Inside the Winged Race flagship.
Watching the battlefield footage sent by the Sea Race Fleet, Ishar frowned deeply, her expression growing uglier by the moment.
The battle footage was intense, but it also bore unmistakable signs of "artistic editing." The edited recordings emphasized the power of the enemy Bio-Bastion and the devastating losses their own fleet had suffered.
According to the Sea Race Fleet's battle report, their soldiers had fought tenaciously, but despite suffering heavy losses, they had been unable to inflict meaningful damage on the enemy. They had therefore abandoned the interception plan to avoid the enemy's full might for the time being.
But the experienced Ishar needed only a brief mental review to reconstruct the situation. How could she fail to see that the Sea Race Fleet had clearly held back and never chosen to meet the enemy head-on?
The Sea Race Fleet's losses were considerable. Eight or nine warships had been sunk or damaged.
Clearly, however, the main reason for those losses was that the enemy's firepower had far exceeded expectations, catching them off guard during the brief engagement. Had they known beforehand that they would encounter such a tough opponent, they might well have avoided battle altogether.
"Those slippery bastards..." Ishar's expression darkened.
Although she knew perfectly well that the Sea Race Fleet was slacking off, they had gone through all the proper motions. As their temporary supreme commander, she really could not reprimand them too harshly.
She could not even determine whether the Sea Race was deliberately conserving its strength or whether covert agents planted within the fleet by that "Gustav," whose identity remained uncertain, were interfering.
"But... how did they get so many fortress weapons close to Kara Star?" Another, even more baffling question immediately occurred to Ishar.
More than a dozen fortress cannons