Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 842: Chapter 460, Iron Cavalry Terminator Chapter 842: Chapter 460, Iron Cavalry Terminator Terminator Power Armor!

What a fantastic piece of equipment!

Previously, the Alliance didn’t have the capacity to produce Terminators, and the one Matins had had been purchased by Gu Hang himself.

Moreover, it was an Unyielding Terminator which, in terms of performance, was a notch below the Iron Cavalry Terminator.

The Iron Cavalry Terminator originated from an even more ancient era. It was developed during the time The Emperor still reigned and the Empire was in a significant phase of interstellar expansion. Over the years, through incessant upheavals, especially the catastrophic civil war within the Empire, the technology for the Iron Cavalry Terminator was gradually lost.

Like many technologies from the zenith of the Empire, such as the Majestic Type Tactical Power Armor currently used by the Phoenix Battle Group—lost, but not completely gone. Some Foundry Worlds could still build them, albeit in limited numbers. Perhaps it was because the key components could still be manufactured, but the capacity to expand production wasn’t there; or maybe because there was a larger manufacturing scale for replacements that the old technologies weren’t really needed…

But, in any case, the Iron Cavalry Terminator that Gu Hang drew from the technology system didn’t have those problems.

The Iron Cavalry type is better than the Unyielding type often seen in the major battle groups, as is the way with the technology of the Empire—the older it is, the more formidable; but as a consequence, its production costs are also higher.

And, like the Majestic Type Armor Gu Hang drew before, it has a problem: rarity and antiquity, meaning it’s conspicuously noticeable.

The process of making the Iron Cavalry type isn’t common even among the Foundry Worlds. And now you, the Alliance, are able to produce it, too?

However, Gu Hang was no longer concerned about that.

How many similar technologies in the Alliance could there be?

In the past, he was anxious, but now his mindset was much more stable.

When there are too many lice, they don’t itch.

Moreover, as the Alliance continued to thrive and grow, similar threats started to worry him less.

With the Iron Cavalry Terminator Power Armor, the power of the Phoenix Battle Group would climb another rung. They would be able to form their own Terminator Squad and charge against the most terrifying enemies in this universe!

Of course, Terminators were not invincible. They were only a bit over three meters tall, less than half the size of Knight Mecha.

But in a confrontation between a veteran Terminator and a Knight Mecha, Gu Hang believed that the Terminator had a high chance of victory.

Both equipped with energy shields, the Terminator couldn’t mount weapons as powerful as those of a Knight Mecha due to its size, but its defensive capabilities were not much less in comparison. Much more agile, and with an Interstellar Warrior, essentially a superman, at the controls, a Terminator could guarantee to take down any Knight Mecha that came its way—provided the seasoned Terminator didn’t do something foolish like trying to match the larger Knight Mecha in firepower or mechanical strength; rather, it should rely on experience, skill, and agile tactics to win.

The Terminator’s lack of agility compared to conventional Tactical Power Armors, but against Knight Mecha, it was still significantly superior.

However, the cost of producing an Iron Cavalry Terminator was exorbitant, usually reaching 1.2 million Tax Currency per unit. That’s a full 50% more expensive than the standard 800,000 price for an Unyielding type. This might be another reason why the Iron Cavalry type was scarce in circulation.

But, as always, with a Black Box ready to churn out finished products and set up production lines, the cost for the Alliance to make these devices wouldn’t be as high as it is on the market.

Besides, spending a bit more for significantly better performance could be a worthwhile trade-off.

…

After acquiring a [Cruiser], a [Doomsday Light Spear Array], and an [Iron Cavalry Terminator Powered Armor], Gu Hang was more than satisfied with his technological lottery winnings this time around.

However, among the three Elite Level technologies he drew afterward, there were also a couple of really good ones.

[L-Type Transport Ship – Behemoth]

Now this is a gem!

Although it’s only Elite Level, its value isn’t much less than that of the Moon Class Cruiser.

Despite the Behemoth’s significant downsides—markedly unmaneuverable, incredibly slow, structurally unsuitable for conversion into an armed vessel, and an easy target if caught alone in space, much like a pig ready for slaughter…

Its plethora of weaknesses is offset by one overwhelming advantage: its capacity.

It’s truly massive, just slightly smaller than a Retribution-class Battleship. True to its name, it boasts a colossal hold; like a moving Nest Capital in space, it can cram in up to twenty million people at its transport limit.

Because it can carry so much, the scale economics bring its transportation costs down substantially.

It wasn’t expensive to build, around one billion, which was significantly cheaper than the Crazy Shark-class Destroyer.

It served as humanity’s core vessel in interstellar trade. As long as it could haul goods for a few years, the cost would be recouped, and everything beyond that was profit.

In the past, the largest transport ship the Alliance could build was the Whale-class. That thing could only carry about one-tenth of what the Colossal Belly could. When it came to large-scale transportation, it was still more expensive than the Colossal Belly.

