Chapter 629: Not Efficient
Just as everyone assumed the debriefing was over and prepared to disperse to their duties, Asuka spoke up. A look of confusion lingered in her lake-blue eyes as she looked directly at Ryo: "Hey, Ryo, I have a question."
Ryo turned his gaze toward her, nodding slightly to signal her to continue.
"We clearly possess far greater firepower, don't we? The EVAs, plus the armed forces back at the Death World base. Why go through all this trouble—training soldiers for the RDA on one hand, while having Ayanami and the others sneak around to make contact with those blue skins... with the Na'vi on the other?" Asuka's inquiry was blunt and direct. "Wouldn't it be far simpler and faster to just beat them into submission with raw force, or sweep them away like clearing obstacles? Even if this planet has value, is it really worth this much time and effort?"
Her question voiced the quiet doubts held by several team members. Even Maine glanced over, curious to hear Ryo's deeper reasoning.
Ryo did not answer immediately. He walked up to the main display, which was projecting a vibrant planetary feed of Pandora, its interlaced bioluminescent neural web glowing like the planet's circulatory system.
Gazing at the screen, he spoke slowly, his tone even and grounded in pragmatic calculation: "Committing overwhelming military force for direct conquest may appear efficient on the surface, but it is fundamentally short-sighted."
He turned around, his gaze sweeping across the team before resting on Asuka. "First, the Na'vi are not a primitive tribe incapable of retaliation. They are physically formidable, master their native terrain, and most critically, are intimately bound to this planet's ecological network. A forced conquest would provoke the fiercest resistance imaginable from every corner of the globe. We would find ourselves bogged down in an endless counter-insurgency quagmire, draining resources and operational bandwidth far beyond expectation."
He paused briefly, a colder edge entering his voice: "Second, wiping them out entirely is a theoretical option. But what are the consequences of large-scale kinetic devastation? Uncontrolled energy discharges could collapse precious superconducting ore veins; blasts and toxicity would ruin unique biological specimens; and open warfare would incinerate an ecosystem of immense value that we have yet to fully comprehend—such as the global consciousness known as 'Eywa'."
Ryo pointed to the image of Pandora on the screen, his gaze sharp: "What I require is a relatively intact ecological world capable of continuously yielding unique resources and providing avenues to study the mysteries of its biology and consciousness. I do not want a ruined wasteland riddled with blast craters, broken ecosystems, and stripped quarry pits. The latter might bring fleeting short-term returns, but the former represents far greater, enduring strategic value."
His explanation was lucid and dispassionate, stripping away the illusion of convenience tied to violent conquest to expose the latent long-term risks and liabilities underneath. It was not born of mere benevolence, but grounded in cold, long-term optimization.
Hearing this, Asuka curled her lip, though the doubt in her eyes dissipated. She muttered under her breath: "...Fine, that does sound like a terrible trade-off."
She grasped that this was not indecision, but a far more calculated and far-reaching strategy.
Beside her, Shinji Ikari exhaled a quiet sigh of relief. Deep down, he had no desire to see the beautiful luminescent jungle reduced to scorched earth. Ryo's rationale brought him comfort, reinforcing his resolve to follow orders.
Ryo looked at the group and concluded: "Therefore, the current dual-track strategy—using the RDA as a front to draw fire and shoulder defensive burdens while we probe from within to secure breakthroughs and decipher core mysteries—is the optimal balance between efficiency, risk mitigation, and return maximization. Carry out your orders."
Manufacturing Surge
Following the directive, the already streamlined systems within the Trailblazer mobile base ramped up to near-maximum operational capacity.
The multi-purpose fabrication module located at the rear of the vehicle was converted into a provisional production hub. Accompanied by a low, mechanical hum, industrial-grade additive printers and precision lathes engaged.
Rare metal powders and high-performance polymers from the Death World base reserves were fed into the hoppers alongside local metal ingots and high-purity silicon provided by the RDA as a goodwill deposit.
Maine and Falco coordinated with RDA logistics to ensure raw materials flowed continuously into the outpost, while securing detailed technical schematics of existing RDA equipment to design compatible retrofit modules.
Pilar and Rebecca took charge of the manufacturing line. Pilar's cybernetic oculars flickered with blue light as he rapidly calibrated hardware tolerances, ensuring micrometric precision. While Rebecca was far more inclined toward demolition, she found these machines that could "churn out cool toys" thoroughly entertaining, taking charge of monitoring material melt states and initial quality control checks.
The first components to roll off the line were upgraded sensor cores.
Simplified from the reconnaissance tech on the team's drones, these matchbox-sized units boasted superior signal penetration and anti-jamming capabilities, filtering through Pandora's complex bio-electric background interference to track the movements of large fauna or Na'vi parties.
Next came long-range communications repeaters. Designed as modular attachments for existing RDA signal arrays, they dramatically extended reliable comms coverage between Hell's Gate, outlying patrol units, and the outpost, resolving the severe signal attenuation caused by the dense canopy.
The centerpiece of the production run was a batch of fifty optimized plasma rifles and two hundred high-capacity energy cells.
While their chassis followed the simplified blueprints provided by Maine, critical sub-assemblies utilized superior proprietary alloys and refined fabrication methods. Their beam coherence, operational range, and discharge stability noticeably surpassed the prototypes cobbled together by the RDA tech division.
Furthermore, the operational runtime and recharge efficiency of the power cells were improved by roughly 30%. Following Ryo's instructions, Maine had embedded discreet backdoors deep within the battery management firmware.
Shifting the Balance
Once manufactured, the ordnance was swiftly handed over to the waiting RDA logistics personnel.
Inspecting the precision-machined casings, the dark metallic sheen of the rifles, and the unusual sensor housings, the receiving RDA tech sergeant could hardly conceal his awe.
"Sweet Jesus... your mobile workshop runs faster than the primary assembly lines back at base," he remarked to Maine.
Maine responded evenly: "Specialized tools for specialized tasks. Deploy them without delay; we want to see field results."
Simultaneously, under Ryo's direction, the mobile base prepared for its next operational phase.
Several miniature environmental monitoring beacons, disguised as native Pandora rocks and flora, were fabricated for Rei Ayanami-kun's team to deploy during their deeper incursions into the jungle.
Additionally, based on preliminary telemetry from the Na'vi neural interfaces, Pilar began drafting schematics for a localized, non-lethal bio-electric disruption array. Though still far from field-ready, it marked the initial phase of Ryo's technical suppression doctrine.
The steady hum of the Trailblazer was not merely industrial noise; it signaled the deepening footprint of the expedition team across Pandora.
They were no longer mere observers—they were wielding their technological leverage to reshape the balance of power across the frontier.