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[Everyone double-check the dead and then fall in for the trip back.] Max ordered, using the light Ion Rifle mounted as a coaxial weapon on the front of his mecha to 'poke' the corpses, checking for any response.
Even those who were very good at playing dead would twitch a little when shot after all.
A few survivors were found and disposed of in the name of safety, but the mecha are ready to move in under a minute, retracing their steps through the swamp and back towards the mines.
[There's something wrong with the radar. Change of protocol. All units will search the surroundings as we go using thermal and energy trace scanners. Do not trust any single scan to give accurate information.] Nico declares suddenly, startling Max.
What she found unusual about the radar was a mystery, Max didn't see any enemies on it for her to have questioned. But after a few seconds, he too noticed the error. When the formation shifted slightly going around trees and deep spots, the number of units in their squad would fluctuate on the radar, which it shouldn't if the data being displayed was coming from their own scanners.
Just like the incident with the drop pods, their computer systems were being tampered with, only in this case Mecha's internal systems are secure, so the only thing that can be changed is the signal that comes back to the radar.
Max sends a Command channel emergency pulse with a new encryption code, forcing every mecha in the unit to automatically update their frequencies and security codes. It is an automated procedure and is often used to prevent infiltration when fighting other mecha using societies that might have infiltrated them.
[All Units, Comms check. Let me know if anyone is having issues.] Max instructs. Only the command mecha have the decryption code for the command channel, so though the rest of the units would be forced to update by the signal if they were being monitored, the enemy was unlikely to have gained access to the signal itself.
One by one the units at the mine report back in, showing that none of them have any issues, so Max decided that the issue must be more local to them.
[Keep your guard up. I think the radar interference is coming from nearby. The Narsians might be hiding their true numbers from us.] Max informed the unit as they made their way around a larger island.
Almost as if his words were prophetic, the movement alert from the Corvette Class mecha on point pinged enemy movement. Roughly twenty Narsian-sized heat signatures at five hundred meters and closing fast.
[Scouts hold position, all other mecha, keep moving. Don't let them know we have detected them.] Max ordered, moving one step back so Nico and Ari, the two close combat members of his unit that were on this expedition could take the lead.
They couldn't play dumb forever though, and once a third of the unit's sensors sent Stalwart the signal that they had detected enemies, he ordered the formation to a stop and into a defensive circle.
Under normal circumstances, this would be a nearly perfect ambush for the Narsians, but since the Kepler Mecha already knew where they were, there was no sense of disorganization as they moved. Nobody needed to look for targets, as they had already locked on and chosen the recipients of their first volley.
[Fire at Will] Max's order triggers a barrage of weapons fire, tearing down trees and vaporizing swamp water as heavy weapons designed to eliminate much larger and more heavily armored targets are turned on the Narsian infantry.
The casualties don't slow the giant's charge though, and the Narsian forces slam into the Light Mecha at a full run, their alloy weapons crashing into durable armor plating with incredible force, knocking many Line Mecha from their feet and damaging many more.
They seem to have realized that Max is the commander this time though, possibly a relayed signal from the last group that Max fought. Plasma fire flies his way in steady bursts, even while his Pulse Lasers work frantically to thin the enemy ranks.
[Keep up the fire rate, I've got you.] Ari calls, moving Bulwark in front of Max's Stalwart, with her combat shield planted in front of her crouching form, preventing the vast majority of incoming fire from hitting him.
A splash and the sonic boom of the Rail Guns on Tarith's Rage draw his attention for a moment, and Max sees that Nico is using the immense weight of her mecha to pin targets to the ground, stepping on them to keep them out of the fight until she has time to shoot them with the weapons mounted on her gauntlet.
The Narsian battle armor holds up well against her wickedly serrated sword, at least for what it is, and most targets are only torn open and flung away instead of chopped in half. That makes them easy kills for the Light Mecha, who target the breaches in the armor.
Nearly a hundred giants fall in the first minute of the battle before the Narsian Commander sounds the retreat and they race out of sight through the trees.
[Commander, I believe that was a probing attack. Probability suggests that the enemy strength is much higher than the reported number in this combat zone.] One of the wing commanders, a Major named Alphonse calls over the radio.
Max is almost certain that he is right, but there isn't much to be done about it at the moment. The base is already on high alert for attacks, and they are doing the best they can to get back before they are isolated and surrounded.
[Noted Major. I suspect you are right, but with the errors in the orbital data, and the radar glitches, we don't have much proof to report back to Command yet. What we do know has been sent.] Max replies with a hint of sadness.
The command team aboard the Abraham Kepler is all about logic and data. The gut feelings of units on the ground and anecdotal evidence are often overlooked in favor of solid evidence when it comes time to make a deployment or send supplies.
With their additional delays discussing enemy tactics, the unit didn't even get moving again before Max's sensors detected hostile heat signatures, moving towards them from the site of the first battle.
[Looks like the Narsians came to see what the fuss was. Get a move on everyone, this is going to be a running battle. Fire and move or we will be stuck out here for days until they have exhausted us.] Max ordered, leading the way while sending Nico to the back of the column so her enhanced sensors will be the closest to the approaching Narsian forces.
High above the planet, the crew aboard Abraham Kepler and the three newly arrived ships were in a panic. All communication with the planet was being jammed, and the troops on the ground had been receiving falsified data for over a day now.
They had been unable so far to find the source of the signal, and as far as they knew, no communications had gotten in or out successfully. Everything was intercepted, and false reports were being sent back.
They had even gone as far as releasing spare Crusader Class Chassis on orbital walks outside the ship, and relying on their data since the systems of Abraham Kepler had already been compromised once. For the most part, everything looked good, but the satellite feeds were all tampered with, severely limiting the quality of their sensor data.
[Move to a four-point encirclement at high orbit. The ship's systems scan as secure, so we can use them for coarse data and attempt to establish communications directly with the surface again.] Admiral Ackbar of the newly arrived Organa Kepler ordered the others as the senior Naval officer on the mission.
[Moving to Position] The other ships responded at once, beginning their shift.
Direct line of sight might not tell them everything they needed to know, but they still had the reports collected before the interference started to go on, so they at least had a rough estimate of the situation on the ground as of a day ago to base their next waves of drops on.
That wouldn't be any real help to Max though. He had just sent a coded message to Command, intended for General Tennant, but the response was incorrect. His signal was not making it to Abraham Kepler, whose staff would know the code words, and was instead being responded to by whoever intercepted it.
[Nico, before those Narsians make it to us, see what you can do to get a direct signal to the fleet. Our reports are being intercepted and the responses we are getting aren't coming from Command.] Max orders, hoping his friend's Innate Talent of Technology Control will serve him better than his own learned hacking skills.
The column gets five more kilometers back towards the camp before the enemy catches up to them, starting a running battle that Max doesn't see ending any time soon.
Being in the lead position, the wide scatter of his Pulse Lasers and the overwhelming force of the Plasma Shotguns allow him to save ammunition in his Battle Cannon for emergencies, while still clearing the way for the column to keep moving.
On his left and right flanks are two more dual energy weapon equipped Crusaders, one with twin Laser Destroyers, and one with dual Ion Destroyers. The setup is a bit redundant in Max's mind, as using matched weapons reduces your versatility, but it's not up to him what other Crusader Pilots choose or get assigned as weapons for their Mecha.
At least the Ion Destroyers can be set for either concentrated blast or wide area blast, which creates the ten-meter diameter energy balls that Tarith's Rage has been spitting out all this mission. They aren't as deadly, but the Narsians aren't as armored as a Crusader Class mecha, so it isn't as big of a deal.
The twin lasers though are intended for heavy anti-armor. While they are deadly against Mecha, it might possibly be the worst matchup against hordes of light infantry. The only redeeming feature is that the pilot can reduce power to increase the rate of fire, treating them more like a heavy machine gun. Without extreme talents like Max's targeting skills, the capability is largely wasted, but it looks terrifying, with the wide blue pulses flashing in the air as the mecha fights off the Narsian approach.
[Rear zone clear. Extra attention on both flanks.] Nico's signal means that the enemy has overtaken them, moving past her position and that they are most likely preparing for an all-out attack from both sides the moment that they think the column is vulnerable.
[Close ranks. Move in a double file column until further notice.] Max orders, mentally preparing himself for the next attacks and checking his map to see how far they have left to go.
Too far. Thirty Kilometers. But they might still make it before dark.
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Again the Mecha's sensors had detected Narsian attackers coming closer to the column, but this time, they didn't seem intent on mindlessly attacking.
The energy signatures had spiked, and they weren't moving.
