Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: PATO's Holy Union Gambit
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"How about PATO intervening in the Holy Union as well?"
It was a proposal raised at one of the PATO committee meetings, which were held on a regular basis.
"Hmm..."
A lukewarm reaction immediately filled the conference room.
I had to agree—did we really need to get involved in the Holy Union?
I understood the appeal; its vast territory looked downright appetizing. But digesting it would be an entirely different story.
For that matter, could we even swallow it in the first place?
"Isn't the distance too far? Some areas can only be reached by passing through the Empire or the Holy Kingdom. Wouldn't it be better to focus on expanding into the Perseus Arm?"
The Deneb Federation envoy delivered a negative response.
I fully agreed with him.
We hadn't even fully mapped out our own side of the galaxy yet. Shouldn't we focus on targets we could actually consume?
"The outskirts of the Perseus Arm could see intervention from the Holy Kingdom and the Empire too. They've already meddled inside PATO before."
That was a fair point as well.
There had even been a species that suddenly declared worship of Ozztlan and withdrew from PATO.
So, the idea was to strike first before they could?
"Wouldn't it be better not to create unnecessary sources of conflict?"
The peace-loving committee clearly disliked stirring up trouble, as expected.
But the current chair had already been replaced.
The Galactic Peace Committee—which didn't even have an official "chairman" title to begin with—simply lacked the national power to make its voice heard loudly.
I liked that it was one of the galaxy's rare true pacifists, so I'd been propping it up to keep it relevant.
Our current chair was Lu Anpang of the Amphibian Cooperative—a frog.
For whatever reason, the Federation had relinquished the seat sooner than expected, sparking a fierce contest between Varisa Space Company and the Amphibians.
In the end, the Amphibians edged out a narrow victory.
The standout detail? The winner was a Psionic Awakener.
And that frog chair's opinion leaned toward intervention.
"Even just to keep a check on potential enemies, getting involved seems like the better option."
What advantages would we gain if we followed the chair's advice and intervened?
Resource-wise, pretty much none.
It was fatal that passage was impossible without going through Holy Kingdom or Empire borders.
Even if transit were allowed, the sheer distance would deter civilian trade fleets from bothering.
Rumors had it as a resource-poor region with severe imbalances— we might even end up needing to prop it up.
What about politically?
True to its name, the Holy Union hadn't abandoned its faith in Ozztlan.
Abandoned? They were still fervent believers, practically.
Forcing them into PATO through coercion wouldn't mean squat.
With the residents' loyalties already elsewhere, they sure as hell wouldn't submit quietly to PATO rule.
And even if they joined, the immense distance would shove any issues to the back of the queue.
The races with weaker faith might be swayed with cash, at least.
But militarily? Now that was different.
That was the real upside the intervention supporters had in mind.
Whether against the Holy Kingdom or the Empire, what if we planted a PATO military base in their rear?
For that purpose, we wouldn't even need to occupy multiple star systems.
Just one strategic dagger, like Gibraltar or Hong Kong—striking at a vital point.
A single system would more than suffice for the job.
And if that Gibraltar happened to be right next to the Sorotek system? Even better.
No more hassle of getting Holy Kingdom permission every damn time we wanted to peek at that tin-can face.
If the neighboring system was PATO territory, access would be a breeze.
Securing a strategic outpost, improved access to suspicious tin cans, territorial expansion.
Plus the noble justification of galactic peace through poverty relief.
Sounds pretty damn good.
"Let's do it. Intervene."
I had no intention of swallowing the entire Holy Union in one gulp.
No matter how loose a gathering of minor powers it was, it had its reasons for being treated as a nation.
Thinking we could devour a territory rivaling PATO's own would be outright conscienceless.
"Let's focus on persuading a few key nations that could truly boost PATO's interests."
"Agreed."
As I said, the goal of this intervention wasn't conquest. It was to bring a Gibraltar-like system—one that could target the Holy Kingdom and Empire's vitals—under PATO influence.
