War Core 4, Chapter 22.

Chapter 22.

“Do you have enough firepower?” Hugh asked as Tran’s infantry, supported by a pair of main battle mechs, gathered in the jungle near the cave entrance that they had found earlier. A half dozen of the giant millipede mechs still lingered around the area, but they had no idea what might be inside.

“Three squads should give us enough, but if not, we’ll just fall back under cover of the big guns,” Tran replied. The main battle mechs wouldn’t fit inside the cave, but they could provide overwatch if the infantry needed to retreat. They could also clear away the mechs lurking outside.

“Get to it,” Hugh ordered. A pair of main gun blasts tore apart most of the millipedes, and accurate rifle fire finished off the rest.

They waited for a full minute, but nothing else emerged from the cave. Tran led the infantry forward, where they tossed a pair of plasma grenades inside the cave opening to clear out any surprises. Once inside the cave, Hugh followed their progress while at the same time managing things at the command post.

The airfield was finished and the new mechs were being produced. The first pair were doing recon over the borders of his territory. It turned out it was pretty easy to figure out where each core’s territory started. Between the jungle was a wide area devoid of growth in a straight line from the volcano at the center of the island, to the sea.

Hugh’s area was large, but most of it was still unexplored since the air mechs could only do so much with jungle covering most of the zone. To the east, there was no sign of the serpent-like alien mechs that had attacked earlier. As more of his air force came online, Hugh would keep a pair of mechs permanently assigned to that border.

Inside the cave, Tran’s infantry was clearing the area fast and efficiently. As they suspected, there were more of the AI-controlled millipede mechs lurking around. But they were only present in ones and twos. It wasn’t until they reached a large central chamber that the main threat appeared. In the center of the huge chamber, nesting on a pile of destroyed mechs was what could only be the queen of these monsters. It was coiled around a huge clutch of metal eggs. Spotting the infantry that was invading its nest, the queen charged with incredible speed toward the threat. Energy glowed on the multitude of spiky legs that supported the queen, telling Hugh what her main weapon was.

The queen wrapped herself around the lead pair of infantry that had entered her chamber. Leg spikes burrowed through the infantry mechs, tearing them to shreds in moments. Before she could change targets, several grenades detonated around the queen, and rifle rounds started to hammer into her armored hide.

Horribly damaged, the queen wasn’t quite out of the fight just yet. She turned toward the infantry gathered in the tunnel that led to her chamber and rolled to the side, positioning her legs toward the tunnel. That opened the soft underbelly of the monster to the incoming fire, but before the queen was finished off, the legs shot from her body like a rocket barrage. They hammered into the leading troops, and the tips of the legs, still glowing with plasma energy, penetrated through multiple mechs before stopping. Finally dying, the queen curled up into a ball near the eggs.

“That thing took out half my troops in one volley,” Tran said with shock. Of the thirty infantry that had entered the cave, only fifteen were still operational, and half of those had taken at least some damage from the spiky legs of the queen.

“Check out the debris and the eggs,” Hugh ordered. A cautious soldier moved onto the pile of debris and approached the gathered eggs.

Congratulations, you have cleared a critical point. A bonus reward of 250 resources has been granted. In addition, you have found 50 millipede mech eggs that are now keyed to your core. This critical point is eligible for the installation of fixed defenses and a resource collection point can be built here as well for a cost of 150 resources.

This critical point may be upgraded to an active nest for 150 resources. When active, a new queen will spawn and occasionally produce additional eggs for your core’s use.

Hugh concentrated on eggs and he was given some more information on them.

Once activated, the millipede egg lies dormant until a hostile mech moves near it. Once it detects an enemy, the egg shatters into fragments, damaging anything within five yards of it. A juvenile millipede mech will then emerge and attack any enemy forces nearby. Once the threat is eliminated, the mech will remain near the area protecting it from any threats.

“It’s kind of like a two-stage land mine. Where should we place these?” Hugh asked, pushing the data out to his officers.

“Maybe on the borders to slow down any incursions,” Cartwright offered.

“What about around the command post?” Tran asked.

“How durable are those things? If they can stand up to being dropped I can seed them around an enemy territory and maybe catch them off guard,” Zacharias said.

“I like the idea of using them as air-dropped mines, but it might be hard to decide where they would do the most good. For now, I’ll have some construction drones come over and take them to the command post. I’ll have them mount one on an air mech and see if they survive the experience,” Hugh decided.  He also ordered his drones to build a resource collection point just inside the cave. Given the huge pile of mech parts that the queen had used as a nest, in addition to the millipede mech remains, there was enough salvage on hand to make the cost of a resource collection point a worthwhile purchase.

To do everything he wanted, Hugh was going to need more drones. He ordered the construction of ten more and assigned them to build the resource collection point and haul the eggs back to the command post. Upgrading the nest would be a bet as well. Resources were limited, but having this place produce free weapons for him might make it worth the investment of 150 resources. Hugh spent the resources on the upgrade which caused one of the eggs to hatch, birthing the new queen and giving Hugh a bit more information.

The Millipede Nest has been upgraded and is now active. The queen will take a short time to grow to maturity and will then begin producing eggs.

A second and final upgrade to the Millipede Nest is available and requires 250 resources. When upgraded, the nest will become a Millipede Hive. The queen will grow in both size and power, actively defending her hive from any hostile intruders in the area. Egg production will increase and the juvenile millipedes hatched from the eggs will become mature millipedes, with more attack power and a deadlier initial blast as they emerge from their shells.