[Enemy is setting up Heavy Weapons positions.] Max called over the radio and the mecha with Battle Cannons moved so that they could get a better line of sight towards the spots showing active energy weapons.
The technology was one unique to the Crusader Class and heavier Kepler Mecha, not used by any other nation, so it was possible that the Narsian forces didn't fully understand how it worked. If they did, they would have set up and waited for the attack signal to be given before powering up their heavy weapons.
[Sir, thermal sensors are detecting something strange near the energy signatures. The area is suspiciously even in temperature.] One of the scout Corvettes reports.
It is a standard signature of heat masking technology, usually an energy barrier that disperses the signal over an area, but it can't account for the way that the trees and water inside should be slightly different, so everything comes out as uniform. On the open plains, or in city ruins that might work, but not here in the swamp.
[Battle Cannons, area bombardment. Do not start with the positions of the heavy weapons, they haven't realized that we can see them yet.] Max orders.
The barrels of the Battle Cannons subtly shift, and Max gives the order.
[Fire! 5 shot barrage and hold.]
The roar of the big guns shakes the trees around them, and the blasts light up the mist over the water. Then the secondary explosions start, indicating that someone's target was their munitions supply and that they had wiped out the enemy emplacement, or very nearly did anyhow.
[Next targets are at 8 o'clock, at a distance of 5600 meters. Commence area bombardment.] Max orders, clearing the next obstacle to their course well in advance.
It will still take a while before those enemies are close enough to be a threat, but while they are stopped, it is best to draw out any hidden Narsian forces that their sensors haven't detected yet.
The same five-shot volley is sent out, and then they wait with their sensors at maximum sensitivity, trying to find any signs of enemy survivors or additional hidden forces.
Nothing is moving, and the only heat signatures are some lingering fires from the high explosive shells, so the column begins moving again, doing their best to make progress toward the camp at the mines.
The camp has reported a few light attacks, but the Narsians pulled back when they realized that it was a larger camp of Kepler Mecha.
That didn't mean they were safe though, if the Narsians were close enough to attack, they were close enough to detect the signature of the Uranium mine, even if it was sealed and buried with tones of aggregate material.
So, they would be back, and in force, once they had the numbers. In fact, that might have been the reason for the Special Forces unit that Alpha Squad came across. If the Narsians already knew of the mine, it would also explain the higher-than-usual technology that the patrol had encountered on their way back. The giants might be going all out in their attempt to eliminate a large portion of the mine's defenders.
That's not a reassuring thought at all, but at least Max knows that the attacks on them aren't a fluke or bad luck. Instead, the attacks are because the Mecha are moving through the zone where the Narsians are staging before an attack.
Max checks the route in front of them, knowing that this last stretch was almost entirely void of enemy activity on the way out to assist Alpha Squad. It doesn't provide much cover for an attack, as they picked the easiest route to travel with the giant mecha, so he has hopes that it will still be the same way, or at least close to it.
[Increase travel speed. We're never going to be stealthy in the swamp, so it is better to just get back to camp and reinforce the defenders there.] Max orders, picking up his pace to near the top of what would be comfortable in a Line Mecha over this terrain.
The Narsians have surely heard them by now, even if they didn't know they were coming back to base, so Max sends the signal for the Infantry to be mobilized to the bunkers for an imminent attack and keeps his pilots moving.
[Contact at 3 o'clock] One of the Pilots reports, stopping to take a shot.
[Don't stop. Fire on the move. We will keep moving until we reach the base.] Max orders, sending a volley of Pulse Laser fire in the direction of the heat signatures.
Destroying whatever mediocre cloaking technology they were using reveals dozens more Narsian infantry in the area, who are quickly suppressed by the Crusaders as the column moves past, now a mere five kilometers from the mine and closing quickly.
The giants have realized that they no longer have the element of surprise though, and heat signatures are appearing everywhere, only to be targeted by mecha from both the camp and the unit Max is leading. While they did their best to stay out of the direct line of fire, Max stationed mecha on top of the ridge when they arrived, giving them a better line of sight down into the trees.
That lets the straight-flying energy weapons target at a much longer range, and they're using it to their advantage, marking every position that they see with a few shots so that the locations can be added to the map. If they kill some, they kill some, but knowing where all the Narsian attack squads are located is more important, as it gives them a rough estimate of enemy strength, despite the giants' attempts to hide their numbers.
[Prepare the reload and repair bays.] Max orders as the mecha column reached visual range of the camp. He took a full third of the force with him on this expedition, not counting the infantry, so they will be desperately needed the moment that the attack begins.
Both squads at the base are already deployed and ready, and the artillery that the infantry brought back from the landers is happily thumping away. It's a shame that they didn't get time to clean out all the landers. Max's reports say that they only got eleven of fifteen either ransacked or within the encirclement by the time the Narsian attacks forced them back within the safety of the camp.
In the worst-case scenario, infantry teams can be sent out on those flat-bottomed boats to launch raids of their own, but returning fully laden with supplies and parts will be much more difficult.
The rearming gantries have been greatly improved in the last day, now boasting a full twelve hangers within the lander that the Special Tactics unit arrived in. Two more Landers have been moved close to the mine entrance, set up for repairs, so Max divides his troops, reloading the crusaders using solid ammunition first, and then the lighter mecha.
The light mecha are mostly sent to the repair bays though, as they took the most damage from the Narsian melee attacks, which the Kepler Pilots were poorly trained to counter in this swamp, where the enemy could easily get close to them.
[Guns up and heads down] Captain Catan, leader of Stalwart Special Tactics Unit's infantry company yells over the intercom before the bunkers on the far side of the camp begin firing Ion blasts into the trees.
[Nico, I need a patch into everyone's sensors] Max asked, wishing he could do it himself.
How such a capability was never added to Command Mecha is beyond him, it is such a useful feature to be able to make a map out of everyone's sensor data, but he can only work with what he has got.
His second in command is perfect for the task though, with her skills complementing his and making up for the deficiencies.
[You've got it. Thermal and energy only so far.] Nico called back, taking up a spot along the line that looked most likely to be facing a concentrated attack.
Max himself is currently waiting for his Battle Cannon to be reloaded, a five-minute process when he is nearly empty as he is now. But that doesn't mean he is useless, and his System improved thoughts are racing to find patterns in the data.
At first, he just sends artillery to the largest clusters that he can see, as well as some suspiciously empty areas, but after a few minutes, Max does notice a pattern. Short but intense pulses of energy as the enemy brings their heavy weapons and artillery online.
[Battle Cannons, new targets. A1, A6, A18, B3, B7…] Max began calling out every location where he had noticed such a pulse, hoping to eliminate the Narsian artillery before it can cause heavy damage to the camp.
The big guns rang in unison as he called out the targets, multiple mecha on each number, firing at every target that they could target as he announced them. The infantry artillery continued their suppressive fire, hitting anything and everything that was near where their helmet displays indicated the Mecha had found a heat signature.
They weren't fast enough though, and a deafening roar arose from the swamps as the Narsian artillery began firing unstable plasma charges, slowly arcing through the air to land within the camp and explode.
They wouldn't be firing for long though, already Captain Catan could feel the shaking of the bog beneath his feet as thousands of giant bodies in heavy armor charged through the swamp towards the camp.
The Narsians had chosen a blitz attack, sending everyone at once to overwhelm and overrun the Kepler forces, destroying their infrastructure within the camp as the defenders were fully engaged. Even if this attack failed, the logic was that they would be out of food and munitions to survive the next one.
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As the Narsians begin their charge, the Kepler Mecha launch a furious salvo back at them. Blue Kepler Plasma and White Ion charges meet Purple Narsian Plasma shots in midair, causing spectacular explosions, while the rounds that barely miss each other cause the surrounding atmosphere to crackle with localized lightning as the opposing charges attempt to equalize in the fraction of a second where they are in close range to each other.
Most of the mecha are only doing the most basic job of aiming, treating the mass of attackers like a solid wall that they simply need to put rounds into and break down before it reaches them.
It might not be elegant, or even particularly efficient, but at first, it is doing the job well enough. The volume of fire is thinning the enemy ranks much faster than the return fire is thinning their own.
[Infantry positions, full attack.] Max orders, and a flurry of light weapons fire, as well as Plasma Cannon fire, joins the Kepler attack, bringing roars of annoyance from the Narsians.
Up to this point, they hadn't realized that there was a large infantry force at the mine and thought that they only needed to clear this circle of Mecha and attack them from behind to win. That strategy will not work if they get shot in the back when they try to circle the Mecha, and the infantry is set up a hundred meters back of the Mecha. Too far to include them in the rush.
