Planet Master

On the Second Life virtual reality.

Tatsumi was testing its full capacity since it was reported that Second Life was almost perfectly replicating reality.

Especially what he knew as the basic fundamentals of laws, he tested it thoroughly, and Charlene decided to participate since it would prove to be fun.

“So far it is good. At least most if not all, of what I know is replicated here.” Tatsumi commented as he let out a blade intent, and it was actually slightly replicated.

Actually, this was based on his own Violet Sun Blade Intent which he showed to the developers of the virtual reality and then implemented into Second Life.

Anyone who wanted to do so could do that, provided they knew the exact method.

Ever since its introduction, this place had become a haven for transcendental practitioners to practice their technique. With the correction effect assisting them, they could be daring in their idea to create something like spells and techniques.

Thus, the booming trend where countless new creations of spells and techniques appear like weeds spread to the entire civilization.

“Um, how about you try this?” Charlene then swiped something to Tatsumi and Tatsumi read the information in it.

“Alright.” Tatsumi nodded.

According to the information, this was called Inch Force. The way to do it was to understand the way the force worked and then unleash it with a palm attack or a punch.

Tatsumi closed his eyes, trying to feel the sensation of creating a force in his body. After the process was done, then he transferred the force to his hand and then he unleashed a punch.

The punch seemed to be backed up by a powerful force as something like a penetrating attack came from Tatsumi’s fist and reached the sky, penetrating the cloud above and clearing the sky.

Charlene clapped her hands in congratulations.

“That’s a good demonstration. Let me do it next.” Charlene said.

Although she had the sharpest mind, but her talent in the transcendent path was just slightly above average. But with her mind, this changed into something that could be used by most people and even Tatsumi had to admit that Charlene could create something that worked for most, if not all, people.

But now was the final testing before the mobilization of the entire civilization.

Tatsumi believed that soon, a Star Battle unlike before was going to happen. So they needed to prepare all they could before that happened.

Logistics were prepared and the space battle was anticipated to happen; now, the drill was mostly about preparation for the Star Battle. Practical training between spaceships was conducted while the civilization was conducting several simulations as to how the battle would develop.

The simulation game was there to help them formulate a plan in case the battle had an unexpected factor in it. At least, they prepared many contingencies in case some of the battles went differently from their calculations.

Of course, the civilization believed that the scope of the battle was within their calculation.

This was done since Tatsumi believed that a certain amount of development was needed before the Star Battle on a new scale.

“What’s wrong? You frowned so much that it twisted your face.” Charlene looked at Tatsumi and could not help but ask. While she asked, she got closer to him and then massaged his forehead.

“Just hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. That’s what moves the people and the civilization forward.” Tatsumi said as he was finally done with the results in the virtual reality.

So far, the result in the virtual reality almost mirrored that of reality but there were differences and it could be the one that made the difference so stark.

“You have been practicing here lately. Do you have any new ideas?” Charlene smiled as she asked this.

“I finally can do so many things which in reality can be considered dangerous. This causes me to boldly experiment with myself just for a faint chance of development.” Tatsumi replied.

There was something he could do, and he did it out of duty and responsibility. Ever since he realized who he was, he did this with that mindset, which caused the people closest to him to notice.

But they did not say anything, since this was a personal matter, but they respected his choice.

Then Tatsumi logged out of Second Life. When he opened his eyes, all he could see was the interior of the cabin which was used to hold his physical body, while his consciousness went to the virtual reality platform.

Then the hatch opened as Tatsumi pressed a button that allowed it to do so and breathed out.

Although the cabin had its own air circulating system which made it free from harm, Tatsumi still preferred breathing the air outside.

Then another cabin opened its hatch, and Charlene came out.

“I think I need some time to adjust my mind.” Tatsumi said before he went into his own small room for further development into the transcendent path he had tread.

Charlene nodded, allowing Tatsumi to do so while she also went to her usual room to gather her thoughts.

Sitting in the familiar chair and a desk in front of her, Charlene then wrote what was important and what needed to be optimized. She also had a role in the development of Second Life so her input would be considered important to the developers.

Although the developer was mostly watching the people using the Second Life more nowadays, but their guide and supervision were still apparent for the safety of the people who used the virtual reality cabin.

Charlene began to write on the paper before she let it turn into an E-letter and sent it to the developers of Second Life. It contained her and Tatsumi’s input on the matter of the realism that Second Life needed so that it could be as close to reality as possible.

“Now that’s done, let’s review the overall capabilities of the civilization, shall we?” Charlene let out a faint smile as she began sorting out much information regarding the military and economic aspects of the civilization.

