Chapter 738: Equipping Resources
Another Tech-Priest responsible for logistics and production pulled up the manifest: "The main production deck and auxiliary factories are in standby mode, ready to be activated at any time. We have stockpiled basic alloys, composite materials, electronic components, and energy batteries sufficient to produce three thousand standard Skitarii units.
"The biomass cultivation vats can support the rapid cultivation of five hundred clones or modified soldiers.
"The reserves of special catalysts and gene-seed raw materials need to be allocated according to specific production plans; our current inventory can support small-scale supplementary production."
"That is enough," Ryo's main body pondered.
The test subjects and the one thousand Titan Guards brought initially would be sufficient to establish a forward operating base and execute preliminary reconnaissance and contact missions.
Subsequent expendable testing units could absolutely be manufactured upon arrival using local resources and the ship's reserves; this in itself was also a test of their frontline logistical resupply capabilities.
He left the navigation center and returned to his main laboratory, beginning to review the personnel deployment progress report synchronized by the Second Avatar.
Asuka had returned to the main base and was currently receiving her mission briefing.
The Red Unit-01 had been towed into the dedicated maintenance bay. Tech-Priests had begun installing additional dimensional navigation stabilizers around it, reinforcing external sensors to cope with the potential new environments, and checking all its weapon systems, particularly the energy supply and firing stability of the Nemesis-class Volcano Cannon.
Valerie had completed her work handover with Calvin-77 and boarded the transport ship returning to the orbital space station. It was estimated that after one more dimensional transit, she would arrive at the Death World base within thirty hours.
The combat readiness inspection of the one-thousand-strong Titan Guard regiment was eighty percent complete. The commander reported that all power armor, weapon systems, and vehicles were in good condition, and supplies were being issued according to expeditionary standards.
The test subjects were gathered in a dedicated staging area.
They silently underwent their final physical examinations and equipment distribution. These warriors, cultivated through unconventional means, were about to face their first true, cross-dimensional live combat test.
Ryo's main body integrated and sorted the swarming information streams, constructing the strategic framework of this expedition within his logic core.
He discarded rigid chronological phasing, replacing it with more flexible objective tiers and operational principles.
The core objective of the operation was clear and pure: data collection and technology verification.
All deployments and decisions would hold this as the supreme principle.
Upon completing its dimensional crossing, the Eternal Seeker would lie hidden in the peripheral shadow zones of the target star system, like a spider lurking outside its nest, quietly weaving and commanding its information network.
The primary tentacle would be Valerie.
She would arrive on Mar Sara first, adopting a harmless identity to contact Jim Raynor and his Raiders.
Her mission was not direct intervention, but rather establishing reliable intelligence channels and evaluating the local factions—especially the local authorities of the Terran Dominion, potential resistance forces, and, most importantly, the true scale and patterns of Zerg activity.
Her judgments would directly impact the direction and timing of subsequent resource deployment.
As for the substantive testing phases, Ryo adhered to a highly opportunistic strategy.
Whether it was the newly improved test subjects, the Titan Guard regiment, Asuka's red Titan, or even those taboo Exterminatus-class weapons aboard the ship, their deployment would not follow a rigid script, but rather act when the opportunity arose.
A suitable conflict point related to a Zerg outbreak, a remote Hive cluster brimming with testing value, a limited contact capable of evaluating the technological level of the Protoss...
Any situation capable of providing unique data samples could become the catalyst for a test.
The scale and method of intervention would depend entirely on balancing the target's "data yield potential" and operational concealment.
The entire operation would maintain maximum strategic ambiguity and flexibility.
The Eternal Seeker was the observer, the evaluator, and the hand of judgment that could rain down destruction at any moment.
Intervening in conflicts was never the objective itself; it was merely a potential avenue to acquire precious experimental data.
Only the analysis reports finally compiled into the database were the sole, true spoils of war from this inter-dimensional crossing.
This operational outline, emphasizing objectives over steps and principles over schedules, was encrypted, stored, and synchronized to the Second Avatar.
Their logic cores completed highly efficient cross-review and fine-tuning in an instant, reaching absolute consensus.
Everything was ready. The unnatural gateway to the Koprulu Sector was about to be forcefully torn open.
An expedition cloaked in the name of science, with cold verification as its soul, was about to step into that starscape filled with strife.
Inside the dedicated maintenance bay of the Death World base, the Red Unit-01 EVA Titan stood towering.
Asuka had already changed into a clean combat suit. Standing on the observation walkway, she looked through the thick glass window at the busy Tech-Priests and servitors below.
Her red giant was undergoing its final modifications.
Additional dimensional stabilizer fins were installed around the shoulder and back thrusters. Several sensor nodes were replaced or upgraded to adapt to the different cosmic background radiation and energy environments they might encounter.
"I hear it's a completely different world this time? With aliens? Lots of different kinds?" Asuka asked the Second Avatar beside her, her tone filled with curiosity rather than nervousness.
"Intelligence indicates the existence of multiple intelligent races, including a highly technological alien civilization and a collective entity of pure biological consumption," the Second Avatar replied concisely and objectively. "Your mission is to provide high-mobility fire support when necessary, assault critical enemy nodes, and test the combat efficacy of the EVA Titan in completely unfamiliar environments."
"Remember, collecting data is the primary objective. Unnecessary risks are not permitted."
"I know, I know," Asuka waved her hand dismissively, her gaze still burning as she stared at her mech. "Data, data... But being able to go fight in a new place is better than staying here. What about Shinji and Rei? Are they not going?"
"They have other missions and are remaining stationed on Pandora." The Second Avatar did not reveal more. Rei Ayanami's connection with the Na'vi, and Shinji's relative stability, made them more suitable to remain on Pandora to maintain the current situation.
"Hmph, alright then." Asuka shrugged, not dwelling on it.
She was full of anticipation for the upcoming new adventure. Especially when she heard they might face enemies like a "sea of bugs," that sense of challenge made her eager to try.
Meanwhile, in the Skitarii barracks, the thousand-strong Titan Guard regiment completed their final equipment inspection.
The soldiers silently wiped down their lasguns, checked the lubrication on their power armor joints, and counted their magazines and energy batteries.
The orders they received were vague; they only knew it was a "long-term, highly classified expedition likely to encounter high-intensity confrontation."
But their long-term training and ingrained discipline commanded their unconditional obedience.
Their commander, Centurion Kyros—a tough man with an old scar on his cheek—was giving a final rallying speech, emphasizing discipline, vigilance, and the importance of maintaining formation in unknown environments.