Then the first of the infantry manned artillery, the mortar tubes, joins in the fight. They aren't a large enough charge to directly breach most Narsian armor, but the impact force is high, and the advance grinds to a crawl as the giants are thrown from their feet while taking minor injuries from the Mortars.
But more importantly, the fire of the Kepler Mecha is not slowing down, they are giving everything they have to this wave. The Narsians know that if they weather it, the Kepler Pilots will be forced to move half their force back to the resupply stations, and either withdraw their lines or engage in some sort of stalling tactic to prevent being overrun.
[Commander, Light Mecha at twenty-five percent ammunition.] Nico informs him, taking up the duty of a supply officer for the attack.
[Odd numbers fall back to the supply points. Infantry, move the Crusader Class munitions forward.]
This is Max's plan to weather the battle. The Light Mecha use easily swappable magazines for their weapons, so they only need to grab a handful to fill their supply. The Crusaders take longer to equip, and require assistance, so the Light Mecha will bring supplies for a Crusader back with them, and reload their battle buddy before rejoining the fight.
[The advance is fully stalled now, Commander.] Vincente reports from the far side of the encirclement.
The giants have been forced to hide in the swamp, using trees and islands for cover. They are now very close to the Mecha lines but waiting for the next wave to arrive before they advance again. Max is hoping that will give him enough time to get everyone reloaded and back at full capacity, or as close to it as possible with the damages they have taken.
[Commander, Narsian reinforcements have split. They are going for a single-point push.] Paul informs him, sending a copy of his sensor data through to the unit.
The mecha unit on top of the hill has been a nightmare for the Narsians, and the Crusaders have been using the naturally rocky terrain as a shield, knowing that plasma weapons have lousy penetration. The rocks around them have been repeatedly melted into a puddle of lava, slowly flowing down the hill, but now the plasma rounds are only hitting the liquid surface and doing no measurable additional damage.
Max suspects that is their target, gaining them the high ground for their heavy weapons, while the close combat troops push out into the Kepler force and kill as many as possible.
Mecha are a hard matchup for the giants, due to the ranged firepower, but in close, they are no match and fall as easily as any other human.
[Commander, enemy signal intercept. I have found out how they keep breaking our signal encryption.] Nico announces and a stream of technical jargon appears on Max's secondary screens.
[In layman's terms, Tarith. What do we need to do?]
[I have taken care of everything we can do for the moment, but it isn't much. There is a traitor on the planet that is doing the work for them, using the authority of the local government to tamper with the satellite system. The Narsians were even supplied with the technology to jam and fool our radar by someone on this planet. But what I have managed so far is to disable their planetary command codes for our sector. We should have reliable satellite signals back in ten seconds, during the next sweep.] Nico informed him in a weary voice.
The change was immediately noticed by the ships in orbit. What Nico did to bring the satellites back under control was deliberately fail a brute force attack, resetting all the satellites in their zone to default settings as per their safety protocols and locking everyone out for one hour.
With the change in one sector of satellites, the errors being reported by the others were glaringly obvious, and the fleet changed strategies. No longer were they treating the planet as friendly, instead all on-planet communications were treated as hostile unless they came attached to a set of double verified command codes assigned to a unit dropped by the fleet. They then sent a handful of attack satellites out to eliminate the planet's existing satellite network, and the single small commercial space station was commandeered in the name of the military, with the staff on board confined to quarters pending investigation.
The move would normally be seen as rather extreme, as the government facilities designated hostile would become military targets and anyone in them would be treated as a traitor, leading to a large number of human deaths. But it was the only way to guarantee that the species wasn't being betrayed by some nihilist cult or foreign power intent on their annihilation.
Of course, the civilians and anyone in shelters were still a priority rescue target, but anyone attempting to govern or wield power on the planet that wasn't from the Kepler Fleet would be wiped out.
In the bunkers below the planetary capital, none of this was known though, and the city defense force was going berserk trying to understand what was going on. First, the satellites went crazy, then when they got reports of an enormous Narsian force moving on the swamps for no apparent reason, the codes didn't match up and the message couldn't be relayed. Now the entire satellite network is going offline, and they still can't communicate with the fleet.
They know the Abraham Kepler is in orbit, in fact, they have a Heavy Mecha unit here, from a Lander that barely survived the misdirected drop and somehow remained on target to assist them. But nobody can get through whatever jamming signal is being sent.
Nico did have a bit of luck gathering enemy force strength data before the local satellite network was destroyed though. It wasn't good news, but she did learn that they had thousands more giants incoming than they thought, and not much time to prepare.
"Dammit woman, why can't you ever send me good news?" Max muttered as he saw the new data come up in her message. They weren't prepared to take that kind of punishment at this location. It's not like the bridge, where they had an entire ruined city to fortify inside. Here they've got a long hill and a couple of Landers in the middle of a clearing in the swamp.
[Someone down below, find out what is so damned special about this mine.] Max orders as he tries to come up with a plan for defense.
Stand here and take it doesn't sound like much fun, but abandoning their mission entirely might land them a court martial. So he needs something in the middle, that will slow the enemy, while still protecting the mine.
Max sends the outline of the situation to the other officers in the Special Tactics group first, hoping they can come up with something that doesn't involve a heroic last stand for the nation. They all have different specialties, so there is a chance that they might come up with something that will work.
[We brought a collection of Blight Bombs, just in case. I can have the landers create modified booster shells to complement them. When the blight bombs hit water tainted by the boosters they will create a huge cloud of poisonous gas.] Paul suggests.
[No good. The Narsians seem to have gone high-tech for this attack, and they're almost all using environmental suits.] Vincente disagrees.
[Though I wish I knew where they got all that tech from. Must have been the last planet they took.] The usually taciturn pilot complains, sending another round into a copse of trees where his sensors detected movement.
[I don't suppose we can get another orbital strike?] Ari asks hopefully, looking over the enormous crater from the last one.
That might be an awful lot to ask for out here in the middle of nowhere.
The conversation is interrupted by the voice of an infantry officer who has been exploring the mine data.
[Sir, I believe we have found the reason for the attack. This mine isn't just a mine. It is a dumping ground for the planet's highly enriched fissile material. There are thousands of years worth of the leftovers from nuclear experiments buried at the bottom of these shafts.]
That means highly valuable stable isotopes and the possibility of crystallization. If the Narsians get their hands on this, with their expertise in the field of nuclear power, they could give themselves nearly unlimited firepower. The contents of this mine would be enough for them to shoot down Kepler transport ships the moment they reached orbit.
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Aboard the Abraham Kepler, a frantic strategy meeting is ongoing. They finally have reliable data about the situation on the planet, and it isn't what they expected.
"The most pressing is the situation in the swamps. The Narsians have withdrawn from half a continent to gather and defend that region. We sent disturb Landers there in the last wave, and now they're outnumbered ten to one by Narsian scum. Do you think they mistook it for our command base, or do they know about the mine?" The head strategy officer asks.
"Data suggests that they know about the mine and its special contents. But we have over five hundred Mecha there, plus twice that many infantry. They should be able to hold for a while." The officer in charge of the region informs him with a grim look.
The second wave of Narsian warriors was unexpected, and it is causing chaos with their attempts to plan the drops for the other three transport ships.
Too many regions have gained orbital defenses, and with the interrupted communications they hadn't been able to move units to clear flight paths. Until they can do that, a full-scale insertion would be far too heavy of a loss for a low-priority planet.
[Sir, receiving a request from Stalwart Special Tactics Unit at the Uranium Mine in the swamp. The message is a materials request for munitions and barricade materials suitable to the terrain.] A radio operator informs them immediately, as it is relevant to the region they are currently planning.
"Do they not know where they are and what sort of situation they are in? Even if their numbers were all Crusaders, twenty to one is a death trap." The Colonel mutters.
"They are doing well so far though. Over five hundred Narsian infantry confirmed killed in the last wave, and the folks of the Special Tactics unit have repair facilities set up." One of the other colonels in the strategy meeting points out, indicating the new visual images.
"Fine, send them the pods they requested. They're not the only ones who have burned through munitions holding their location, so we will need to send a whole wave of pods anyhow." The head strategy officer agrees, before turning his attention to the plan to encircle the planetary capital and drive the Narsians away from the surviving civilized portions of the planet.
[Good news Stalwart. We've got a supply drop incoming and they didn't ask questions. We can start building the traps in the swamp anytime.] Paul informs the unit when the signal comes in.
They are currently enjoying a short regrouping period while the Narsians catch their breath and prepare for the next attack. The Narsians haven't withdrawn, but they are waiting for something, most likely enough manpower for a third push.
