War Core Wednesday. War Core 4, Chapter 34.

Chapter 34.

“Whatever is down there it's inside the trench line,” Dalven said.

“Careful, this is probably Hssim, I’ve seen tunneling mechs used before,” Hugh warned.

Directly in front of the man door to the medium mech factory, the ground gave way, swallowing the medium mech that had just marched off the assembly line and damaging the structure itself to the point it could no longer produce units. Dalven’s avatar activated a tube on his back and started hurling grenades into the opening. Hugh couldn’t see what was inside the tunnel, but whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be happy eating a half dozen plasma grenades. Another tunnel opened up under the northern trench, swallowing a pair of garrison troops but doing little damage otherwise.

The Ssath core has declared hostilities against the Yaelar core. Both cores are currently considered allies. Your units are in sight of both parties, do you wish to join the conflict on either side or maintain your neutrality?

1. Join the Ssath.

2. Join the Yaelar.

3. Attempt to remain neutral.

4. Declare hostilities on both remaining cores.

It wasn’t a choice; Hugh would stand by his friend, and together they would defeat the Ssath once again.

You have declared open conflict against the Ssath core. The Yaelar remain allies. As confirmed allies, both cores will be able to observe the battlefield from allied mechs and structures. An encrypted comm link has been established between the human and Yaelar cores.

“Here they come,” Dalven said as Ssath infantry started pouring from the mouth of both tunnels. At first, the firepower of Dalven’s avatar and the two air mechs with their machineguns kept the Ssath back from the nearest tunnel. Unfortunately, the other tunnel was only under fire from a few surviving Yaelar infantry and a damaged medium mech.

“I’m going to drop some mines, keep back from the tunnel mouths,” Hugh said, activating his mine drop item. It had two charges, and he targeted the area around each tunnel opening.

A bit concerned over how fast they would deploy, Hugh was happy to see the minefield formed in seconds. It would be camouflaged to any hostile mechs, but Hugh and all his allied units could spot them with little problem. It wasn’t a particularly huge field, but there were a few hundred mines in total. Most of the mines were typical anti-personnel mines that would explode with a blast of plasma. About one in ten of the mines were larger, anti-vehicle mines that required more mass than a single infantry mech to activate. It had double the explosive power of the standard mines.

Some of the mines, about two or three from each field, glowed a soft golden color in Hugh’s interface. The golden mines were listed as advanced units. They were larger than even the anti-vehicle mines and when activated, they would deploy a powerful, but short-duration beam weapon. The weapon would generate a small EMP field that would disrupt nearby mechs for five seconds. All in all, Hugh was happy with the reward, especially when it immediately started to cause casualties among the swarms of Ssath that were emerging.

Explosions blanketed the area outside both tunnels as the mines went to work. About a quarter of all the enemy infantry triggered a mine and the explosions often caused more than one casualty. Larger Ssath units started to emerge, light mechs and a handful of medium mechs. The light mechs were just larger versions of the Ssath raptor infantry but featured a light auto-cannon over one shoulder. Ssath medium mechs resembled a T-rex and featured several different loadouts for their weapons.

“Okay, Hugh, based on the mechs and visible upgrades, I putting the Ssath factories at about tier seven, we’re not too far behind them and with Dalven’s help, we should be able to easily handle this Hssim guy,” Maddison said.

“Thanks, Maddison, my main concern is whether or not Dalven is going to survive this fight,” Hugh replied. The minefields were depleted after only a short time, and Dalven’s avatar was looking pretty ragged. One leg was damaged reducing his mobility and the other forces supporting the Yaelar avatar were dropping fast.

Hugh’s scout joined the fight, hurling a plasma grenade into the nearest tunnel and firing his rifle as fast as he could. A Ssath infantry mech leaped to the scout and ripped it in half with his claws. All the air mechs were destroyed and Dalven retreated behind his command post with only a pair of infantry and a single defensive garrison unit left to assist him. Several drones tried to make repairs on the command post, but the Ssath forces swept around the building and opened fire on Dalven.

“Hugh…” Dalven started to say before a pair of cannon blasts from a Ssath medium mech blasted through his avatar’s chest.

A core has been defeated; 2 cores remain. Will either of you prove worthy to join the ranks of the GCA?

“We’re too late to save Dalven, but I can put the hurt on these Ssath. It doesn’t look like they’re expecting us,” Cartwright said.

His troops had arrived and were holding just inside the jungle. On the battlefield, most of the Ssath mechs were scouting the ruins of the command post, probably trying to root out any of Hugh’s forces that might have survived. Several units were positioned around the tunnels, their return to the Ssath command post delayed by the remaining mines. They began to mass their fire, blasting a clear path through any unexploded ordinance.

