the massive energy fluctuations generated by a large-scale engagement would easily trigger the internal alarm systems, prompting the target to initiate their self-destruct sequence.
The path leading to the STC core was located deep within the bow wreckage. The narrow corridors featured multiple alloy blast doors and fixed firing points, guarded by elite House troops highly familiar with the terrain.
A vast network of automated sentry weapons and dynamic sensors was also distributed within, forming an airtight surveillance grid.
Any assault force, after breaching the external defenses, would face an immensely draining, level-by-level battle of attrition.
The most critical threat came from the core intelligence Elias had pointed out: the House Patriarch held the emergency self-destruct command for the STC core.
This was the greatest risk factor in the entire operation. Once the enemy realized their defenses were hopeless, or that the core might fall into hostile hands, it was highly probable they would activate the self-destruct protocol.
This uncompromising stance meant that any operation had to secure control of the critical nodes before the enemy could react.
Ryo noted several details requiring special attention: the energy fluctuation patterns of the primary defensive nodes, the exact time intervals of the guard shift changes, and the backup frequencies of the internal communication network.
These minute details could all serve as crucial breakthrough points for the operational plan.
Based on these analyses, Ryo identified two critical nodes that had to be resolved simultaneously.
First was the instantaneous paralysis of the external defenses; all primary shipboard weapon systems had to be disabled almost simultaneously the moment the attack was launched.
Second was the interruption or delay of the self-destruct sequence; it had to be guaranteed that the self-destruct command could not be effectively transmitted or executed during the initial chaos when the external strike began.
The concept of a direct, brute-force assault was entirely rejected.
Ryo began to conceptualize a precise, multi-phased, coordinated operational plan.
Phase One: Precision Orbital Strike. The Eternal Seeker would execute an initial, rapid, and precise orbital bombardment on the marked external defensive nodes at a predetermined time. The objective was to instantaneously strip Junktown of its defensive capabilities, not to annihilate the entire settlement. The strike had to be sudden, completed before the internal guards could mount an effective response.
Phase Two: Internal Sabotage. This relied entirely on Elias's cooperation. At the exact moment the orbital strike occurred, Elias needed to utilize his maintenance clearance and the convenience of his post to create chaos internally and execute critical operations. He needed to trigger fire alarms in non-core zones or generate false energy overload signals to distract the guards and disrupt the command system. Simultaneously, he had to physically sabotage or short-circuit the energy relay node connecting the STC's power to the key defensive weapons, further weakening the internal defensive response. Most importantly, he had to leverage his technical knowledge to create a minute but critical delay in the transmission system for the self-destruct command.
Phase Three: Rapid Drop and Assault. During the window of opportunity when the external defenses were paralyzed and the interior was plunged into brief chaos, the standby Legio Cybernetica automata and Skitarii forces would rapidly deploy via drop pods and gunships, driving straight into the zone housing the STC core. Their mission was to utilize their speed advantage to breach the internal defensive lines and secure the core zone before the guards could regroup.
Phase Four: Decapitation and Control. While securing the core zone, the assault forces had to prioritize locating and subduing the House Patriarch and any key personnel capable of issuing the self-destruct command, permanently eliminating the self-destruct threat.
Ryo's processors clearly evaluated the multiple risks present within the plan.
Elias might flinch out of fear or make a mistake while executing his critical tasks.
The precision of the orbital strike might be affected by atmospheric interference, failing to completely paralyze all defensive nodes.
The reaction speed of the internal guards might exceed estimates, rapidly organizing an effective resistance amidst the chaos.
Most dangerously, the self-destruct sequence might possess an unknown trigger mechanism that did not rely on conventional command channels.
Addressing these potential issues, he formulated corresponding contingency protocols.
If Elias failed to jam the self-destruct system in time, the assault forces would utilize their breaching equipment to forcibly break through the final defensive line within the extremely brief window after the self-destruct sequence was initiated, physically severing the power supply or dismantling the explosive devices.
Should the resistance from the external defensive nodes exceed estimates, the Eternal Seeker would execute a second round of precision strikes. However, the yield of the bombardment had to be strictly controlled to ensure it did not affect the zone housing the STC core.
The core of the entire operational plan hinged on two key elements: Synchronization and Speed.
Through a combination of precise internal and external strikes, multiple breakpoints would be created simultaneously within the enemy's complete defensive and decision-making systems, rendering them unable to attend to everything at once, ultimately achieving the final objective of securing the STC amidst systematic paralysis.
Ryo encrypted the preliminary operational plan and the required resource list via the servo-skull, transmitting it back to the Eternal Seeker.
Next, he needed to hold a second meeting with Elias to detail his specific responsibilities during the operation and provide the necessary technical support and operational guidance.
Simultaneously, he prepared corresponding emergency protocols to ensure that if Elias wavered or an accident occurred, he could promptly control the situation and prevent the operational plan from leaking.
The servo-skull slowly descended, its optical sensors gradually dimming. Only the continuous, low hum of the ventilation system remained in the room.
In the silence, Ryo began to formulate the specific rhetoric for his meeting with Elias, as well as the list of tools he needed to hand over to him.
(End of Chapter)