Every time they fail, they wait a little longer to try with more men and heavier weapons. It's a vicious circle that is wearing down the Crusaders, despite the constant stream of ammunition that is coming their way.
Unlike Stalwart and Tarith's Rage, most of the new units were built with upgraded ablative armor instead of the obsolete energy shields that the relic units used when new. But in a long battle, the shield is the better option, since the armor takes time and materials to repair, even if it is more durable.
[Start assembling the caltrops. Two meters high is good. Just enough to make them difficult to move past.] Max instructs.
The scrap metals from the hillside and mine can be used to make the obstacles, or they can be built from Rock Crete if absolutely nothing else is available. All they will do is slow down any attempts to charge the compound, giving the Mecha more time to shoot, so their construction doesn't matter as much as their functionality.
Getting them placed will be the problem. The Narsians aren't far away, and the caltrops need to be placed well outside the base.
Best case scenario, Mecha with gauntlets throw them as far as they can. Worst case scenario, the light mecha attach a chain and give them a spinning toss like a brutal shot put.
The fabrication machines used to repair and create mecha parts, known as the Material Combiners, make up a few hundred caltrops in the next five minutes, and the Light Mecha bring them out to every sector of the defense lines.
[Since they want to wait, let's give them some motivation to get moving before they're strong enough to overwhelm us.] Max gives the order over the radio, nodding to the mecha beside him to begin hurling the caltrops at random into the swamp.
The mecha are bringing out more and more, mostly made of Rock Crete now, and the Narsians are hurling insults as the Mecha throw the obstacles into the swamp between the two sides, but they still aren't willing to launch a full-scale attack, restricting themselves to occasional shots when they think the Crusader Class Mecha with a line of sight to them are distracted.
That gives Max time to have a full obstacle course created. It's enough to greatly slow their next attack, and there are still some left. The defense team lines them up tightly together at the base of the solid ground nearest to their heavy mecha. It's not as good as a wall, but anything is better than nothing.
While Max and the mecha were scrambling to build a defensive line, the Fleet was scrambling to get their orders ready. With a total of sixteen Landers' worth of Mecha at one location, the demand for parts, armor materials, and munitions was incredible, far more than a single supply pod could manage. Plus, they were surrounded by Narsians, making the attempt to supply them even more difficult.
The final decision was to send six pods worth of parts to be sent to the location. Three was the bare minimum for continued operations, and the mission assumed a fifty percent loss due to hostile fire. That was pretty standard for a hostile situation resupply, despite the speed and durability of the pods themselves.
It was great news to Max though. The Narsians lost a large part of their long-range firepower in the orbital strike, and what they have now is mostly elite infantry, who are not well equipped to take out supply pods. There is a chance they have been hiding that capability and not using it to attack the Mecha at long range, but it would be an extreme tactic by their commander if they did, considering the number of soldiers they have put into trying to take this mine so far.
[Six Pods incoming in three minutes. Everyone be on alert to prevent Narsian fire once the pods are launched.] Max announced, preparing everyone to fight.
The caltrops would prevent them from pushing out into the giants just as well as it prevented them from coming in though, so charging as a distraction was out. Instead, once the pods were launched, Max would order the Battle Cannons to begin artillery bombardment of anywhere that looked like it might have heavy weapons, and the infantry manned mortars to begin shelling the closest Narsian forces to prevent a charge.
As always, the timer was nowhere near correct, and the six pods launched all at once five minutes and forty-five seconds after the three-minute warning.
[Begin bombardment] Max ordered, and the whistling sound of flying shells filled his exterior sensors, loud enough that it wasn't quite drowned out by the booming of the big guns.
From the low orbit location that the pods were launched, they needed almost four minutes of suppression to keep the Narsians from destroying their supplies, but Max was almost certain they could do it. None of the giants had made a move yet, remaining in their sheltered positions while artillery rained down on them.
With one minute to landing, it was clear that the pods were incoming and on course, and the Narsians began the counterattack. The few locations where they launched anti-aircraft fire were quickly targeted by the Battle Cannons, lighting up more of the forest with explosions, and secondary fires from munitions storages that were breached.
With thirty seconds to landing, the front line Commander stood up and ordered the charge, only to take an immediate Rail Gun round to the face, courtesy of Tarith's Rage. That didn't stop the Narsians though, and the giants hurled themselves over and between the caltrops, heedless of the casualties.
Dozens died, and then hundreds, before the pods made a picture-perfect landing right next to the repair landers.
[Back Line infantry, get those supplies open and get us munitions. We are almost dry on Battle Cannon Rounds and the Narsians aren't giving up.] Max ordered, looking at his Mecha's sensor screen, where a continual stream of approaching enemy forces could be seen.
The sight was like something out of a historical text. Tens of thousands of soldiers in organized ranks, advancing on a target, intent on grinding it to dust. Only this time, he was the target, and it wasn't nearly as glorious as the textbooks made it appear.
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The Narsian advance was stubbornly refusing to break under their Bombardment, and it didn't take Max long to realize why. The giants had obtained a mobile energy shield large enough to cover an entire Regiment of ten thousand giant infantry soldiers.
Simply put, none of their shells were actually hitting the enemy.
[Clear all the forward units first. Eliminate their scouts.] Max ordered, knowing that the shield would prove much less effective at close range.
[Close up the defense, pull the back side onto the hill. Captain Catan, rig the mine to blow. I don't want any of the isotopes to survive if we have to leave here in a hurry, understand?] Max rattles off orders, his calm demeanor keeping everyone operating smoothly, even after they learned what was coming for them.
Max hadn't let them down yet, and they had faith that he was hiding some secret plan to get them out of here alive.
[Build us some more swamp boats. I want as much infantry mobile as possible.] He adds as an afterthought. Max knows full well that fighting twenty to one odds against Narsians that he can't use artillery on is insanity, but if they can at least retreat they should be able to salvage the situation and regroup.
They have plenty of supplies now, so munitions aren't a concern. The battle will be over long before they run out of anything.
[Commander, I recognize that shield. It is one of ours, a mobile design most commonly used by politicians. Once they get within a kilometer I can hack it. It won't stay down long though, a forced reboot is the best I can do.] Nico informs Max and his plan begins to come together.
[Mortars, continue shelling the shield. Get them used to the explosions.] Max orders.
The directive sends a wave of small rockets flying over the swamp, crashing into the shield above the advancing army. Despite the noise and heat, the attack isn't harming them at all, and their attack quickly picks up speed.
At two kilometers out, they are sprinting, their alien physiology easily able to cover the remaining distance without tiring.
[On my count, send everything you have in their direction. Even if it hits trees, keep shooting.] Nico orders a few seconds later.
[Ready in 3, 2, 1, NOW]
Even the heavy weapons of the infantry join in, despite the range being near their maximum.
The enemy doesn't slow down or attempt to evade at all, confident in the shield that had protected them this far. The glowing blue circles of energy where the mortars are landing are clearly visible from inside the shield, then suddenly they are gone and a furious barrage of Mecha fire tears the Narsian front ranks apart.
Max spots the shining metallic dome of the shield generator and targets it with both his Battle Cannon and Pulse Laser Array. The device isn't armored, and it crumbles under the attack, bringing shouts of rage from the Narsian soldiers who were working on bringing it back online.
The front ranks of the army have combat shields up now, absorbing the worst of the attacks and limiting the casualties of the second wave of Kepler attacks. The metallic alloy won't last long though, and the Crusader Class Pilots are doing their best to hit the ranks further back, maximizing casualties.
The proud Bone and White of the Special Tactics Unit's Mecha began to catch the enemy's attention soon after the shield went down. Not only are they eye-catching, but their accuracy rate is significantly higher than average, picking out officers, heavy weapons, and the Elite Narsian units with ease.
The first target of their fury is Paul, and Morning Glory, his Crusader, with her Laser Cannon and Ion Destroyer staggers under the impact of dozens of Plasma balls.
At first, he holds up, continuing to fire as fast as he can, but the next volley takes out the core hydraulics of his torso, disabling the mighty war machine.
[Grab your mobile suit and bring the others out here as well.] Max ordered the wounded Capitan, who sent only a confirmation beep in response before running towards the lander.
The suits are quick and easy to equip and Paul is running back in under 30 seconds, just in time for the Narsian front lines to crash into the light mecha that are making up the first rank of defenders.
The organic styling of the Comor pattern Corvettes that the Special Tactics team uses doesn't escape the Narsians, and they too come under focused attack, singling out Max's men with brutal efficiency.