Hugh wanted the second upgrade, but it was going to have to wait. He needed to get all his production buildings created and upgrades activated before he splurged on the Millipede Hive. Once he gained a few more tiers, there might be enough to splurge on extras like the hive. It would be nice to have a self-sustaining defensive structure, but it wasn’t in an obvious path to his core. Other cores may target it if they spotted the place since it was designated as a critical location, but the main threat to the hive for the time being would be the invasion waves the GCA generated coming through.

“Sir, are you seeing this?” One of the air mechs on patrol called out. To the north, he was flying over a large open area in the jungle. A series of four bunkers laid out in a square were connected by a series of trenches. Infantry mechs that were similar to his own could be seen patrolling the trenches On the roof of each bunker was an anti-armor rocket launcher like Hugh had mounted on the central bunker protecting the beach. In the center of the base was a larger launcher that was sized somewhere between the anti-armor rockets and his missile battery. The place was indeed a forward operating base, something Hugh had seen in one of his previous fights. The GCA confirmed this with a system prompt.

Forward Operating Base, Tier 1: The forward operating base provides a strong position for defense and is often found at strategic locations. Once secured, a forward operating base has no natural defensive garrison forces and must be defended by your existing troops. It provides additional protection for the troops housed within and contributes a steady, but limited supply of resources to your command post.

At higher tiers, the forward operating base can be upgraded with automated defenses and even a resource collection point. Beware, the more you upgrade a forward operating base, the more you risk leaving for the enemy to use if they take it from you.

“Can you get closer to see how many defenders we’re dealing with?” Hugh asked.

“Roger that, sir, on my way,” the pilot replied. The air mech swooped low, about a hundred feet over the ground, giving Hugh and his officers a better look at things.

Plasma rifle fire began to erupt from the base as the automated defenders reacted to the nearby air mech. A couple of rounds hit the air mech, but it was only superficial damage. As the mech flew past the base, the launcher in the center fired, the missile wasn’t just an anti-armor weapon, it also seemed to function as anti-air. Caught off guard the pilot went through a series of maneuvers to shake the incoming rocket, but they didn’t have enough altitude to work with and the rocket struck home, blasting apart the air mech and scattering it on the jungle below.

Hugh checked the timer, the attack on the cave and the time he spent moving forces there had left him with twenty-eight minutes remaining. It wasn’t going to be enough time to capture the forward base, but securing it would be next on the agenda after the attack wave was over. His defenses were in better shape for the coming attack, all his garrison forces were now available, and he positioned ten garrison infantry for each of the three bunkers on the beach with the remainder staying with the command post.

With the airfield completed, Hugh’s garrison air mechs landed there and did the occasional patrol around the command post. They were hardwired to stay close, but the air units ventured a bit further than the infantry. The patrol pattern they followed went a bit into the jungle and then down to the beach. All his defenses were in place, the bunkers had been repaired and the anti-armor missile on the central bunker had been rearmed. His missile launcher already had one missile loaded and another was about halfway done. There should be at least three loaded into the launcher by the time the next attack wave arrived.

The factories were pumping out units and even with the losses in the cave, he had over forty infantry. His losses would be replaced and a few extra units would be built before the next attack. The light mechs were up to eight units, pairs of which were now moving out along with a section of infantry to recon his territory. He only had four main battle mechs, but they took longer to build than the others, save for the air units and probably the ships.

His drones were working on building the control tower for the airfield, and once it was finished, they’d make the foundry for the main battle mech factory and then the machine shop for the light mechs. Hugh wanted to get started on the upgrades, so he purchased the tier-two fortifications for his command post and unlocked the automated turrets as well. The drones finishing up the wall were tasked with building fortifications around the entire command post complex. That would be their first line of defense and wouldn’t make him rely on a single low wall for protection. Turrets would be built at each corner, and on top of the two outer bunkers on the beach, leaving the anti-armor rocket on top of the central bunker.

He also needed to defend the millipede cave and its resources, but he could only do so much with the funds on hand. Since it was a critical location and might become a target if any of the other cores got frisky, Hugh assigned a squad of infantry supported by a light mech to defend it. It was a large enough force to prevent only a couple of enemy scouts from grabbing it. The force could also hold against a larger attack, whittling down some of the enemy forces and giving the rest of his army a look at what was coming.

You have harvested the heart of the Kraken. This device will now be installed in your command post, granting your structures additional armor and durability.

That was a nice surprise. Hugh was starting to think that the massive amount of resources from the Kraken corpse might be the reward, or maybe a bonus amount once the last of it was processed. The heart was a large glowing gem that shifted colors between blue and green, like the outer armor of the monster. A pair of construction drones brought the rather large heart into the command post. On the wall near the garrison troop assembly line, it was installed.

Hugh could feel a tingle as the effect took place. A coating of metallic scales began to spread from the heart, covering the inside of the building before moving through the factory door to coat the exterior. Once the command post was upgraded, a line of scales flowed from the command post to Hugh’s other structures, repeating the process.

Your command post structures now have a 15% damage reduction to both plasma and kinetic attacks.

It wasn’t a huge percentage, but when you figured how much damage it took to bring down a command post, it could buy him precious time to turn the fight around. The prompts didn’t say so, but it might also reduce the pain that he felt from damage to his command post a bit. At times, when the structural integrity was low, Hugh was essentially incapacitated by the pain. It wasn’t something he cared to ever experience again.