With this thing, making an economic community across Star Sectors would be easier for the Alliance. Otherwise, relying solely on the Gu Commercial Firm’s existing ships would definitely be unreliable.

The scale of the Gu Commercial Firm was already nearly at its limit, covering the transportation needs within the Tianma Star Sector and the frontlines of the ongoing war. It would be nearly impossible to also accommodate the massive transportation demands that would arise after the integration of the Seven Horse Sectors.

The Alliance’s shipyards were already operating at full throttle, building not just warships but various civilian vessels as well. In reality, even if the small shipyard on Baishuo Star in the Purple Horse Sector were included, there was a lot of squabbling from all parties. The navy wanted the civilian docks to build warships for them. Even if legitimate warships couldn’t be built, they demanded armed merchant ships instead;

While the Alliance’s governmental units and merchant fleets were trying to pull together, the Alliance still needed to function, and the military needed support from the rear. The transport of raw materials, goods… these civilian ships are the vascular system of industrial manufacturing. They were willing to give way to the war, allowing some production capacity to build armed merchant ships to assist the navy with transport and combat, but they pleaded not to devote all of it.

There was no shortage of verbal disputes reaching Gu Hang.

Now, with the new build of the Colossal Belly Transport Ship, the problem hadn’t been solved per se, but it certainly had been greatly alleviated. The shipyard tasked with building the Colossal Belly could only be used to manufacture them; after all, they were too large; using it for building large warships was also out of the question because of lacking adequate technical standards. And, producing one Colossal Belly—which had the capacity of ten Whale-class vessels—meant one could cover for ten and would greatly relieve the Alliance’s ‘circulatory system.’

And the second piece of Elite Level Technology was the “Dominion-class Knight Mecha”

It was much larger than the Ranger Level, and it almost reached the size of the Warhound-class Titan; its combat power could also be roughly on par with the Warhound. Although it fell slightly short, it was more flexible than the Warhound-class Titan—after all, it only required one person to operate, instead of a team like the Warhound Titan.

However, its cost of construction was also very high, skyrocketing from seven hundred thousand for a Ranger-class Knight to three and a half million.

This was even more expensive than the Warhound Titan, which only cost two million three hundred thousand.

It was certainly a fine piece, and for many Knight Worlds, the Dominion-class Knight Mecha was a treasure. A single Knight could pilot such a large machine, possessing the strength to match the Warhound Titan.

But to the Alliance, it seemed somewhat superfluous.

Those Knight Families from Knight Worlds had a sentiment for this thing, which the Alliance did not share. The Warhound was cheaper, had slightly greater combat power, and the slight difference in flexibility wasn’t as valuable on the frontlines as another piece of armor plating. After all, if the enemy decided to lay down a barrage, whether it was a Titan of over a dozen meters tall or a Knight Mecha, that slight increase in agility wouldn’t count for much—they would still be bombarded regardless.

Gu Hang couldn’t think of any reason to allocate production capacity to Dominion Knights over Warhounds.

Of course, the Warhound’s rate of expansion was ultimately limited. When it really came down to it and production capacity couldn’t meet the demand, setting up a few Dominion production lines wasn’t out of the question. Additionally, since it held some symbolic significance, the Alliance could use it to win over some of the feudal worlds within its territory that had Knight cultures.

Heijian Star was of course the most typical example.

Beyond Heijian Star, in the Iron Horse Sector’s Iron Wing Star, the Border Horse Sector’s Gathering Snow 7, and the Purple Horse Sector’s Purple Peak 3, these three worlds were also classic feudal worlds with Knight traditions. Once the Alliance had the capability to manufacture both Ranger Level and Dominion Level Knights, control over these worlds would greatly increase.

The lords of these Knight Worlds were quite different from planets with unified governments. If pushed too hard, those Knight lords could stubbornly resist to the bitter end. Executing a few people or staging a coup wouldn’t do much good, as they didn’t even have a Central Government—each was its own Knight Family. Trying to forcibly subdue them would likely require a battle like the one at Heijian Star.

That definitely wouldn’t be worth it.

Political maneuvers, trade tactics, and economic control would be more reliable.

The corresponding strategies were already being employed by the Alliance’s government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The manufacturing capability of the Dominion-class Knight Mecha would significantly enhance the Alliance’s various strategies on these Knight planets.

From this perspective, the Dominion-class Knight Mecha had advantages that the Warhound Titan couldn’t match.

…

As for the other two technologies, one was Elite Level and the other Advanced Level, both were civilian technologies.

The Advanced Level technology was a construction engineering vehicle, and the Elite Level was an improved agricultural planter, suitable for use in large-scale plantations.

Civilian technologies were also valuable; they were needed for economic development.

Gu Hang was quite satisfied with the haul from the lottery this time.

Even though it cost a full seven hundred thousand Grace Points, each one was a fine piece of technology.

These technologies would also become a powerful engine for the Alliance’s development in the next two years.

And those two years would pass quickly.