The other light mecha are doing their best to save the valiant elites, but the numbers are too high, and they are slowly being worn down and beginning to succumb to the damage they are taking.
The casualties on both sides are Horrific. A quarter of the Mecha have been crippled or destroyed, and the giants have breached the line, using jump thrusters to bypass the caltrops and get behind the Mecha into the infantry.
Fortunately, not all of them have such advanced armor, and most are being delayed by the spiked traps, or things would be much worse.
Max turns his Plasma Shotguns on a group of agile jump troops, melting their glossy black armor in an instant, even as his Pulse Laser Array treats apart the unfortunate ones stuck in the swamp.
[Incoming from above] someone calls a split second before Tarith's Rage lights up the sky with anti-aircraft fire. More Crusaders follow suit, trying to blast the planes out of the sky before they can drop their payload.
The giants have commandeered cargo planes as paradrop ships, and hundreds of fresh and heavily armed Special Forces are about to land in the compound.
There's no time left to delay, and his men will begin dying in huge numbers when those forces land, so Max signals the retreat.
[Move back over the hill, all units retreat. Captain Catan, blow the mine charges.]
Swamp boats skim across the muddy ground as the infantry flees from their position, and the Mecha begin a fighting retreat up the hill.
The boats are loaded with as much gear as they can carry, trying not to leave anything for the enemy but the destroyed mecha that a Narsian wouldn't fit in anyhow.
[Ten seconds on the timers.] Captain Catan calls, boarding the last boat, loaded with precious supplies of the Special Tactics Unit's Infantry Company.
The last of the Mecha are still on the hill when the charges blow, throwing them to the ground while the hill shudders before falling in on itself.
The direction they are headed is towards the crater from the orbital strike, since it appears to be empty of Narsian forces and there are friendly mecha on the other side.
Nico has taken up rear guard duty while Max leads the force towards safety. Paul's Bravo squad is with her, only eight Corvettes strong now from their original ten.
While the others are running flat out, they stand immobile, blasting apart Narsian Special Forces as they enter the swamp in pursuit.
[Switch to melee weapons] Max hears Nico order, right before his sensors show her charging into a hundred Special Forces giants.
"I'll come back for you," Max promises himself, watching the gallant form of Tarith's Rage get swarmed by bodies half its height. The giant sword collides with Narsian hammers and the Rail Guns bark over and over until they suddenly go silent.
The left arm of Tarith's Rage is gone, but the Ion Destroyer continues to fire near the mecha's feet as it kicks away attackers, defending the final survivors of the rear guard for a few more seconds.
The column of mecha has made it twenty kilometers away by the time Tarith's Rage is overrun and finally disabled, with the swamp boats in the lead, scouting and trying to contact reinforcements.
"Come out and fight, little worm. Your armor is dead, but I will give you a chance to die as a warrior." The leader of the Special Forces, a giant among giants, who stands a full head taller than any of his subordinates, calls to the disabled form of Tarith's Rage.
This monster of a Mecha and its sidekicks killed eighty of his men while fighting a rear guard action, and killing the Pilot with a Heavy Plasma rifle will do nothing to erase his fury.
The top hatch on Tarith's Rage pops open and a tiny figure, barely a meter and a half tall even in its mobile suit hops out, brandishing a sword on either hip and a pair of Ion Pistols.
Seeing this only enraged him further. Size is power and power is everything. To have lost most of his unit to this tiny creature is an insult he refuses to accept.
"If you want to die as a warrior, I will oblige your last wish." Nico taunted the giant, sliding down the ruined carapace of Tarith's Rage to the muddy ground.
Neither side waited on pleasantries, and the power swords of Nico's mobile suit, with their blades coated in an energy field that creates a mono molecular edge capable of gouging even the armor of a Crusader, directly cut the legs out from under two nearby giants.
Her system augmented speed let Nico dodge the first few attacks, but then a blow from behind threw her to the ground, denting her armor and cracking her ribs.
One sword was flung away from her body, but she rolled over with a pistol in her hand, coming up shooting. Another Narsian fell to the pistol fire, then a fourth died to her blade as she made it to her feet with a tumbling roll.
The giants stepped back in wary admiration for the fighting skills she displayed. All of them except for one, that is.
The Special Forces Commander stepped forward and flicked his ax in a deadly arc, too fast for most of the Narsians to see, and too hard for Nico to parry. Her blade was mercilessly knocked aside and a burning sensation began in her left arm as warning lights appeared everywhere on the heads-up display of her mobile suit.
Nico tried to raise her arm to shoot this overpowered Narsian Commander, but nothing happened. A quick glance to her left showed nothing but a bloody stump at the elbow, left by a blade so sharp she barely felt it.
"Not bad for a filthy animal." Nico panted, exhausted from the continual fighting.
The Commander was clearly toying with her, but every second that she delayed, Max and the unit got further away, so Nico was willing to play along to the bitter end.
"I like this one. Keep it alive for interrogation." The Special Forces Commander ordered, stepping forward with a brutal flurry of attacks. Nico knew that her blade couldn't stop that huge weapon, so she waited for an opening in his pattern, straining her aching body to the limit as she swayed and dodged.
Finally, she saw her opening, and Nico darted forward, thrusting her sword deep into the enemy's stomach as pain bloomed along her back and she was driven to the ground again.
"Stop playing with the humans, you embarrassment. Look at you, you even let her stab you." The translation fluttering across her heads-up display was the last thing Nico saw before her world went dark.
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Max led the column completely out of the swamp before they came across a Kepler-controlled position or any living beings for that matter. After the orbital strike, nothing wanted to enter the area, and even the native wildlife was afraid to try to take the territory as their own, on the off chance that whatever happened would happen again.
[Colonel, I am Major Max, Commander of the Stalwart Special Tactics Unit. We, along with these other survivors, were driven from a mine deep in the swamp by a massive Narsian attack. Do you have any more news on enemy movements?] Max asked with a hint of desperation when they were greeted by the commander of the Mecha Company stationed at the edge of the swamp.
This unit is from the Noctem Regiment, who only has the same few battles to their name that Max does, but it's better than nothing, considering that before they saw combat they were in charge of monument security on their homeworld. They know organization and discipline, which the new pilots will need to keep them focused after their first real loss.
The residual energy in the crater interferes with communications and sensors, so Max and his unit hadn't been able to get any sort of updates since they left. For all they knew, the Narsians were right behind them still, following just out of sensor range.
[The main force stopped there at the mine all night, but they seem to have started moving again. Word is that the mine being destroyed has sent them looking for other energy sources.] The other Commander answers, sending Max an updated chart of troop locations.
The advancing troops really didn't send anyone after him, and only stopped at the mine overnight while he was running away before they turned to head towards the cities. Their new destination is a full thirty degrees off the course that Max followed, so they won't be coming within a hundred kilometers of his current position.
The updated scans show that their numbers are below three thousand now though, a third of their original strength, and low enough for the City's defenders to reliably deal with.
The force at the mine only lost a quarter of their Crusader Class Mecha, but over a third of the light mecha, while Max was down two Crusaders and fourteen of his thirty Comor pattern Corvettes. Six of the Pilots were alive and being treated for injuries, but the rest of the members of Bravo Squad who stayed behind as rear guard with Nico were assumed lost to the last man. By contrast, the infantry did exceedingly well, losing only seven men, and recovering almost all the supplies.
The units here at the edge of the swamp haven't had it easy either. It's only been a few days since they were almost overrun by the Narsian advance that was wiped out with an orbital strike.
It has left them short on manpower, but like Max, they got their most recent round of supplies successfully, so food and ammunition are plentiful, even if Mecha are not.
For now, everyone is resting and mourning their lost comrades before it is time to sort the gear and set up a new camp. There are the remains of a village here that the other Mecha are using, and they're willing to join forces until new orders come.
[That's perfect. The units that relocated from the swamp will need a leader, and as a Special Tactics unit, I am most likely going to be reassigned. With you here, Colonel, they don't need to argue about which Major is in charge.] Max jokes with his counterpart over the Command Channel.
The entire night passes while the injured Pilots recover, and the assembled force waits for a new mission.
High above them in Abraham Kepler's Command room, a new plan was taking form. The city now had no worries about stopping the Narsian attack. They outnumbered the survivors after the battle at the mine, and they were entrenched with a solid rock city wall behind them to fall back to.
That meant that they could spare the survivors of the Swamp Detachment for other actions, most notably attacking the Narsian encampment closest to their current position to weaken the enemy before tomorrow afternoon's wave of Landers.
The Stalwart Special Tactics Unit was needed for that mission as well, but they would be doing scouting duties, with the majority of the force staying behind.
