Sovereign of the Ashes

Chapter 1714: Respective Missions

The overlord-class war fleet led by Rommel, along with its accompanying vessels, showed noticeable residual energy fluctuations across many of their hulls.

This made it clear that this federal fleet had not arrived at this subspace battlefield unchallenged.

In fact, Rommel’s fleet had faced relentless ambushes and blockades from Magus Civilization legions along the way.

Otherwise, he would have arrived here long ago.

It was hardly a coincidence that the fleet appeared at the same time as the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s reinforcements.

As pronounced energy fluctuations rippled across the federal fleet, a slender missile suddenly launched from beneath an overlord-class warship.

It emitted a shrill sound as it shot forward with a sharp whoosh, streaking toward the heart of subspace at lightning speed.

Moraia immediately furrowed her brow.

Among overlord-level beings, she had reached an unusually high-level realm.

Although her soul had suffered severe damage during the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s defensive war, her reaction speed and combat instincts remained formidable.

She had once served as the second-in-command of her civilization.

The slender missile launched moments earlier carried destructive power sufficient to threaten even overlord-level beings.

More importantly, its firing speed was extraordinary, and its stealth capabilities were equally alarming.

Most newly advanced overlord-level entities would struggle to respond to such an attack in time.

Moraia had come to this battlefield to support the Magus Civilization legions.

Her mission was not to eliminate a specific number of Gallant Federation forces, but to minimize casualties among the Magus Civilization’s ranks.

This High-Frequency Concussion Missile was clearly aimed at Feylis, who was in the midst of casting a forbidden spell.

After sensing the missile’s energy fluctuations and trajectory, Moraia made her decision in an instant.

She abandoned her planned strike against the federal fleet before her and instead released an overlord-level psychic force to intercept the projectile.

The moment Moraia took action, the Gallant Federation fleet responded.

From that instant onward, the federal fleet took control of the battlefield.

The dark yellow fleet unleashed a torrential barrage of energy beams and long-range strikes that rained down upon the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s legions like a violent storm.

The Rosen Dynasty Civilization had long since entered a state of full battle readiness, with layer upon layer of dense psychic force shields materializing directly in front of its legions.

In addition to this, their mobile suit designers had developed various defensive systems for their mobile suit forces, including energy shields.

Even so, these energy shields paled in comparison to the DF fields used by the Gallant Federation.

Most mobile suit shields could only protect a limited area around the individual unit, while the Gallant Federation’s force fields could instantly blanket an entire combat zone.

That said, the Rosen Dynasty mobile suits possessed strengths of their own.

The Gallant Federation’s giant mobile suit legions had originally been developed by “borrowing” technology from the Rosen Dynasty Civilization.

In fact, acquiring Rosen Dynasty overlord-class mobile suit manufacturing techniques was widely regarded as the primary reason behind the Gallant Federation’s costly campaign to eradicate them in its early years.

Unlike the Gallant Federation’s dual-pilot systems, Rosen Dynasty mobile suits were designed for single-pilot operation.

Moreover, Rosen Dynasty’s designs did not emphasize excessive size or pursue raw power at all costs.

All the Gallant Federation’s giant mobile suits possessed combat power at Rank Three or above.

Lower-tier combat roles and cannon fodder duties were entirely handled by robots and drones, eliminating the need to increase pressure on military manufacturing.

By contrast, Rosen Dynasty mobile suit forces spanned nearly every tier, from below Rank One all the way up to Rank Seven.

For example, the Rosen Dynasty mobile suits currently deployed across this subspace battlefield were primarily Rank One and Rank Two units.

These low-tier mobile suits varied widely in both model and size.

Smaller units stood only three to four meters tall, while larger ones rarely exceeded ten meters. Most standard mobile suits ranged from seven to eight meters.

This likely represented the optimal size determined by the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s mobile suit designers.

Of course, the Rosen Dynasty Civilization also possessed colossal mobile suits.

The commanders of the two Imperial Mobile Suit Legions each piloted mobile suits approaching a kilometer in height.

These machines were also capable of transformation during combat, adopting even larger forms or specialized battle configurations.

Even standard Rank Four and Rank Five mobile suits frequently reached heights of several hundred meters.

When the colossal mobile suit legions of the Gallant Federation clashed with those of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization, the result was a truly spectacular sight.

The Gallant Federation’s mobile suits favored heavier, more rugged designs.

The Rosen Dynasty mobile suits, by contrast, emphasized agility and flexibility.

The differences between the two civilizations’ mobile suit designs extended far beyond these broad traits.

Of course, the most immediately recognizable distinction was that every Gallant Federation mobile suit bore the federation’s emblem engraved on its chest.

It was a symbol made up of dozens of stars, under which every federal president took the oath of office.

The Rosen Dynasty Civilization, on the other hand, marked its mobile suits with an emblem on the shoulder.

It was a crown symbol that represented the headpiece worn by every empress of the Rosen Dynasty Civilization.

The principle of imperial supremacy was deeply ingrained within the Rosen Dynasty Civilization. It was also one of the few female-dominated civilizations in the Astral Realm.

This likely stemmed from the fact that the Rosen Dynasty Civilization’s psychic bloodline reached its greatest potential primarily among female members of the imperial family.

Male psychics did exist within their civilization, but their abilities were generally inferior to those of their female counterparts, mirroring the scarcity of male magi in the present-day Magus World.

Two civilizations whose legions harbored irreconcilable hatred once again collided in fierce combat across this subspace battlefield.

Moraia, no longer content to merely observe, intercepted the Gallant Federation’s High-Frequency Concussion Missile before personally advancing toward the overlord-class war fleet commanded by Rommel.

Facing the advance of the Rosen Dynasty legions, Marshal Rommel simultaneously drove his main fleet forward to confront Moraia while diverting half of his forces to reinforce the central battlefield of this subspace.

Rommel was keenly aware of his mission within this theater of war.

While Moraia’s task was to support and protect the Magus Civilization’s forces, Rommel’s objective was to extract as much technological information as possible from the remnants of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization.

Frankly, Rommel saw little value in this mission.

In peacetime, uncovering the technological legacy of an ancient top-tier civilization from the immemorial era would have been immensely beneficial, potentially triggering a new wave of technological advancement within the Federation.

But this was wartime.

In the current climate, where nearly all resources were being poured into warfare and military production, how much energy and wealth could the Gallant Federation truly spare for researching the technologies of ancient civilizations?

Even if they did manage to develop something new, would the federation still have the capacity to massively transform its military industry and upgrade its war machines?

And would the Magus Civilization legions, currently holding the upper hand on the battlefield, simply stand by and allow all of this to happen?

Marshal Rommel pondered these questions deeply. His understanding of warfare was both broad and incisive.

Unfortunately, the opinion of a single individual carried little weight in the Gallant Federation.

Though he held the rank of federal marshal, he still had to obey orders from the military command and the president.

Every position carried its own responsibilities.

Having arrived in this subspace, Marshal Rommel resolved to carry out the mission entrusted to him by the federation to the best of his ability.