Elder Cultivator

Stone wasn’t seen as much of a threat to most cultivators, but the Broad Eyed Harvesters were able to make it both defensively and offensively viable. They were also a large portion of the effectiveness of the enemy’s moving planets. However, their bigger risk was what they could do to other planets if they got to them.

The Imbued Fragments with their control of metal were also quite troublesome, providing danger for both ships and orbital platforms. Fortunately, the Lower Realms Alliance was able to adapt their barriers to the sect’s energy signature, preventing them from directly affecting vessels without first puncturing their barriers.

Both sects favored kinetic weapons, launching their favored materials with great speed. When their attacks hit they were devastating though if they could be avoided the enemy tended to waste significant effort.

The Alliance still found themselves at an advantage and they were slowly wearing them down, including taking down smaller ships made of worldheart. However, they had not yet dealt with some of the bigger problems looming, including the battleship made of worldheart.

The correct thing to do would be to continue their slow and steady victories. If they were able to wear down their enemies and minimize their own losses, then they should continue to do so. But Varghese had other ideas. Or rather, something called to him that he could not ignore.

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At the next battle strategy meeting, Varghese had to speak his mind. “We need to attack Ocreaf next,” Varghese stated plainly.

Though with the presence of both Anton and himself there was nobody who could really go against them if they said to do something… they didn’t just bring the various military advisors in as yes-men. In’istra wasn’t the only system of note on the eastern border, but two of the other generals came from there. Jamilah of the Reef of Serenity and Sharma, formerly captain of the Iron Plate Mercenaries, were part of that. The latter wouldn’t have grown strong enough to be placed in such a position without the influence of Anton and Varghese, but he was not wholly beholden to their whims.

“According to what I know,” Sharma said. “That is where they are most well defended. Any assault on the system is likely to be lengthy, potentially allowing them to draw in their remaining forces as reinforcements.”

“Well,” Varghese said. “I have a feeling.”

From the perspective of non-cultivators, that sort of admission was as good as saying he had no reason. That Varghese just wanted to. However, it was something cultivators had to take seriously.

“What sort of feeling?” Jamilah asked. “Is there some event we could prevent, perhaps?”

Varghese shook his head. “I don’t know if this would be critical for the Alliance or not. However, I have certain insights I feel like I need to act upon. I don’t think I can do so alone, but… it might not actually be the best option.”

“That depends,” Anton spoke up, “On whether or not you can advance to Enrichment. That is the opportunity, isn’t it?”

Varghese nodded. “Yes. And well… I believe I can. But there’s no way to know until I succeed. Or fail. Even if I do succeed, though, it’s not worth sacrificing our fleets if they have to defend me for an indeterminate time. I can’t guarantee I’d be functional during my attempt to advance.”

Anton both agreed and disagreed with his assessment. Looking at things strictly from a strategic standpoint, if Varghese had a good chance of succeeding or as little as even odds, it could still be worth the loss of lives. With another Enrichment cultivator their eastern borders could be ever more secure. However, that was ignoring the people that made up the fleets. Their lives mattered, even if they didn’t necessarily have the combat potential.

So Anton had to ask. “What’s your actual plan? Bind the star and…”

“Well,” Varghese said. “They have strange devices. And I’ve been thinking about connections. Something tells me that this structure draining the star is more than it appears. And it already appears to be quite a lot. I was just thinking, if there’s some sort of connection to the upper realms…” Varghese made vague gestures. But just because he couldn’t put it into words didn’t mean there wasn’t a sensible thought there.

“We’ll back you,” Jamilah said. “As long as you believe you have a strong chance of success.”

“I can do it,” Varghese said. “Though… I might need help with the star draining structure. The plan, however, is to keep it intact until I do something about it. But if I get entangled…” Varghese looked to Anton.

“I can manage that,” Anton agreed. “How close do you need to get? I assume if you could bind the star from the edge of the system or here… you would just do that.”

“I… didn’t actually consider those options,” Varghese admitted. “But no. I think I’ll need to get as deep as possible.”

“The structure is likely well defended,” Sharma warned. “I don’t think our fleets would be able to help if you linger around there.”

Varghese made a face. “Maybe I’ll be sun-diving.”

Anton knew binding itself shouldn’t take long. So if that went well, he shouldn’t get consumed by the star. “Might I suggest leaving particularly expensive or irreplaceable items elsewhere. Unless you need them, of course.” Anton himself had lost everything on him but his bow once- because even if the star wouldn’t kill him that didn’t mean it wouldn’t destroy everything around him when he was missing consciousness.

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“Noted,” Varghese said. “If we’re going, we should try to not be too obvious. Which means the majority of the fleets focus on the planets, while some others escort me closer. Once we get close I’ll break through. The last bit of distance shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.”

With the basics of a plan in place, they proceeded to iron out the details. But they couldn’t afford to spend too long- only what their own fleets needed to rest and recover.

-----

Anton was shooting Spirit Arrows towards a system that was not Ocreaf. He didn’t know what the locals called it, but that wasn’t important. What was important was that it was the most isolated of the remaining systems. Even so, it was adjacent to another system adjacent to Ocreaf… and the point of his assault was to try to get them to draw reinforcements from their neighbor.