Of the seven Generals that had assembled to make up the Command team, six were upset that such a valuable asset had taken heavy losses on a point defense mission. That's not what a Special Tactics team is for after all. The last was General Tennant, and after seeing Tarith's Rage reported as lost during the evacuation, he was beyond livid.
There wasn't much he could do about it though. At least one of his chosen successors survived so far, and he would simply have to look for a replacement for Nico unless by some miracle she had survived the loss of her Crusader.
He wouldn't put it past her, the girl was a force of nature in combat. But facing those odds, there was little chance of even running away. He couldn't even spare the mecha to have someone check the battle for survivors yet.
Until the next wave of mecha was down safely and the region's major targets and civilian centers were secured, wandering through the swamp to look for a mountain of corpses in hopes of a miracle was out of the question.
To take his mind off the loss, General Tennant poured himself into a strategy to inflict maximum damage on the Narsians. Not to secure the area, but to demoralize them and crush their will to exist. That was the best revenge he could have for his protege.
[Command to Stalwart. New orders. Search the area in grid AR12 for signs of a Narsian encampment. Report strengths and assist Noctem Regiment leadership in creating a plan for the elimination of all hostiles.]
Max smiles at the orders he has received. This is a proper mission for a Special Tactics Unit.
[Ari, Paul, Vincente, Catan. Report to me asap.] Max ordered, climbing out of Stalwart to pull the Mobile Suit from the storage crate attached to the top of his power plant's cooling fins.
When the rest of the officers saw Max in the small powered suit they knew whatever was coming up was not part of normal unit operations and breathed a sigh of relief. They had seen enough battles of attrition that they weren't in a hurry to see another.
"Welcome everyone. Captain Catan, how many dirt bikes do we have? We are assigned reconnaissance of grid AR12, searching for a Narsian camp. Stealth is important, we want to know as much as we can about them without leading them back here. The rest of you will be in Mobile Suits for stealth. As Paul already learned, the suits have excellent mobility, as well as decent firepower.
Pack light, but bring a bit of everything, and yes Ari, that means you get to bring explosives. If we determine that bombing them is the best way to eliminate them, by the Emperor we are going to do it.
Our mission includes forming a strategy for their elimination, so don't fear overstepping your orders."
"That's the best news I've heard since we left the ship, Commander. Nothing hits the spot quite like a healthy dose of sweet, sweet revenge." Paul agrees, thinking of all the lost pilots of his squad.
"We have twenty bikes, Commander. Do you want them all out?" Captain Catan asks, making a mental note of who would be best to send on the mission.
The bikes are electric and nearly silent, plus fast and agile, so drivers with higher agility are best. That narrows down his choices to about a fifth, but not all of them even know how to ride a motorcycle, it wasn't in the training they had time for. With that in mind, he decides to simply grab the twenty best stealth operators out of the soldiers who know how to ride. Assuming that many do know how to ride.
"Prepare them all, but we will send out five at a time to do the scouting, along with the four of us in mobile suits." Max decides.
They know approximately where the enemy should be, so they don't need a huge search pattern, which means too many of them in the area would be more suspicious and easier to detect than sending the bare minimum.
Captain Catan called four men over and they began planning the routes they would take to search the grid square for the camp that the Narsians had set up. Looking at the topographical map, the answer was pretty self-evident, but there was always the chance that they split the camp, or picked a less suitable location, either to distract the Kepler forces or out of a lack of familiarity with the area.
"Alright, here's the plan for the first day. The Mobile Suits will search the most obvious locations since they have stealth anti-sensor technology and much faster movement. Take the bikes and search the outlying areas in one continuous sweep, don't double back or make any obvious stops. If they spot you, I want them to think you are messengers passing by." Max orders.
Bike Messengers were a time-honored tradition. Not every message can be safely sent over the radio waves, and in cases like this, where hacking is expected, not every radio message can be trusted.
"If we all know our jobs, we will be moving out at first light. Notify the rest of your riders, in case we don't find what we are looking for in the first sweep." Though, the chances that they would find more than they were looking for seemed much more likely than finding nothing at all.
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Just before the first light of dawn, Max orders the scouting team to move out. With the bikes on a big loop, it will look like they are passing messages between units if anyone is monitoring them, and they have permission to stop off and do exactly that if they should find another Kepler Unit in the area, giving them the scouting reports that they have found, in an effort to keep everyone in the loop and reduce human casualties.
"Follow me. We will split up at the river if we haven't found the Narsian camp." Max instructs the other mobile suit-wearing officers.
The suits themselves have an adaptive Camouflage function, as well as thermal shielding, housing them from most sensors, but Max added one more layer, old-fashioned ghillie suits.
The simple nets with their tied cloth, sticks, and leaves are viewed as unnecessary by most Commanders, given the technology available, but Max recalled a battle scene from his past life while he was planning.
The enemy Mecha had dragged themselves through the mud and then covered themselves with this story of Camouflage. Then they shut off all power and waited. The entire front-line force had passed them by, relying on only their sensors.
It was only Max trusting his intuition that spotted the hidden force and prevented them from completing their ambush of the senior military officers.
The four Pilots move silently through the trees away from the ruins of the village that the combined Kepler force was using as their camp, heading for a hollow between two hills.
That was the most likely spot for the enemy camp, followed by a clearing near the river and a box canyon that would be extremely difficult for Mecha to access.
Being in form-fitting armor is a strange experience for Max. Almost like a pressure suit, but Armored and augmented. The biggest change was the lack of targeting indicators in his vision. Inside Stalwart, his System Skills would always be looking for more targets, but his rifle is slung over his shoulder, leaving no weapon to activate his skill.
It feels somehow very lonely. The fact he had to stop himself from making a joke about it to Nico, who is no longer there to talk to only made the feeling worse.
[Slow to a crawl. The target should be just over that rise.] Max said softly over the radio, tagging a hill five hundred meters away.
The location lights up on the navigation display, and all four Pilots spread out to search for scouts.
[I have found motion. ] Ari signals and Max crawls closer to get a better look.
The scout is one of only four on patrol, and the enemy force is a mere three hundred giants. That's far fewer than expected, and the lack triggers something in Max's memory.
If so few are here, at the most obvious location, it must be a trap.
[Back out the way we came. Search the topographical map for nearby hiding spots.] Max ordered, wondering what he missed the first time.
As the squad settled in to wait and search their maps, Max turned his audio sensitivity to maximum. The Narsians are worse at hiding the noise of their movement than their heat and electrical signatures, so he might learn something unexpected.
There isn't anything on the map that indicates a way for the enemy to have hidden from them. All around is a flat forest floor, all the way to the river.
[First Bike has made it to the end of the zone, no sightings reported.] Captain Catan signals and the five scout bikes make a loop to come back down a different route.
[Sir, I think I found something. Underneath this location, there should be solid granite bedrock. But the ground feels soft, like the swamp.] Vincente hesitantly voices his observation.
They had all gotten so used to the feeling that they didn't notice, but Vincente is right, the ground under them wasn't solid.
The radar on their units isn't ground penetrating, so the best idea had has is to use the multi-purpose shovel and dig a hole.
Ari has a better idea first though, attaching an audio sensor to a tree root. Then she taps the ground a few times at different locations and removes the sensor.
[It might be best for cracking locks, but I can tell you that there is a large cavern under us. If a heavy Mecha came through they would fall in. I can also say for certain that the hole isn't empty. I heard voices speaking Narsian.]
So they dug a Mecha trap around the camp and filled it with soldiers? Not bad. Very few scouting units would have noticed and many Crusaders would be lost when the dome collapsed and dumped them into the Narsian troops below.
That would then leave the light mecha trapped with no support and an army in front of them. They aren't heavy enough to fall through, so they would easily have made it to the camp before the trap was sprung.
[They're not going to leave this spot easily. Our options are to let them know we're on to their tricks by shelling the trap or to find a way through that won't collapse.]
The Mobile Suits spread out again, searching for solid spots to cross, but finding very little positive news. As far as they can tell, the hidden moat is a full circle.
[What's the plan, Commander?] Paul asks, eager to get even with these giant aliens.
"How much Thermotex do we have on hand?" Max asks, checking his own storage for supplies of the Kepler Military's finest new explosive.
"I have 24 charges," Ari informs him, cutting everyone's search short. That much explosive is enough to level a bunker complex.
"Set them all as shaped charges around the moat. I want it scoured of life the moment the bikes confirm there aren't any more hidden forces."
The order brings a big smile to Ari's face, hidden under the helmet of her mobile suit. She doesn't say anything else, silently getting to work and setting charges all around the perimeter.
