War Core Wednesday, War Core 4, Chapter 23.

Chapter 23.

The upgrades to the fortifications, the addition of several automated turrets, and the construction of the add-ons for each factory delayed the start of Hugh’s port facility. He only had eleven minutes before the next wave when his drones began their work. It started with a small pier built near the bunkers, but it was positioned off to the side where it wouldn’t interfere with the bunkers’ line of sight on any invading forces. To Hugh’s surprise, the sea factory itself was built near the airfield, the hardworking construction drones were even now expanding the area and rebuilding the wall. It would delay the construction of the fortifications to the south since they now had a wider area to protect.

“Why is that port facility being built on the land?” Tran asked.

“I’m not sure, but I think it might have to do with the walking capability our ships seem to have. I suppose they can walk down to the water from the factory when it's time,” Hugh speculated.

“It might also be to keep the factory from being more vulnerable than your other structures. We’re likely to be hit from the sea again at some point, and if the port facility was down on the beach, it would get destroyed every time an attack came. Either that, or we’d have to send a large portion of our forces out there to defend it,” Zacharias offered.

“Whatever the reason, I’m glad it’s here. The placement even screens the command post a bit,” Hugh said. It was true, the port facility was a good-sized structure, close to the size of the main battle mech factory, and where it was placed, the building granted partial cover from anyone attacking from the south. When they reached higher tiers and the buildings expanded, that might grant him even more protection.

Before the next wave began Hugh wanted to spend some resources on upgrades. There was only a surplus of 244 right now, but he had reached his unit objective for ten light mechs. Stopping production of the light mechs gave him a positive resource flow for the time being. First off would be some upgrades for the main battle mechs, He only had five of them built so far, but their firepower eclipsed the light mechs by a good margin.

Foundry Upgrade Options, tier 4:

1. Pintle mounted.50 caliber machinegun on the top of the commander’s hatch. This weapon can be manually targeted by the mech operator or given orders to function automatically. This upgrade requires 50 resources to unlock.

2. Smoke grenade launchers. Launches a spread of smoke grenades in front of the mech, providing moderate concealment over a small area. Reloads will be regenerated automatically, but they take some time to produce. This upgrade requires 25 resources to unlock.

There weren’t a whole lot of choices at tier four, but the prices of upgrades at this tier weren’t too bad. Hugh purchased both and assigned a few construction drones to install them. All the mechs currently on the assembly line would be built to the new standard. With the main battle mechs squared away, he focused on the light mechs.

Machine Shop Upgrade Options, tier 4:

1. Powerplant overdrive ability. This upgrade allows the mech operator to temporarily boost the speed of the mech. The speed boost lasts for only 30 seconds and a cooldown of 5 minutes is required to prevent damage to the powerplant. This upgrade requires 25 resources to unlock.

2. Smoke grenade launchers. Launches a spread of smoke grenades in front of the mech, providing moderate concealment over a small area. Reloads will be regenerated automatically, but they take some time to produce. This upgrade requires 25 resources to unlock.

Hugh ordered both the upgrades for his light mechs. The speed boost could be useful in repositioning units and responding to unexpected threats. Smoke grenade launchers were a duplicate of the main battle mech upgrade, but they fit the duties of a light scout mech pretty well. Air mechs upgrades would be last on the list until the port facility was built.

Control Tower Upgrade Options, tier 4:

1. Light armor kit. This upgrade adds additional armor to critical points on the air mech. Overall durability is increased by 10%, but max air and ground speed are reduced by 5%. This upgrade requires 25 resources to unlock.

There was only one option for the air mechs at this tier, and the armor upgrade was a mixed bag. So far, top airspeed hadn’t been that critical, and Hugh figured it would become less of an issue as new air mechs replaced his Buffalo fighters. He purchased the upgrade and with only seven air mechs in operation, it shouldn’t take long to get them all through the process.

“After this wave, I’d like to take a team and do some recon on our neighbors if you don’t mind,” Tran asked.