The Federation Fleets had been steadily expanding over the year, increasing from two to three. Although it was small, one fleet was filled with dozens of spaceships with various functions.

Specifically notable was the First Federation Fleet, which had a Starfighter Carrier in it. It was the equivalent of the Aircraft Carrier in the previous Star Battle.

The Starfighter was actually the very one that Charlene recognized as the Silpheed Project and now they were giving out results. Their capabilities were tested numerous times during the drill and the experimental tests.

Along with the carrier spaceship, they became the backbone of the First Fleet.

‘But we need a lot of resources to create and maintain it. If we want to expand our military capability, we need to expand beyond our own star system.’ Charlene recognized the problem and a solution appeared in her head immediately.

But only the Glings could safely operate on the outer ring since most space dangers were handled by that race. If it were the First Fleet, numerous problems would arise, and Charlene would be sure that they would be overwhelmed by the problems alone.

‘At least we need to clean up the outer ring first before we can say for sure that the entire star system belongs to us.’ Charlene then expanded the Star Map that the civilization had drawn into the 3D projection and she could see the movement of the celestial objects.

Even the scientists of the civilization agreed that most resources of the star system were on the Asteroid Belt and beyond to the outer ring. The inner ring was relatively ‘barren’ so to speak but it also offered security.

Then a knock from the closed door could be heard. Charlene snapped out of her daze as she realized that the way the knock sounded was quite polite. She knew who the person was on the other side of the door.

“You can enter. I have just finished my assignment.” Charlene raised her voice a bit to let her sound reach the door and could barely be heard.

“Excuse me for intruding.” The door opened, and from the outside came Ame.

“You know that he is in serious work and decided to come to me, Sister.” Charlene knew that to be the case and just stated it like it was a fact.

“Hahaha, you know it.” Ame smiled as she entered the room and closed the door behind her.

Then she opened her mouth, “So this is the final preparation before the incoming Star Battle…I have finished with my part but it looks like you two are busier than I thought.”

“Yes. We are. That is why we don’t want you to know, otherwise it will bring you to help us. We know that you are also as busy as us but you keep having some of your time to attend to us.” Charlene replied while sorting out the finished read paper and emails.

Ame looked at Charlene and the top of the desk which was filled with numerous papers and documents. Despite being busy herself, Ame knew that the workload of Tatsumi and Charlene was enormous, especially nearing the time of the Star Battle.

“Of course. As someone of this household, it is my duty and responsibility to watch over my family.” Ame said with conviction.

“And that is why it is not easy for Tatsumi and me not to let you help us. This is something that only we can do. But now that you are also a Star Child, perhaps it is time to entrust you with some things.” Charlene explained.

Ame’s eyes were shining as she finally could help the two. For a long time, she wondered why the two kept some things from her. But now, she realized that it was because her responsibility was limited to the family and not beyond it.

Now, she also needed to shoulder the responsibility of a Star Child, which was affecting the entire civilization.

She knew that there were also Star Children from the opponent’s civilization and needed to counter them. Fortunately, she had created something during her time.

“Leave it to me. I believe that I can help you two.” Ame said resolutely.

Charlene nodded happily. She knew that Ame would be able to do it since she was the leader of the Assassin Guild.

“Just monitor some of the important people for their safety! Then, when the Star Battle began, you could slowly infiltrate the enemy’s base if the opportunity arose. But don’t be careless.” Charlene said as an imperative.

“How to do that is still a question. Besides, the weapons we have are developing quite well.” Ame still grabbed the reports from the people under her.

It was the report for weapon sales. The Federation wanted to buy it in bulk, and then this was reported to her.

“Good. The more people having the Gauss rifles in the military, the better chance for us to win the Star Battle. After all, we need to occupy the territory of our enemy to make the Star Battle end.” Charlene clapped her hands as she glanced at the report and knew that it went well.

“The exoframe of the next generation is still in the research and development stage. There are some problems with the first generation and that is why we need to solve them before the next Star Battle begins. I believe that this can be given to you as a task. You don’t mind, right?” Charlene said as she extended her hand and enveloped Ame’s hand.

“It shall be done. I also thought about this issue and decided to spend some resources on the research and development of the exoframe.” Ame closed her eyes as she felt warmth in her heart.

-

“Yes, yes. We are reporting to everyone. Their subconscious will direct them toward working for the incoming Star Battle.” Kudungga reported.

“I know that is the standard operating procedure, but isn’t this too sudden for the people?” Chi You protested slightly.

Usually, they needed some time to acclimate to the change in the worldview and mindset of the people. The fact that Kudungga went and suddenly changed some things could cause a mild shock to the people.