It was basically poaching eggs, which would make the map look ugly as hell.
But that was only from the victim's perspective. From the poacher's side? Totally different story.
Before diving into the full operation, we'd need preliminary surveys first.
The fact that this was all to get closer to those hidden tin cans? That was my little secret.
If the surveys uncovered another excuse to prioritize a Sorotek-adjacent system, it'd be perfect.
Unfortunately, the system closest to the Holy Kingdom burned with the most fervent faith of all—its public opinion outright demanded rejoining the Holy Kingdom.
Extreme enough that even a quick scan made it obvious, no deep dive needed.
Okay, clean pass.
Not this one.
It was packed with reasons to avoid recruiting it, and I had zero confidence in convincing the others otherwise.
We could probably force it onto the list with some arm-twisting and effort, maybe even get it to join PATO... but wasting built-up political capital just to glimpse that tin face more often? Nah.
This was strictly opportunistic. Nice if it worked, whatever if not.
From anywhere in the Holy Union, we'd reach the Sorotek system way faster than launching from PATO space anyway.
No need to get attached.
So, exclude it.
Scouting for viable targets progressed smoothly from there.
It was a rare full-PATO collaborative op, so we just had to survey our assigned zones.
Unlike my usual solo log-hauling routine.
Even if we divvied up the logs among a crowd—all of whom were still "me" in the end—the pace matched my normal one. But psychologically? Way more reassuring.
That sense of security from knowing a screw-up wouldn't tank me alone.
But the work paused briefly not long after.
The Empire had made first contact.
Our Empire buddies had already caught the scent.
Communications flew back and forth through unofficial channels the Holy Kingdom and Holy Union couldn't monitor.
"Reports have come in of suspected PATO-affiliated personnel operating within the Holy Union. Please confirm if there were any procedural oversights or omissions."
They'd sniffed out the ploy and wanted an explanation.
"Rest assured, those individuals were merely visiting the Holy Union on vacation and for personal tourism—no cause for misunderstanding. We don't report individual agents' entry and exit data to foreign nations to protect their privacy. Your understanding is appreciated."
It's not your turf, y'know?
"We had no intention of infringing on foreign territory or personal privacy. That said, given the Holy Union's position as a strategic chokepoint adjacent to the Empire, we have no choice but to keep a wary eye on even minor movements for security reasons. Your understanding, please."
'Whoops, we'll let this one slide. But we're watching.'
Why did these machines have to beat around the bush like that?
Why not talk like proper machines? Like, "Si1-L0-K."
'Entities detected wandering the facility. Visitor, explain your activities.'
'Oh, that's nothing. Just sightseeing.'
'Acknowledged. Response logged.'
How convenient would that be?
Anyway, luckily they'd spotted the scheming but hadn't pinned down the exact purpose.
Who was it?
Which bungling outfit got nabbed?
"Guruk. Sorry about that."
Getting caught wasn't a big deal, honestly.
No matter how well we hid it, going official with a PATO transfer would tip off the entire galaxy anyway.
But the timing? Way too goddamn early, frog.
"No worries. The Amphibians were never big on spycraft anyway."
Hey, committee pals—no need to coddle them even in a massive joint op like this.
Blunders on the galactic stage were how you got quick improvements.
"Kak kak kak. What idiots. Watch and learn, nya~."
Sip... or maybe not?
Either way, caught was caught. Time to press on.
"Best to pull the Amphibian agents out. The distance makes handling variables tricky, so let's minimize them as much as possible."
And so the Amphibian agents withdrew, while PATO operatives continued scouting promising candidate nations to recruit.
As the search went on, one thing stood out: there might've been more to why the Amphibians got caught.
Higher standards of living and tech than the other candidates.
And numbers of fanatics that seemed inversely proportional to that advancement.
Their distribution, suspiciously clustered near Empire borders.
Suspiciously resource-rich, too—the ones with actual upside.
Of course the Empire wouldn't sit idly by while the Holy Union prey dangled there.
Seemed like they'd already staked their claims as first guests.