“That’s smart, we need to know who we’re up against. I doubt our other neighbor is one of our allies. I suspect the GCA spread us out so that everyone is facing hostile forces on all sides,” Hugh said. Getting more recon out was something he should have done already. Starting in the middle of a fight and facing opponents with an unknown advantage over his forces made Hugh a little reluctant to poke the bear.

They didn’t know where the next attack would come from, and Hugh needed some warning to prepare. To counter the unknown, Hugh sent out small sections of infantry, just five soldiers each, to watch for the attack. They moved out about five hundred yards from the command post. With the limited numbers he still possessed, Hugh was reluctant to move too much of his strength away. His air mechs would patrol further out, and despite the jungle covering most of the place, they should be able to spot a large horde of enemies.

His factories continued to produce as the timer counted down to zero. He had six main battle mechs, over eighty infantry, and ten light mechs and air mechs. Just in case, Hugh started production back up on the light mechs. He had reached his initial cap on those units but had a bad feeling that he would be taking losses in the coming fight.

Wave 4 of the automated attacks has begun. Defend your cores.

They were all tense, waiting to see what was coming for them. Minutes passed and there was no sign of an invasion. It didn’t look like they were getting a repeat of the previous attack, so the sea to their south was probably the least dangerous area. Hugh pulled back half the defensive garrison forces defending the bunkers on the beach and brought them back to the command post.

The fortifications encircling the command post were still not complete, and just some of the trenchworks were ready. Most of his pod-controlled infantry filtered into the trenches. A few of the light mech fighting positions had been dug out, and four of them took up watch there. The remaining light mechs joined with his main battle mechs to form the hitting power of Hugh’s army.

“Sir, we’ve got activity at the forward operating base,” one of the pilots on patrol called out.

Hugh shifted his view to the air mech. The pilot was keeping a good distance between himself and the ground, but even from this height, Hugh could see weapons fire from the base garrison lashing out into the forest. A new mech appeared from the jungle, charging through the wide cleared space around the base. More of the garrison mechs moved to support the northern trench, giving Hugh a better idea of how many troops had been defending the place. He put the number at around thirty.

From the center of the base, the missile launcher fired. The missile crossed the distance in a moment, slamming into the attacking mech. With the base’s main anti-air weapon expended and the garrison troops focused on the bigger threat, the pilot dropped in for a better view of the action. The attacking mech was something different, a huge four-legged beast with a long neck leading to what looked like a dragon’s head. From the mouth of the giant mech, a wide beam fired.

The monster played the beam back and forth across the trench line. Automated defenders were torn apart by the beam’s power, and over half their number was turned into metallic slag pooling at the bottom of the trench. Such a powerful weapon likely had a longer cooldown time, and the beast appeared to already be seriously damaged from the missile hit. Its front shoulder had been blasted open and the machinery inside smashed.

Moving much slower, the giant mech drug itself toward the trench. The defenders never stopped firing, but fifteen plasma rifles took time to burn through such a heavily armored foe. If these had been Hugh’s troops, they would have concentrated on the already damaged shoulder and brought the beast down, but the AI-controlled units defending the base just fired at random spots on the monster. The range closed and the giant mech became more and more battered as it approached. Divots in the heavy armor turned into breaches that gave off sparks and smoke.

Undeterred, the giant mech clawed its way toward the foe, finally getting its head in range to strike. Moving jerkily from the damage it had received, the long neck lashed out, the oversized dragon’s head biting into one of the defending mechs. Something strange occurred after the attack. Instead of tossing aside the destroyed mech, the giant monster swallowed it whole. Its neck distended like a snake swallowing prey, and once the mech was consumed, it attacked again.

One by one, the defenders were wolfed down by the ravenous attacker. As it consumed the smaller mechs, the wounds on its body began to heal. By the time the last mech was destroyed, the oversized attacker looked like it hadn’t taken a single scratch in the battle. As the air mech swooped in lower for a better look, the GCA finally gave Hugh a prompt to identify the monster.