“We need to be wary of the timing. Although the information about the beginning and end of the Star Battle lies in the Father God, it is not wrong to prepare for additional scenarios since this is the first time we will conduct a battle in the void space.” Goto said.

“Battle in zero gravity and without atmosphere is different than the one we conducted on the surface of the planet.” Chi You nodded solemnly.

Even though he liked battle, battling in those conditions would not be easy even for him. That was why he needed to remind his fellow people to pay attention to this.

Fortunately, the civilization had conducted training under such situations and had become accustomed to attacking another planet through orbital bombardment. Although it was just a theoretical stage and had not been fully implemented yet.

Perhaps, this Star Battle would see one such action.

“Hello…is everyone busy?” Tatsumi went to sleep and appeared when the others were busy with their matters.

“Oh, no. We just finished with what we have. What brings you here?” Kudungga was the one who knew how to greet someone the best.

“It is about the preparation before the Star Battle. There are things that we need to discuss together and I want to include you all in it. Meaning, there will be cooperation. I hope that we all can do this, together.” Tatsumi said with a hint of resolute tone.

“About that, most of the framework for this has already been formed. The Cloud Legion is responsible for supervising this, so you don’t need to worry. Rather, we would like you to be in charge of the world of the living.” Goto said while glancing at Kudungga and Chi You.

“Is that the case?” Tatsumi sought verification from the other two.

“Of course, that’s true. We have planted in the subconscious of the people that this Star Battle will be different from before, a change in scale and proportion. At least that will help people to anticipate what kind of battle they are going to go through.” Chi You nodded while grinning.

“I am glad to hear that.” Tatsumi sighed in relief.

“No need for that. This is something that needs to be done. For ourselves and for our civilization, we must prevail against many obstacles in our way.” Kudungga said with a serious tone.

Then they talked about the preparation, the contingencies as well as the Federation Fleets that were trained for space combat.

Just as Tatsumi wanted to continue the topic of the spaceships and the space carrier, Ame appeared.

“Coincidentally, the person who knows the matter best is here.” Tatsumi exclaimed after seeing her coming to the room inside the usual building where the three forefathers used to be.

“What is the current topic of discussion?” Ame asked.

“About the deployment of the Federation Fleets…do you know anything about it? Let’s discuss this with everyone.” Tatsumi explained while steering the topic back.

“I see. Currently, the Federation Fleets are training in the inner ring of the star system. The tests are done periodically so that the battle awareness of the crews can be built and imprinted to the best of our ability.” Ame began her explanation.

“For the crew that will be needed for landing on the opponent’s planet, they are equipped with the exoframe as well as Gauss Rifle which are the most effective units under us to launch an offensive alongside transcendents.”

Tatsumi pursed his lips at the explanation. It meant that deploying the marines as well as the transcendents would be vital and their cooperation was needed to ensure that they won at the smallest sacrifice possible.

“How about the Orbital Bombardment? Is the accuracy deviate even slightly or is there any problem in the automatic aim from the spaceship?” Tatsumi asked.

“That factor has been addressed perfectly. With the latest spaceship system as well as the computer which governed it, the accuracy of the Orbital Bombardment has reached Ninety-nine point nine percent. Basically, it is almost guaranteed to hit the target accurately.” Ame said as if reporting her discoveries.

“That accurate!?” Tatsumi was stunned.

“That’s basically so accurate barring certain circumstances.” Chi You had a serious look on his face.

“Yes. This is actually in the agenda of the Federation all the time, ever since the spaceship was able to be created. Orbital Bombardment will be a method we will often use for planetary conquest.” Ame sighed at the marvel that was called civilization and its technological development.

But of course, the transcendent development was silently approaching the progress of technological progress; they basically raced against each other.

“Good. We don’t need to worry about deviation from the target. But we need to make sure that there will be no units of ours near the area, or at least they find a way not to be affected by the bombardment. Let’s hope that is the case when we truly launch this kind of attack.” Goto commented.

Tatsumi had to hope for the best but prepare for the worst as he made several plans in his mind if he were to be on the ground on the enemy’s planet soil and faced with the imminent Orbital Bombardment.

Ame looked at Tatsumi and knew what he was thinking. She got close to him and hugged his right arm.

“You don’t need to worry. Our identification system will issue a warning if there is a potential that an individual is in range of the Orbital Bombardment area of effect.” Ame said to calm Tatsumi’s mind.

“I know. But there will be times when one needs to do it regardless of the friendly units.” Tatsumi stated.

The others realized that was also a factor they needed to consider. For the rest of the time, they devised some countermeasure against the bombardment.