Chapter 7442  Renewed Terran Pride

The Green Belt did not merely serve as a new defensive band.

As soon as Master Laila Rebecca Devos announced its existence, it became a symbol.

Its existence signified that the Terran Alliance not only possessed the determination to halt the alien advance, but turn its borders into an impregnable green barrier!

The political cost of failing in its promise to hold back the aliens would be great. The leaders of the Terran Alliance were certainly making a big gamble by making such a high-profile announcement.

Yet it was exactly because it sounded so grand and optimistic that it shot another dose of confidence in the Terran people.

Many of them felt proud that their colonial star empire projected strength in its message.

It provided a strong and obvious contrast with the Terrans under the subjugation of the mechers and fleeters.

During the Age of Mechs, the Terrans had to bow their heads time-and-time again. The Big Two seemed to relish in humiliating the 'first-rate superstates' by imposing all kinds of rules and indignities.

The loss of sovereignty and the limitations on military buildup had not only neutered the national strength of the Terran superstate, but also inflicted severe trauma on its pride!

During those long centuries, the Terrans merely held up a facade of strength and sophistication.

Even if they still managed to rank at the top of first-rate states, they could never truly express themselves as freely so long as the big bad MTA and CFA loomed over their heads.

Times had changed.

The Terran Alliance had willfully escaped the shackles of the Red Two.

The Terrans solemnly assumed the burdens and responsibilities of a sovereign star nation.

If they failed, then the Terrans would not only suffer grievous losses, but also turn their attempt to return to independence into a farce.

Nothing would doom their national pride more than to crawl back to the mechers and the fleeters and beg for their protection!

Fortunately, it shouldn't come to that so long as the Green Belt lived up to its promise.

What played in their favor was that the Terran Alliance currently did not have to confront the threat posed by the mutated voribugs.

Though it was difficult to estimate how rapidly the voribug race expanded across the stars, the Rubarthan Pact and to a lesser extent the Red Ocean Union would still face the brunt of this alien threat.

This meant that the Terrans faced less pressure to lower their pride and proactively seek cooperation with other powerful groups such as the Cybernetic Empire.

Of course, the unwillingness to make heavy concessions in exchange for military and economic assistance also meant that the Terran Alliance would be missing out on many opportunities.

Though the Rubarthans had paid a heavy price, they also forged tighter partnerships with other advanced and powerful players. This might end up helping them in the long run, though only if they successfully repelled the mutated voribugs.

The Terrans looked down on the Rubarthans, of course.

Ves thought that this was a short-sighted attitude, but the Terrans really did not want to become subjugated by other parties in any way ever again!

The best way to do so was to prove with their actions that they could take care of themselves.

As Master Laila Rebecca Devos went into further detail about the scope and specifications of the Green Belt, the attendees quietly exchanged their opinions about what they learned.

"The Green Belt is a defensive means of exploiting the rapid regeneration capabilities of Woodsap mechs." Saint Commander Casella Ingvar noted. "What is interesting is that Master Devos has not mentioned that your Woodsap mechs can also fight at an advantage when they are on the attack. Their monstrous ability to sustain themselves well past the breaking or exhaustion point of other mechs can make a huge difference when assaulting alien-held planets. The more life they bear, the more difficult it is to defeat an invading force of Woodsap mechs."

That was a very sharp observation!

She must already be thinking on how to best employ the prototype Woodsap mechs that would be accompanying the Larkinson Clan in the upcoming military campaign.

"There are limits to how extensively most Woodsap mechs can sustain themselves by draining the natural environment." Ves quietly warned. "Unless the ecosystems of the planets are particularly rich in mid-to-high-grade exotics and hypers, constant repairs and replenishment will ultimately degrade the physical properties of the biomechs. There is a lot of advanced and ingenious biotech and E-tech that goes into filtering and concentrating the most useful materials out of any environment, but there are ultimately hard limits. The Terrans will still need to grow high-quality Gaia Trees and transplant them onto the necessary planets if they want to ensure that the Woodsap mechs remain in optimal condition over the long term."

Even so, there were still many cases where it was always better to field whole but more fragile mechs as opposed to machines that were already half-broken!

"What about the circumstances where the Woodsap mechs are forced to fight without these favorable conditions?" Saint Dise asked with an intrigued voice.

"Then they are literally fighting out of their element, I guess." Ves shrugged his shoulders. "Woodsap mechs are not omnipotent. No mech is omnipotent. They fight best when surrounded by nature. Their performance ceiling progressively worsens the further away they are from any form of nature or source of plant life. This is also why we are investing seriously into the development of Gaia Trees. Any starship can carry them and deploy them in open space if necessary. Their presence will give Woodsap mechs a localized advantage even if they have to fight many light-hours away from the nearest life-bearing planet."

The limitations on Woodsap mechs may seem troublesome, but it was ultimately a matter of logistics.

As long as the Terrans grasped the strengths and weaknesses of the new biomechs and made adequate preparations, they should never put the Woodsap mechs where they had to fight at a heavy disadvantage.

Saint Commander Casella Ingvar understood this very well. "It is good news for the Terrans and all of us that most pitched battles so far have taken place in orbit of important planets. The requirement of a source of nature in close proximity can easily be satisfied. Humans rarely find it pleasant to live and work on lifeless balls of rock or water."

