A Proper Expedition Force at Last
Of course, that feeling only lasted a moment. Jessica — our ever-capable Jessica, who had polished off every last scrap of paperwork with her Hundred-Form Guanyin skill — set me straight.
"You mean that? I believe it was around when you first met Commander Betelgeuse. Yes, I think it was from about then."
"...My first meeting with Betelgeuse? Hang on. When exactly was that?"
"It was less than a year after you first opened your eyes here, Commander. So at the absolute minimum, three years have already gone by."
"Holy moly."
To learn that I had been rampaging around with someone else's perfectly good hobby tools for such a very long time...
Once that reality sank in, I spent a moment in deep contemplation. Then I told Jessica to double the resources going to Princess Luca.
The calm before the storm.
Anyway, after shouting something to the effect of "Princess Luca's character is incredibleeeee!!" in that fashion, I finally decided — a full four years after possessing this body — to raise a real, proper faction expedition force for the first time.
Of course, Jessica was not the only one to react to my decision.
"Commander Icarus. So you are finally making use of this side."
"...Mm."
"It has been rather late, hasn't it."
I received a subtle look from Oxianor that seemed to say, You certainly caught on quickly — but that was that.
In any case, under those various gazes, the "real" Space Monster faction expedition force I had summoned looked roughly like this...
Perfect.
It was the exact concept combination that sprang to mind the moment anyone thought of a "fleet."
"Mm. An appropriate level."
"The balance between large ships and small ships is spot on."
"You're right. This should prove quite useful when we take the mercenary company into battle again."
"Exactly."
I nodded with satisfaction at the surprisingly solid composition.
But that fleet still had one very subtle problem remaining...
"By the way, Commander. If it's like that, who is going to command the fleet?"
"Huh?"
"Why, of course I will. It is a 'Space Monster faction expedition force.' Naturally I would be the one, would I not?"
"Oh dear."
That was the issue.
Unlike the "hobby fleets" we had been using until now, this particular fleet could, by system rules, be controlled only by Oxianor.
The problem was that while our Oxianor was an all-purpose superhuman capable of everything from close combat to long-range combat, internal infiltration prevention and surveillance, adjutant duties, and more...
"However, Commander Icarus, I am afraid I am not particularly skilled at fleet operations. I hope you will understand."
"Whaaat."
Compared to the last time I had checked, her abilities had risen in various ways and her stats had grown considerably, yet...
I don't know fleet command, for real.
The words practically wrote themselves. When it came to fleet operations, our Oxianor was structurally incapable — absolutely incapable — of handling them.
"Come to think of it, the reason the fleet balance is so appropriate is probably because of that."
"Yeah, you're right."
From Oxianor's perspective as the party involved, it must have felt rather unfair, but honestly Jessica wasn't wrong either.
Standing beside us, Oxianor wore no fewer than several dozen emotions across her face, revealing a thoroughly complicated state of mind.
And just as Jessica said, the structure of a faction expedition force only came out like that when the "commander" didn't know how to command a fleet.
[Pirate Coalition Faction Expedition Force Ships.jpg]
This is simple, so I'll keep it light.
Basically people say it's random, but it isn't exactly random.
Right before you recruit your faction expedition force ships, you've got that faction envoy at your base, yeah?
Check their status window.
If they've got a "Commander"-line trait, you get a specialized fleet tuned to that faction's leanings.
And if they're a commander with extra command-line traits on top?
Then you get a separate fleet shaped around those traits.
Here's where everyone gets confused:
"Our envoy doesn't have any command-line traits at all — they're just a fighter or a buffer. What happens then?"
In that case?
You get a thoroughly ordinary balance-type fleet that sits dead in the middle of everything.
For real.
[Proof shot: envoy with zero command-line traits.jpg]
[The fleet under that envoy as commander: pure balance-type fleet.jpg]
[Proof shot: envoy with mobility-related and attack-related command traits plus the "Commander" trait.jpg]
[Fleet matching the above: specialized for mobile warfare and offense.jpg]
There's your proof.
Reading that wiki-tab post only strengthened my conviction.
I nodded and decided to welcome the Space Monster faction expedition force I had newly (sort of) received in this fashion.
And while I was proceeding along those lines for a while...
Wait a second. Come to think of it, that's why the Space Monster faction acted so boldly.
I realized one fresh fact at this point.
It was a bit awkward to put it this way, but...
"Even though the Space Monster fleet's combat power is absurdly small compared to the other two factions, they still acted so confidently for a reason."
"Right? From the Space Monsters' perspective, they basically attached the Princess's personal guard fleet directly to us."
Just as Jessica said — Marian's Pirate Coalition (a fleet of a hundred thousand ships including the flagship Eclipse and part of the Armada), or...