Greater Hydra Mech. These giant mechs are fearsome foes that possess an appetite for any hostile mechs on the battlefield. By consuming its foes, the Hydra can repair itself and even bolster its offensive capability. The more enemies it fights, the stronger it gets, increasing in size and evolving new defenses. It possesses a powerful breath weapon to destroy targets at range, but the weapon takes some time to recharge.

“That’s not good, how do we fight this?” Hugh asked his officers, pushing the Hydra mech information out to them.

“Ambush and evasion? My infantry can kite that thing around the jungle and slowly burn it down,” Tran offered.

“Can they outpace it? That thing seemed pretty fast despite its size,” Hugh asked.

“Maybe not, but inside the jungle, it’s too big to move all that fast. Oh, I take that back, fighting in the jungle might not be such a good idea,” Tran said, changing his tune as the Hydra finished its meal and continued on a direct course toward the command post. It stomped right through the trees and foliage without slowing down. The jungle wouldn’t provide cover for the infantry, it would just be their graveyard if Hugh ordered them to engage.

“It’s risky, but I think we need to gather all our firepower here and stop it at the command post. Sending anything other than air mechs out to harass it is going to just feed it and make it stronger,” Cartwright suggested.

“We’ll defend here, Zacharias, get your air mechs on it, but keep our airmen of reach,” Hugh ordered.

“We’re on it,” Zacharias said. Another mech had been built and Hugh’s air force now had a total of eight mechs.

Zacharias lined up the fighters for a strafing run. They dove on the charging Hydra, using their guns to punish the monster’s lack of air defense. Hugh held his breath as the air mechs continued their gun runs, each pass tearing into the heavily armored back of the Hydra. Despite having decent firepower with both a .50 caliber and a .30 caliber machinegun mounted in the nose, the air mechs had difficulty concentrating on a single spot at the altitude and speed they had to fight from. As a result, the damage was spread out, and nothing critical had been hit.

It all added up in the end, and the more armor the air mechs could strip from the Hydra, the easier time Hugh’s other troops would have in dealing with it. The recon teams and all the units and the millipede hive were returning to the command post. Despite the pace the Hydra was keeping up, they should be able to make it back before it struck. With its course predictable, Hugh decided to risk using up the remaining missiles from his command post launcher.

“Zacharias, incoming fire, keep clear,” Hugh called as the monster closed in on the command post. Three missiles leaped from the launcher and streaked toward the Hydra. It had ignored the air mechs so far, but the incoming missiles were something else for the Hydra. It skidded to a halt and released another beam from its oversized head. The beam swatted the first two missiles from the sky but ran out of juice before the third one entered range.

A ball of plasma erupted in front of the Hydra; Hugh’s aim had been a bit off thanks to the monster’s quick halt. While not a direct hit, the missile was powerful enough to do some serious damage. Parts of the mech’s head were burned off and its jaw was stuck wide open from the joints melting down. The frontal armor had been weakened, and even if it wasn’t a kill, the damage should make things easier for Hugh’s troops to finish off.

“Hold fire, wait until it’s out of the jungle, make your first shots count,” Cartwright ordered. Of course, the defensive garrison didn’t listen to him and was already firing at the monster charging toward them. The air mechs from the garrison joined Zacharias’ fighters to strafe the monster. Hugh could feel the 20mm on his command post begin to thump out rounds at the beast. Those were having more of an effect than the rifle shots, with each hit penetrating the compromised front armor of the Hydra.

“Fire!” Cartwright ordered as the monster crashed through the jungle and entered the open area surrounding the command post. Five main battle mechs were on the firing line with their 75mm main guns, and ten light mechs with their 37mm guns. Added to that were multiple machineguns, and scores of infantry weapons firing. The wall of hate hit the Hydra and despite its bulk, the weakened armor wasn’t up to the task of defending it. Rounds cracked through and detonated deep inside the beast. Smoke and sparks flew from the wounds and before it could stumble more than a few yards, the Hydra collapsed.

Congratulations! You have defeated the Hydra. Harvest its resources and prepare for the next wave of attacks.