Chapter 692: The Eldar's Proposal
The arrival of the Ulthwe Eldar technical team not only brought cutting-edge observation and scanning equipment but also injected a completely different atmosphere into Ryo's base.
After their initial shock at the "cleanliness" of this universe and the unconstrained freedom it offered their souls, the deeply repressed nature of these Eldar members began to quietly release itself.
In the Warhammer universe, every Aeldari must constantly restrain their thoughts and emotions through their "Paths." Any excessive emotional fluctuation could draw the gaze of Slaanesh, the Chaos God of Excess, bringing absolute doom.
But here, with that eternal, suffocating mental shackle gone, it was as if they had cast off a crushing burden.
While far from losing control or indulging in excess, their words and actions clearly held a few more degrees of the lively agility—and arrogance—belonging to vibrant life.
A technician responsible for equipment calibration, upon successfully aligning a deep-space observation mirror, would reveal undisguised, proud joy, rather than their usual restrained satisfaction.
A Howling Banshee warrior assigned to perimeter guard duty moved with a much more relaxed posture. Occasionally, during her patrol, she would improvise tactical maneuvers brimming with power and aesthetic grace, as if relishing the freedom of no longer needing to constantly guard against her soul being devoured.
This change was subtle but ubiquitous, like a frozen river gradually thawing under the spring sun, reviving with life.
In this state, their thinking also became more active and bold.
During a core meeting regarding subsequent operational plans, Farseer Irian, after listening to Ryo's strategy of utilizing the Predator threat to continuously drain the RDA and the Na'vi while waiting for an opportunity to seize the mothership, slightly raised his delicate eyebrows.
"Honored Ryo, please forgive my bluntness," Irian's voice remained elegant, but his tone carried a trace of nearly razor-sharp confidence not present before. "The logic of your plan is clear, but in my view, it appears somewhat... overly circuitous."
Ryo looked at him, not interrupting, signaling for him to continue.
"The power you hold in your hands is vastly greater than what you are currently deploying." Irian lightly tapped the holographic projection, highlighting the red dot representing the Predator mothership. "Seizing this vessel is not a difficult task requiring a long wait and complex setup for us."
His gaze swept over the several Eldar warriors beside him, whose eyes flickered with the eagerness to fight. "My warriors, they thirst for a true challenge, not to continually play the role of bystanders. The cloaking technology and combat skills of the Predators appear crude and primitive before the ancient heritage of the Aeldari."
He paused, then threw out an even more subversive idea: "In fact, the role you desire—utilizing the invisible threat to sow discord between the Na'vi and the RDA and purge unstable elements—can entirely be played by us."
"The skills of our warriors in stealth, assassination, and sowing chaos far exceed those of those Predator barbarians. More importantly, we are entirely under your command. Operations would be more controllable, and the results... could be more precise, better aligning with your ultimate goal of 'optimizing and consolidating resources.' We can perfectly manufacture an 'external pressure' that is more flawless and better suited to your needs than the Predators."
Ryo listened in silence, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the console.
Irian's words were like a stone tossed into a calm lake, stirring ripples in his heart.
He was accustomed to planning thoroughly before moving, accustomed to leveraging existing contradictions to manipulate the situation at the lowest possible cost.
This style was indeed leaning toward steady, perhaps even conservative. He always treated the forces in his hand as final trump cards, reluctant to deploy them lightly unless at a critical juncture.
But now, Irian had pointed out a more direct, highly efficient path.
He indeed held tremendous power in his hands: An Astartes squad equipped with newly patterned STC power armor, capable of frontally crushing conventional enemies several times their number; Maine's squad, highly experienced and specializing in special operations; and now, added to this, these Ulthwe Eldar warriors, whose exact combat strength was unknown but were clearly absolute elites.
Looking at the Predators, Maine's squad had already proven that with sufficient preparation, they could suppress and even capture them alive.
"Seize the mothership, purge resistance in the target sector, and then we take over the subsequent 'performance'," Irian summarized, his tone filled with the characteristic Eldar arrogance built upon millennia of combat experience. "This is far faster and far more reliable than waiting for uncertain conflicts to naturally ferment."
Ryo did not answer immediately; he needed to weigh the options.
Deploying absolute force directly was undoubtedly efficient, but it also meant he needed to move from behind the scenes more toward the front stage, and he would have to bear any unexpected chain reactions the operation might trigger.
However, Irian's proposal was indeed full of temptation, particularly the points of being "more controllable" and having "better results."
Irian's proposal echoed repeatedly in Ryo's mind.
He stood alone before the holographic star map in the command center, his gaze shifting back and forth between the planet Pandora and the red dot representing the Predator mothership.
He scrutinized his original plan: utilize the Predators as external pressure to force the RDA and the Na'vi into continuous internal attrition, while covertly collecting Predator samples and waiting for the optimal moment to seize the mothership.
This plan was steady and the risks were controllable. But as Irian pointed out, the progress was slow, and the results relied on multiple uncontrollable factors. The Predators' behavioral patterns were not entirely guided by him, and the radical faction within the Na'vi might not act in the direction he anticipated.
Conversely, if he adopted the Eldar's suggestion, the situation would instantly clear up.
Using overwhelming force to rapidly seize the Predator mothership with the momentum of a thunderbolt, eradicating the current largest unstable element while acquiring the key to their homeworld.
Then, utilizing the Eldar warriors—who were far more adept at stealth and deceit—to impersonate the Predators and continue applying "precise" pressure on specific targets within the RDA and the Na'vi.
This would not only achieve his goal of purging unstable elements and manufacturing conflict, but it would also bring the development of the situation entirely under his control.
"Have I... truly been overly conservative?" Ryo scrutinized his own operational style this clearly for the first time.
In the perilous, constantly terrifying universe of Warhammer, caution was a survival instinct.
But this was not the Warhammer universe. The enemies here—whether Predator, RDA, or Na'vi—had a generational gap in technological level and individual strength compared to the forces he controlled.
He was entirely capable of executing a dimensional strike.
The disparity in strength was obvious.
With proper equipment and tactics, Maine's squad members could already achieve one-on-one suppression against Predators. The Astartes brethren vastly exceeded Maine's squad in power; they were war machines born specifically for destruction. And the Eldar warriors, members of an ancient race possessing millennia of combat heritage—the exquisiteness of their individual skills and psychic application was something even Astartes would have to treat with extreme caution.
If they joined forces to deal with a Predator mothership that had already exposed its position and was parked on the surface, the probability of success was astronomically high.