[All done.] Ari informs Max a half hour later when she reaches the position where Paul and Vincente were helping rig the charges.
[All bikes report in.] Max calls, getting a variety of answers back.
There are no other large camps to be found, but if they're hosting underground, the scouts might have missed them. If they do exist, this boat is certain to bring any hidden Narsian forces running.
Max relays his plan back to the camp and the Colonel agrees to send twenty Mecha with Battle Cannons forward to Bombard the valley when the moat is destroyed.
The artillery will stop them from sending medics in to rescue any possible survivors. With a bit of luck, this attack will be no less devastating than the orbital strike, clearing an entire Narsian force in an instant.
[All scout bikes are safely back at camp.] Captain Catan confirms, climbing off his trusty electric steed and plugging it into one of the idle ports on the Lander closest to where his men have set up camp.
The Crusaders assigned to artillery duty, along with fifty infantry squads with Howitzer-type cannons have already left camp, taking almost all the indirect fire capability with them. The plan that Max put forward was to hit the camp so hard that they would have no chance to either survive or even understand what was happening before they were annihilated by the force of the explosion.
Captain Catan wasn't completely certain how much firepower would be needed to wipe out an area the size of the valley in a few seconds, but he could see how much they were going to use, and it was pretty impressive.
He had thought that they would be joining the mission, but as a Special Tactics Unit, their orders were just to do the scouting and spotting for the mission, while the main force did the leg work.
[Artillery in position.] The call came through, and Max motioned for Ari to set the timers while they retreated from the vicinity of the valley.
[Fire on my signal.] Max called over the general channel, hoping that maybe the Narsians were listening in, so they could have one last moment of panic before they died.
Ari positioned the shaped charges so that they would blow in a clockwise circle around the moat, and the effect is glorious. A tornado of fire, hot enough to melt the bedrock circles the trench around the valley, with the charges timed so that each one will pull in the blast from the one behind it, turning a single explosion into a swirling vortex, trapping the heat inside the hole and burning away all the oxygen.
The blast is impossible to miss, trees shake and fall over a kilometer away from the main blast, and multiple jets of fire explode into the sky where the Narsians had dug emergency escape tunnels. The force even blows out a section of the valley wall, showering the Narsian main force with shards of rock a split second before the artillery shells arrive.
The bombardment continues once every three seconds for an entire minute until the artillery commander orders a halt to the hostilities.
[Send out a scout drone. Bring me some good news.] He orders with a big grin on his face for the fate these treacherous invaders have suffered today.]
The one-sided battle was heard for many kilometers around, as Max had intended, ensuring that no Narsian force could pretend that it didn't happen and that any lost Kepler Forces knew where they could find a large number of friendly troops.
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While the team was laying in wait for the outcome of the massacre, the Narsians who heard the commotion were already on the move.
[Prepare for incoming] One of the Crusader Class Pilots on sentry duty announced, seeing the first few enemy targets headed their way.
That was the signal for the advance troops to retreat back to base and prepare for combat, while Max and the others in Mobile Suits scouted the area for targets that the sensors missed.
[Move out together. I don't want anyone getting isolated and ambushed.] Max ordered quietly over the radio, heading deeper into the search zone looking for signs of additional hidden Narsian targets.
If they had dug one, it was reasonable to suspect that they had created at least one more as a backup, and that meant an intensive search to see where it might be located. Hidden below the ground as this one was, even his squad nearly missed it. If they didn't find the next one, the Narsians would have a chance to regroup and build up numbers for a surprise attack that might even be strong enough to wipe out the Kepler force in this area with a frontal assault.
[Sir, multiple Narsians are incoming from 275 degrees.] Ari called, alerting the group to the faint blips her sensors had picked up.
They were starting to get used to that now. The Narsian cloaking technology was very good, but not perfect, so when they were moving they would give off a faint signal, which the Kepler technology could detect, but not completely identify. But if you were watching closely, you could see the faint image show up before fading away again, and know that it was them.
[I count three Narsian infantry, let's move to intercept.] Max answers, carefully leading the way through the trees.
They're in mobile suits now, not Crusaders, so the element of surprise is their best hope at remaining undamaged. If they can kill the enemy without being seen at all, it's even better. Let them send out signals talking about ghosts in the woods.
The squad managed to make it to the trio, which turned out to be a Narsian scouting squad, without being detected. Max laid himself out on a slight rise in the woods, the mixture of camouflage and his Ghillie suit blending right into the surrounding forest floor. The other three picked similar shooting positions nearby and waited for the perfect moment.
Once the scouts were a little past them, they could land a clean shot to their backs and kill the giants without them ever knowing they were in danger.
The scouts moved silently over the forest floor, watching the trees and their sensors for signs of mecha, both nearby and having passed through the area. Even the light mecha would still rub trees and break branches as they passed, it was simply unavoidable. That made them very easy to track, which in turn made the enemy scouts a little bit lax in their duties since they didn't fear the Kepler Infantry.
Four shots flashed through the air, Three lasers and one Ion blast hitting the backs of the inept scouts and killing them instantly.
Their death causes a commotion though. The Narsians had gotten wise to Kepler's trickery, and put a heart rate monitor on their scouts, so the commander knew the instant they all died.
Twelve more giants came running through the woods, waving a high-sensitivity thermal detector around. Even with the stealth technology of the Mobile Suits, they weren't perfect, and that sensor would find them pretty quickly. Or at least a few of them, depending on the angle they approached from.
[When they reach twenty meters, fire at will. I will charge to draw their attention.] Max orders his team.
After the mystery gains that he got while visiting the Kepler 142 Space Station, his stats all had a baseline of 3 times human standard instead of 2, and his modifiers were growing quite impressive now, with his strength just recently breaching the 100 percent bonus mark, putting him over six times standard human strength.
The standard was set by the minimum requirements to pass the military physical fitness standards, so it was actually possible for a person to begin with a negative modifier to their one-point base if their system compatibility was low enough that their body wasn't keeping up, but for the most part, the Kepler citizenry with D rank or higher system compatibility were all well beyond what the other human nations would consider normal.
When the combat platoon reached the mark he set, Max used the thrusters on his Mobile Suit to launch himself into their ranks. With an Ion Pistol in one hand and a sword in the other, a standard fighting style that he and Nico had practiced for thousands of hours together, Max took the lead Narsian by surprise, blasting a hole in its face shield before kicking the body back into its comrades and cutting the right arm off the giant beside him.
As soon as his first strikes landed, the weapons fire from the other three began and the Narsians moved to shoulder their rifles. All except the three at the front that is, who wielded a mix of swords and a two-handed war hammer to face Max, who was still moving rapidly into their ranks.
Not having time to properly holster his weapon, Max simply dropped the pistol and pulled the small combat shield attached to the Mecha's pack free from under his Ghillie suit. The mighty hammer slammed down on his hastily raised arm, nearly driving Max to his knees, but the Mobile Suit held, the overwhelmed hydraulics were bolstered by the pure physical strength of the Pilot inside, as the designers intended.
The giant didn't even have time to marvel at the fact that this human could take a direct strike from his weapon and remain standing before a Laser Rifle shot from the woods caught him in the throat and left him gasping for breath.
Max knew that the giant was as good as dead, so he turned his attention to the others, sweeping his blade in an upward arc designed to sever the Narsian's leg. The soldier got his sword down in time to block the first strike, but Max's blade bounced off the much more sturdy one it wielded and the Mobile Suit activated thrusters to move behind him faster than the giant could turn his body.
The next strike of the blade cut through the softer sections of the armor, where it was designed to flex for arm movement, and dug deep into the body before twisting and pulling out in a fountain of blood.
The remaining Narsians were about to turn their rifles on Max when an unexpected guest joined the battle, a single damaged Corvette Class Mecha of the Comor Pattern joined the fight, using an Ion Cannon to blast two of the giants apart at the same time and totally changing their target priority.
Max recognized the markings on that mecha, it was one of his, a member of Paul's wing that stayed behind for Rear Guard action and was assumed lost in battle.
With the heavier support, they now had the battle won, with three more Laser shots expertly dropping Narsian fighters and the Ion Cannon of the Corvette taking another, leaving one last warrior to fall to Max's blade.
[It's good to see you again. We thought that everyone on Rear Guard was lost.] Paul welcomed his Pilot back home.
[It's good to be back Captain, but I wouldn't say I really survived by much. I'm about out of first aid supplies, but the bleeding is still bad, I think it's internal. My mecha was knocked into the swamp and powered down due to damage. The self-diagnostic got it running again after a few hours and I snuck away while they made camp by the mine.] The pilot explains his seemingly miraculous recovery.
