Changes to the Timeline

Major Randall was a senior officer in the Federal Navy.

Amber's first impression of him was of a suave, middle-aged smooth talker who never stopped running his mouth.

His naval uniform was stained with blood and oil, yet he had still found a way to keep it crisp.

That only reinforced Amber's stereotype.

Then there were the Federal Navy officers' romantic escapades, stories told across countless star systems.

And the old rhyme everyone knew: "The navy's flashy, the army's dusty, and the air force is full of idiots."

Amber had never thought much of those "navy stallions."

But under the circumstances, he had little choice but to take Major Randall at his word for now.

"If the Space Elevator can't be used anytime soon,

the Imperial Army's deployment speed will drop sharply. It might even throw their original plans into disarray."

Amber brought up a map of the ground battle across Robert IV on the vehicle's command terminal.

Red and blue markers showed the positions of the Federation Military and the Imperial Army.

But with communications disrupted, they could not connect to the Brigade-Battalion Backbone Network.

As a result, the map had not been updated in more than six hours.

"Warrant Officer Amber, are you saying things on the surface might not be as bad as this map makes them look?"

At Amber's words, Major Randall stepped closer to the screen.

Coming from the navy, he was not particularly familiar with maps of ground battles.

Even so, he could see that Imperial airborne troops were striking at multiple points across Robert IV.

"No. Things are still bad."

Amber shook his head and continued:

"The initial orbital nuclear strikes wiped out a great many of our troops, entire formations included."

"But shutting down the Space Elevator gives us at least a fighting chance."

"Major, you know how much the Space Elevator can carry."

Randall nodded.

Lansford Naval Port was the final section of the Space Elevator, aside from the counterweight zone, and the last stop on that high-speed transport route.

Its command center also held the highest level of control over the Space Elevator.

That was how Major Randall had been able to lock it down.

He knew exactly how much that Heaven-and-Earth Artery could carry.

The Space Elevator had twelve cars, each capable of carrying 480 tons.

In theory, a single fully loaded trip up or down could move 5,760 tons of supplies, personnel, and equipment.

Under normal conditions, the cars of Robert IV's Space Elevator could complete one round trip per hour.

That meant it could move 138,240 tons of supplies from the spaceport to the surface each day.

Of course, that was only a theoretical figure.

Loading, unloading, and equipment maintenance took time.

Even so, it could easily move around 100,000 tons a day.

"I see what you mean. Without the Space Elevator, the Imperial Army can't deploy its heavy units to the surface quickly."

"Exactly." Amber snapped his fingers.

"A lot of heavy equipment can't be dropped in landing pods, and Aerospace Strategic Transport Aircraft can't match the Space Elevator in either capacity or sortie rate."

"So as long as they can't break the lock, the Imperial forces we face in the near future should consist mostly of infantry, a few HCPs, and even fewer other armored units."

At that thought, Amber could not help marveling at how much the timeline had changed.

If he had not sent a distress call through the Penetrative Communications Device terminal in the Core Communications Room,

Major Randall, scrambling to survive at Lansford Port, would have forgotten to lock the Space Elevator, just as he had in Amber's previous life.

The Imperial Army would then have used that "highway" straight to the surface to deploy its heavy units at speed.

Now, at least, Amber did not have to worry about running into a massive ground force during their escape.

"Oh, right!"

Major Randall had suddenly remembered something.

"Since you sent a distress call, the other planets in the system and the Deep-Space Patrol Fleet should know what's happening by now, shouldn't they?"

"I know what you're getting at."

Amber shook his head.

"But based on the intelligence gathered by the Combat Intelligence Center, I'm afraid I have to tell you—

the Empire's invasion targets the entire star system. The other three Colonization Planets are under attack by other Imperial fleets as we speak."

"As for the Deep-Space Patrol Fleet, it has probably withdrawn to the edge of the system for now."

The Combat Intelligence Center had not gathered any of that, of course. Amber had read the details in the War History Museum in his previous life.

Given the Federation Intelligence Department's capabilities, they would be lucky to work out that the Star Dragon Empire was attacking them at all.

Randall had no way of knowing that. The Combat Intelligence Center is surprisingly good at gathering information, he thought.

"But we sent the distress call. If we hold out, won't the main fleet eventually come to help?"

The major pressed the question. Their survival depended on it.

"Major Randall, aren't you being a little too optimistic about how quickly the Federation leadership acts?"

"Warrant Officer Amber, you really don't mince words."

As they raced onward, Amber's group was fortunate enough not to encounter any other Imperial units.

The planet had a vast surface, and the Orbital Paratroopers were mainly attacking key military bases.

On a larger scale, their forces were not densely spread. There were plenty of gaps between them.

With help from the Ultrashort-Wave Reconnaissance and Jamming Vehicle and the Drone, Amber's group avoided several Imperial units along the way.

One of those units even had two HCPs that had been dropped from orbit.

That was one of the Light Combined-Arms Force's strengths.

These Wheeled Armored Vehicles might not be particularly formidable in a head-on fight.

But they were agile, hard to spot, and excellent at making a quick getaway.

After analyzing the routes of the Imperial units they had avoided,

Amber guessed they were heading to intercept and cut off the breakout force led by Lieutenant Colonel Dallas.

A little later, they briefly connected to the Edge Network and the backbone network. The updated battle map confirmed Amber's guess.

They were now about 150 kilometers from the main breakout force in a straight line.

That put them at the edge of the Military Internet's reception range.

It was another reason they had been unable to connect earlier.

Besides interference in the atmosphere, sheer distance had been working against them.

After updating the map, Amber intended to discuss their next move with Randall.

The man outranked him. Even if they served in different branches, it was only polite to ask.

Instead, the major spread his hands.

"Warrant Officer Amber, I'll leave this to you."

The smile on Randall's face told Amber he had given up on making the decision.

"Let the person who knows the job do it. On a battlefield, rank alone doesn't decide who takes command."