That was true. Many of the settled planets used to bear alien life or had been terraformed to accept terrestrial life. These globes would form the initial foundation of the Green Belt.

It was not enough, though. Not every pioneer bothered to plant their settlements onto life-bearing planets.

There were many cases where colonists built up settlements on barren planets without feeling the need to introduce the gift of life.

Terraforming was expensive and could impose delays. Many groups considered this to be an extravagant form of treatment for planetary resource extraction sites.

Whatever the case, the calculus had changed. Terraforming businesses would definitely experience a massive boom in the short term!

"The Aduc Family must be doing really well these days." Saint Tusa remarked. "They used to be second-raters, but now that they are cooperating more actively with the Terrans, their terraforming business must have experienced a massive upgrade."

"It is the Aduc Clan now." Ves responded with a smile. "As the caretakers of the tree that Gaia has anchored herself to, the Aducs have always enjoyed the deity's favor. The Terrans recognize that and have rewarded them heavily for their services. I do not think it is a coincidence that a scion of the Aduc Clan holds the title of the First Elf."

This development actually caught him off-guard. He never had an idea that the Aducs chose to play such a big game. He also didn't know how the Aduc Clan managed to integrate so well and so rapidly within the Terran power structure.

Nonetheless, he felt happy for their success.

Their rise not only showed that the Terrans possessed a willingness to open themselves up to outsiders, but also put one of the Larkinson Clan's business partners and allies in a position of power.

However, Ves was well aware that the Aducs had tied their names tightly to the elven initiative.

If this ever ended up blowing in the Terran Alliance's face, the Aduc Clan could fall as rapidly as it rose!

Saint Jannzi never let up her suspicious gaze. "The Aducs have chosen to swim in dangerous waters. From what I recall, they used to be cultists, if on the milder side. Nevertheless, I think it is irresponsible for them to push for the creation of the elf race and put one of their own in charge no less. There is no way that relations between humans and elves will remain harmonious."

Multiple nearby Larkinson ace pilots adopted tired expressions. They had heard about her suspicions towards the elven race multiple times.

Not everyone was patient enough to tolerate her alarmist statements.

"Shut up, Jannzi." Saint Davia Stark bit back. "We can all tell that you genuinely care about red humanity, but it is not as if the elves pose a threat on the same level as the native aliens or the mutated voribugs. There are plenty of clever people in our civilization that can think of the same dangers as you. Their plans and foresight are much greater than a soldier such as you. What do you think you can do on your own?"

"You do not understand what is at stake, mercenary." Jannzi hissed back. "Didn't you listen to what the Terrans have said? They have forsaken the doctrine of human supremacy! This is the first step of the fall human race as we know it. The definition of what counts as 'human' will be stretched even further in the next years and decades. The Cybers will continue to digitize themselves until they hardly have any organic cell left in their bodies. The Rubarthans are already talking about producing highly deviant batch humans on an even greater scale than the Cybernetic Empire in order to feed enough bodies to their straining armed forces. Even the Red Ocean Union is host to dozens of different transhuman initiatives. Perhaps it won't take more than a generation before there is not a single 'normal' human left in the Red Ocean!"

"..."

Though Jannzi sounded paranoid, her words still rang true to many people's ears.

Transhumanism was a fact of life in the new frontier. The external pressures had grown too great.

The belief in the purity of humanity became increasingly more irrelevant as a consequence.

High-minded ideas about preserving one's humanity had lost their value when red humanity could not even guarantee its own survival.

So what if the Terrans sought to turn a significant part of their population into elves?

As long as it made them stronger, then it was worth it even if they invited racial conflict in the future!

At worst, the Terrans could either eradicate the elves after they had served their purpose, or complete the conversion of the rest of their human population!

Whatever awful future the Terrans had in store, they at least retained the luxury of having a future in the first place.

This was why Ves disagreed with Jannzi's stance.

"Jannzi." He addressed her directly. "You are entitled to hold and voice your own opinions. Our clan never seeks to muzzle diverging voices. However, you should take into account that our clan and I are officially collaborating with the Terran Alliance on the Arboreal Project. Elves have become inextricably intertwined with our work. We, and by that I mean our clan, should not do anything that can disrupt our ongoing cooperation. If you are opposed to the creation of the elves, then you should at least make it clear that you do not represent the standpoint of our clan."

His irritable cousin crossed her arms in frustration. "You do not need to remind me of that, Ves. I am not going to ruin your little green project. I just find it regretful that you chose to make it exclusive to our current hosts. Others could sorely need their advantages. Why must the Green Belt be confined to the Terran Alliance?"

"Exclusivity increases investment, Jannzi. Without assuring that the Terrans will own whatever they make with me, they would have never gone all-out into developing powerful functions like the Hibiscus System. What is even more important is that the Terrans have set an example for others. Once the Arboreal Project has proven to be a massive success, other major powers will work hard with us to develop their own exclusive elemental Carmine mechs. While they won't share their flagship Carmine mechs with each other, the overall outcome will definitely be better because of how much more they have committed to their own works."

Ves already received increasingly more insistent messages from his other collaboration partners.

From the Cybernetic Empire to the Hunting Association, each of them finally recognized the full value of his elemental Carmine mechs!

He would not be short on high-level collaboration opportunities in the future, that was for certain!