Just the fact that his mecha came back online is a small miracle. The entire structure is in bad shape, and the armor is devastated. But all four limbs are working, at least a little, and it just proved that it was still combat capable, so once they get back to camp they can get it on a repair rack and get it back to serviceable condition.
[Any other signs of survivors?] Max asked hopefully.
[At least one, though they're likely not alive anymore. When I fled they were torturing someone in the middle of the camp, and building a hero's pyre for someone. You know the ones from the training data that they build for warriors that kill more than fifty in a single battle.]
Max knows the ones, they're typically made up of human corpses, the victims of the mighty warrior that fell to help them secure victory. Fifty or more confirmed kills in a single battle is incredible though, and Max doesn't recall any outstanding Narsian warrior that might have qualified, so the shaken pilot might be mistaken, and they were simply collecting the bodies for disposal.
The Narsians usually leave the dead where they fall, returning them to the soil of the planet they fell on, but in a case like a swamp, where the end result would just be rot, fouled water, and an even worse smell, they sometimes light funeral pyres to dispose of the bodies.
[Command says the unit that attacked us has moved on. I will find us an excuse to go back and collect our dead as soon as I can.] Max informs the others, more to assure himself that he hasn't forgotten them than for the benefit of anyone else.
117 Chapter 117
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:
+ - Turn on Reset
With no more Narsian targets in sight, Max's scouting group made their way back to the camp, ready to switch out for the next group of scouts who would patrol the area throughout the night, watching for enemy movements that the sensors might have missed.
The knowledge that the Narsians were hiding belowground was a game changer not only for Max and those around him but for the senior officers in Central Command who were planning missions. With large numbers of enemies potentially hidden from orbital scans, as well as most sensors, they would need to build a buffer into their future deployments in order to ensure success.
That alone had delayed the troop drops that had been scheduled for the evening, pushing them to a tentative time of 0600 ship time the next morning. To Max, that would be about three in the morning, locally, and he did his best to be rested and ready when the morning orders that would accompany the drop arrived. The fact that a wave of drops would reach an entire planet at the same time made for very odd schedules in some parts of the world. Having the reinforcements show up at three in the morning was one of the better options.
From the ground, a night drop looked like the sky itself had opened up to rain hellfire upon the massed forces inhabiting the planet. First hundreds, then over a thousand streaks of fire lit up the clear night sky, blocking out the stars and rendering night vision pointless.
The ground was lit up as bright as early dawn, in a warm red light that gave off a peaceful feeling totally contrary to the tide of armored Landers that had caused it.
The Narsian forces began setting up anti-Lander weapons, while every Kepler asset in the area was searching for them so that the threat could be eliminated without causing any real damage.
As Max listened to the incoming troops' reports, he found there was even more good news that Command had hidden from the Communication channels. Four additional drop ships had recently arrived in the system but had been ordered to remain hidden behind an outlying planet, maintaining radio silence so that the full force drop would be a surprise to the Narsian forces.
Even now, they weren't officially announced, but Max knew how many Landers a Captial Class drop ship like Abraham Kepler could hold, and recognized the ship movement locations as being from a different planet's orbit.
The spectacle of so much massed firepower gave hope to the beleaguered forces of the Kepler Military, and the orders to find and kill the Narsian defenses were spreading through the ranks faster than even Max's enhanced mind could process.
So, he focused only on orders for his region and waited. One by one, the groups around them were sent to eliminate positions until finally, it was their turn.
[Noctem Regiment, Unit 17, combine assets with survivors on location and proceed to grid BE8 for the elimination of heavy weapons. Stalwart Special Tactics Unit is to reinforce city scouting forces in grid TA24. Make haste, Stalwart, they will need you there by 2300 tonight.]
The order is a bit shocking to Max. That is on the far side of the swamp region, hundreds of kilometers away from his current location. Making it there shouldn't be a problem with the swamp boats, but it is a very long relocation when there are cities much closer that are also under threat.
The only thing that Max can think is that the region has been assigned to a different ship's forces and that once it is mostly cleared the Noctem Regiment forces will also be moving out to make way for the new arrivals to hold the area.
Command prefers that method, minimal overlap lets them segregate responsibility and keeps the Central Command from being overwhelmed by smaller troop movements while focusing on the big picture, the battle on the planetary scale.
[You heard the Fleet. Pack up, and get ready to move. We have to make decent time to get to our new destination.] Max ordered, doing one final system check on Stalwart.
Everything checked out as properly repaired, and Max ran his [Optimization] Skill on the mecha again to bring it all up to peak performance. The process takes a few minutes, so Max took the chance to double-check his System bonuses and see how his progression was coming along.
Keres Max
[Compatibility Determined] Rank A
[Primary Attribute] STR 2.5x modifier
[Secondary Bonuses] DEX 2x, SPD 2x
[STR] 3+110%
[DEX] 3+60%
[SPD] 3+60%
[Innate Talent] Mind Reading
[Additional Function Unit Optimization]
[Additional Function Multi Point Targeting]
[Additional Function Split Fire]
[Additional Function Perception 1]
Everything was coming along well, and his secondary stats had evened out again, bringing some balance to his physical abilities. His body had also undergone two rounds of physical enhancement thanks to the System's attempts to prepare the vessel for the changes it saw as necessary. That made his bones exceptionally hard to break and increased his senses to well beyond that of his childhood, though neither was deemed worthy of a quantifiable category by Nanobots.
Once the unit was ready, Max set their first waypoint on their journey through the Swamp. The now destroyed Uranium mine. Traveling a known route was faster than making your way through an unknown swamp, so Command couldn't have any complaints about his route. Plus, it was very important to all of them that they returned to the scene of that battle and laid their brothers and sisters in arms to rest.
What Max didn't know was that he wasn't the only Kepler unit currently headed for the mines.
Deep in the swamp, a young Second Lieutenant, freshly graduated from the academy only days before the recruitment stood at the head of a small column of infantry assembled from a half dozen different units. Every one of them came from the survivors of an attack or a downed Lander, and they were all equally lost in the swamp, unable to see the sky through the foliage, and no longer having any working communications equipment.
"Just what we needed. Now the moon is gone too." The blonde-haired officer complained, looking at the red glow of the sky.
"At least we know those are our own Landers. Plus, they will all be traveling from East to West. So if we go that way, it's guaranteed to be North." A stout and swarthy Private answered cheerily.
The Private had a point. They might not know where they are, but they knew there was a large force North of them somewhere. They had heard them on the Command Channel four days ago before a Narsian attack had destroyed their last working radio.
Their luck on this mission had been abysmal. First, they were shot down, then they were just plain shot at, and now they were doing their best not to drown in the sudden holes that appeared below the swamp. For days, it had been mostly flat, but suddenly, there were enormous craters below the surface, deep enough to swallow a trooper whole.
With the gear they were carrying, it was impossible for them to swim, so the holes were a nightmare for their progress. The Sergeants declared that this was most likely the sign of a Mecha battle, with their giant weapons boiling away the water and blasting through the muddy bottom, which meant that they should be near a large group of friendly forces.
At least in theory.
"Sir, we have found something, I think you need to come to check it out." Their scout called out from his position a hundred meters ahead.
Clearly, that something wasn't Narsians, or he wouldn't be shouting in the middle of a swamp, but the Lieutenant moved forward to check it out anyhow.
What they found was a massacre. There were the remains of a section of solid ground, now blasted to rubble, along with the shells of over a hundred mecha and thousands upon thousands of Narsian corpses. In the very center sat a pile of Narsian bodies as tall as a Corvette Class Mecha. By rough estimate, there had to be nearly a hundred of them piled up there, with something on top, laid on a piece of camouflage netting.
"Spread out and check for survivors. Some of these mecha don't look too bad, and it doesn't look like the Narsians ransacked them, so they might not have had the manpower left." The officer sighed, running his fingers through his filthy hair as he tried not to vomit while processing the scale of the destruction here.
The smell of the swamp had long since ceased to process in his brain, but this smell, of burnt flesh, spilled oil and the lingering smell of hot metal and explosives was utterly revolting.
When he was in the Academy, he was told that "War is Hell." But at that moment he decided that the training officers were wrong. War is war and hell is hell, and of the two, war is the more reprehensible. For in Kepler, the army is conscripted. How many of these dead soldiers would have willingly left their home planet, his home planet, if they had a choice?
They were just beginning the search, using their rifles' power cells to activate the locks on the fallen mecha to check for signs of life inside when a rhythmic clanging became audible in the distance. A mecha squad was returning to the scene of the battle.