“We’ve got the advantage of surprise, kill as many as you can. Each one we stop now is one less we’ll have to face later,” Hugh ordered.

The infantry poured from the jungle with the surviving light mechs on their flanks. Behind the infantry, Hugh’s main battle mechs moved up to support the assault, main gun rounds pounded the Ssath medium mechs and machinegun fire lashed out at the lighter units. These main battle mechs hadn’t been upgraded yet to the M26 Pershing which was his new tier six mech, but the 75mm gun did just fine. One hit wasn’t enough to destroy the t-rex medium mechs, but they would typically damage vital systems or knock out a weapon or two. It also softened up the armor for the light mechs and infantry to deliver the knockout blow.

“Maybe it's good they don’t see our tier six main battle mechs just yet, it might fool Hssim into thinking we’re further behind than we really are,” Maddison said.

“I think you’re right, but our soldiers seem to be doing just fine without the upgrades,” Hugh noted. The Ssath were always aggressive, and upon seeing the approaching human forces, most charged into the fray. Human ranged superiority came into play, they were engaging at long range and had the advantage. The Ssath forces were disorganized and not expecting a powerful counterattack on them so soon.

Hugh tried to count the enemy, but it wasn’t easy with everything moving around. His best guess was around a hundred infantry, four or five light mechs, and a trio of medium mechs. Dalven had gone down fighting and with Hugh’s air mechs and the minefield, they eliminated just about half of the original force. One of the enemy medium mechs was an artillery variant and it began to chug out big mortar rounds to shred Hugh’s infantry.

Spotting the threat, Cartwright had his main battle mechs concentrated on the artillery unit, their combined main gun barrage silencing the mortar before it could get more than a few shots off. Hugh’s infantry was handling the Ssath well enough, but the enemy stopped their heedless charge when they reached the outer trench line of Dalven’s base. Most plopped inside and used the covered position to return fire. A dozen or so infantry and a single light mech were caught up in the fury of battle and continued their charge toward the human line.

Fire shredded the charging enemy mechs and then Hugh’s infantry went prone, reducing the target they presented and allowing them to stabilize their arm-mounted weapons for return fire. The Ssath infantry at this level had a light-caliber rifle mounted over each shoulder. They fired in three-round bursts and sheltered inside the trenches; their accuracy improved. Hugh’s troops one-upped the enemy with their main weapon being a light machinegun.

Long bursts of machinegun fire from Hugh’s infantry swept back and forth over the trench line and with their superior numbers, they quickly gained fire superiority. Anytime a Ssath mech popped up to fire, it was decapitated by machinegun fire. Their light and medium mechs were positioned behind the trench line, trying to suppress Hugh’s forces, and were exchanging fire with the main battle mechs.

Sensing they were losing, the Ssath command ordered his forces to retreat. The surviving medium and light mechs started to flee toward the tunnel entrances. Hugh’s main battle mechs sent them off with more main gun fire. Two light mechs and a single medium mech made it to safety inside the tunnel, though all were damaged to some extent from the incoming fire and the few active mines remaining around the tunnel.

When the Ssath infantry tried to disengage, it was a slaughter. The massed machinegun fire cut them down and the few that made it to the tunnels found their way blocked by Hugh’s light mechs which had circled around the fight and cut them off. Not a single enemy infantry mech survived the fight, but Hugh had taken losses as well. Twenty-five infantry, two light mechs, and all the air mechs that had been sent to help Dalven were gone. They had come out on top of this particular fight, but losing Dalven sure didn’t make it feel that way.

“Do you want us to head back?” Cartwright asked.

“Yes, make your way back to the command post so we can get your units upgraded and repaired,” Hugh replied.

“I’d like to keep some of the infantry here to keep tabs on the zone. We’ll need advance warning if they’re headed our way in force,” Tran said.

“Yes, get a screen of scouts out, and push some infantry toward the other zones so we can get eyes on the Ssath command post,” Hugh ordered.

“What about that tunnel attack, could they do the same to our command post?” Cartwright asked.

“Maybe, but I’d wager that it’s very expensive to do something like that. It had to have cost Hssim a ton of resources. We’ll be keeping a sizeable force at home from now on, so I think we’ll be okay,” Hugh said.

“If they do try it, I think we’ll know long before they get to the command post. The only reason we didn’t figure it out earlier was that Dalven was under attack at the time, and he didn’t have enough units to leave scouts out,” Maddison added.

It would take a while to rebuild, and Hugh wanted strong forces to meet the next wave. From the prompt, they would be under constant attack at this point, and as soon as the gates to the volcano opened, Hugh was going to strike with as powerful a force as he could gather. Hssim would go for the prize immediately, so they would have to deal with him and whatever guardian the GCA had appointed over the area.

Whoever made it the prize first would be granted control over unheard of power.