The actual plans began when movement started, though they had to send their own fleets before they knew the full extent of the enemy’s reaction. They had been tracking the worldheart battleship, and it didn’t seem as if it was going to get any further. Which meant it had the potential to join the battle, but at least it was out of the system at the moment. And if everything went smoothly, reinforcement would only arrive after everything was settled.

Which was why they had to assume that things would mess up in nearly every conceivable way. They even had protocols for if the star seemed liable to explode. Varghese at least intended to try to nudge said explosion away from their fleets, though he might not be in a functional state to do so.

Preparations were good, but Anton believed in his disciple. He had to. Nobody would be upset if things went better than expected, though.

Anton kept up his attack the entire few days the fleets were in transition to Ocreaf. He hadn’t pulled away quite as many ships as he wanted from the neighboring system. So he shot a few of them. But he then had to focus on the targets in Ocreaf itself.

As soon as he felt the enemy react to their fleet’s presence, he began to launch his own attacks. They crossed vast distances in mere moments, cutting through subspace. They would have retained more power if the destination system had a star bound to Anton, as he could focus on a corridor, but they were still plenty good for taking out weaker targets- and to Anton, anything below Assimilation fit the bill.

Ocreaf also had a good bit of spectral energy to draw upon. It seemed a bit thinner than other systems, indicating fewer lives… or an earlier conquest. Either way, he rationed how much he used, focusing on taking down enemy cultivators on their planets- those same planets happened to be stitched together in close orbit to the star- about as close as they could get without melting, somewhat closer than planets normally could get without formations.

It must have been hard on their formations, regardless of how much natural energy they had. Then again, Anton knew it was possible to go even closer with the right designs- it simply didn’t seem that was the plan for their planets.

The planets formed a sort of half ring on one side of the star. The Alliance fleets approached from one end to attempt to obscure their true target. No doubt their foes expected them to take down the solar structures, since they knew about starbinding.

Speaking of which… Anton could feel the stellar fluctuations. It wasn’t a process that took terribly long with practice, and even with the strangeness Varghese took just a few minutes to nearly complete the task. But it was obvious to Anton that he planned to save the final moment for when he dove towards the star.

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Varghese broke off from the rest of the fleets, circling around the ‘back’ side of the star, opposite the planets. There was still a half finished megastructure on any part of the star, complete with formations and cultivators and weapon emplacements.

The cultivators began firing their ‘ammunition’- bits of metal from the structure that were presumably extraneous. So far, nothing of the enemy’s had collapsed without the Alliance causing the final bit of damage so they had to know what they were doing.

The stones were the biggest problem for Varghese. He could influence their direction with gravity, but so he found magnetic fields easier to generate and control in complex patterns. He’d formed a ring around their own fleet to draw the metal debris to the outside- and forcing metal to magnetize was fairly easy for the parts that weren’t normally that way. But the stone he simply relied on the fleets to handle.

When they got close, the enemy fire intensified. That was the moment that Varghese broke off, drawing more fire onto himself- but he wasn’t so slow as to get hit by anything hastily aimed at him. He had only hesitated about going alone as they could have focused solely on him and predicted his movements. But now that he was close enough… he reached inside himself- and the star in front of him.

Varghese tied the final connection he was waiting for, opening a link inside his dantian. Immediately, he felt the wrongness of the structure around- and while he’d intended to keep it intact he couldn’t help but chop apart a very small portion of it as he dashed towards and then into the star.

Unsurprisingly, they hadn’t been prepared for that eventuality. Some projectiles followed after him, providing irrelevant changes to the star’s mass and overall doing nothing.

But the drain on the star from the structure was far more clear, and Varghese intentionally sought out that connection. He was linked only indirectly, but instead of relying on that for safety he did the opposite. He focused on connecting himself- and his other stars- to the great structure. More than that, he focused on smoothing the flow of energy, expediting the process.

It seemed stupid, on the surface. He was just giving them what they wanted, at great risk to himself. However… Varghese could now confirm that there was a further connection stretching to the upper realms. How it worked… he didn’t have time to study. He would have to apologize to all the engineers and formation masters later. This structure wasn’t going to last.

Varghese amped up the connection… but he felt the destabilization increase, not only in the local star but also others he was connected to. Then a gentle hand stretched out, holding him up.

He really hadn’t considered what would happen to his other stars- and people bound to them. But not only Anton, there were also tiny paws from Three Squeaks supporting him. Tiny only in actual size, of course. The meerkat was nearly as strong as Varghese… unless he made this step.

Enrichment. What did it mean to him? He wasn’t going to enhance a failed star into a real one. That was Anton’s method, and while it had been amazing… it just didn’t fit. But he could free this star from its shackles… and he hoped that only his enemies would regret it.

Varghese was no longer aware of the outside world. Attacks couldn’t reach him, and he was so internally focused he didn’t know what was happening with the fleets. He couldn’t say whether he was quick or slow, but piece by piece he amplified the draw of every part of the half built structure… and even imagined it as full. And then he pushed.

Then everything melted, including himself.

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