War Core 3, Chapter 48.

Chapter 48.

“They’re pulling back, sir,” Tran said. He was right, the Ssath forces attacking the command post were disengaging, moving to form a perimeter around the area and concentrating their forces to the south, where the Queen Mary was slowly making its way to the command post. With most of their force consisting of infantry mechs, it was hard to get an accurate count of them, given how they used the city structures as cover. Pulling back must have been a tough decision, it gave Hugh time to rebuild his numbers without any pressure, but it also conserved the Ssath units for a later attack.

The surviving enemy forces from the assault on the jail were still on the way, but they would arrive after the Queen Mary victory point made it to the command post. When they captured the jail, the Ssath forces were repaired back to 100% efficiency, save for the annihilator. It appeared that the super-sized mech wasn’t granted the repair effect by the GCA, likely similar to the reasoning given for the limited repairs on the Queen Mary. The tech for the oversized mechs was too advanced for normal repair function. Sure, the GCA could wave their magic nanobot wand and bring everything back to full, but it seemed they were following some sort of internal balancing formula that they neglected to share with participants of the fight.

Attention, the third wave of the invasion will commence shortly. Please note that unless the remainder of the Ssath fleet joins those vessels orbiting Earth, no further reinforcements will be available.

“Heads up everyone, more Ssath are dropping in to join the party,” Hugh advised, pushing the notification out to his officers. Everyone not currently engaged kept an eye on the sky, waiting for the final round of drop pods to disgorge their forces. If it was a wave like the last one, their defense was over. He was going to have trouble fighting off what was currently on the ground and adding several more annihilators would turn the tide decidedly against the human defenders. Hugh took a moment to check on the overall status of the campaign.

Conquest Points.

Humanity: 39/137.

Ssath: 46/137.

The human cores had put some wins on the board, but so had the Ssath. It was close, and the fact some human cores had won likely meant that they had defeated all the Ssath forces on the ground and had secured victory before the final wave of the invasion. The announcement had also mentioned the remainder of the Ssath fleet, if those ships joined the ones in orbit, they would overwhelm Hugh and likely the remainder of the human cores.

Having been weakened after battling the moon station and the human fleet defending it, the Ssath that hadn’t headed to Earth moved to face the Krixnas ships that were even now moving and on a course to relieve Earth. Depleted from the fighting, the Ssath still outnumbered the Krixnas fleet, but it was a large enough force that they couldn’t afford for them to catch the Ssath fleet while it was vulnerable in orbit around the planet. They also had to deal with the six space stations defending the new Krixnas homeworld of Mars.

Those stations orbiting mars each represented a conquest point and were constantly producing ships. If they didn’t take the stations out, the Krixnas would eventually wear down the Ssath fleet which couldn’t replenish its losses. They could have gone for broke and charged every ship they had to Earth, trying to win enough conquest points before the Krixnas arrived, but it didn’t seem like the Ssath were up for any risky rolls of the dice when the numbers were still decidedly in their favor. Odds were the Ssath would brush aside the much smaller Krixnas fleet and take out the stations, but the time it took them to do so would give Hugh and the other cores a chance to secure victory.

“Do you want us to hold tight or should I help the Queen Mary crack through the Ssath?” Cartwright asked.

“What would you need from our forces to break through?” Hugh asked, looking over his current troops. A bunker had been destroyed, along with all the troops inside, when the annihilator attacked. He had also lost the force sent out to stop the monster. Sergeant Reyes had done his part, though, and had damaged the Ssath monster to the point they were able to defeat it. New units were already being produced, and the construction drones were slowly repairing the damaged bunker. Despite the drones’ efforts, it would be some time until the defenses around the command post were back to full strength, and if he sent too many troops with Cartwright, it might give the Ssath a good shot a breaking through.

“I’ll need the main battle mechs and a platoon of infantry to cover them,” Cartwright said.

“Go for it, we need that ship here to fight off the other annihilators,” Hugh ordered. He would make do with what remained. Resources weren’t going to be as big a problem now that the Ssath had pulled back and the area was clear of incoming fire. His drones could harvest the fallen annihilator and the other wrecks scattered around the command post without any risk.

Cartwright organized his sortie, and as soon as the forces were gathered, they made their way south on Alameda which was the street that the giant ship was using to reach the command post. The Ssath infantry were keeping to cover, but the heavier mechs were massing near the 7th Street intersection. With six medium mechs, a heavy, and a dozen light mechs, the Ssath had enough firepower to cause the giant ship problems. Out in open, the ship would sweep away the enemy force, but they weren’t in the cleared ground around the victory point any longer.

“Engaging,” Cartwright said as the lead main battle mech send a round down the street toward the enemy heavy mech. The shell burst against the enemy mech’s shield, and tough as they were, a heavy mech could only absorb so many 90mm high-velocity plasma shells. More rounds were fired and the Ssath began to return fire. Given that Cartwright had started the engagement at extreme range, the humans had an advantage with their mechs’ focus on ranged firepower. A Ssath heavy mech was no slouch, and powerful beam weapons over the mech’s shoulder returned fire as the other Ssath medium and light mechs charged in to close the range.

Hugh and his troops had no way to communicate directly with the Queen Mary, but the huge ship was being supported by the forces originally assigned to defend the point. Those supporting forces also went into action, lacking any remaining main battle mechs, the escort force moved their trio of light mechs forward to support Cartwright’s assault. The infantry slowly followed behind the light mechs, using the available buildings for cover. Before the light mechs had closed into range of the larger enemy mechs, fire erupted from the commercial buildings lining the street and a swarm of Ssath infantry mechs leaped out to tear apart the light mechs before they could get off more than a few shots.

You have received a comm link request from the pod operator of the Queen Mary Victory point. Do you wish to allow them access to your network? Y/N.

Hugh hit yes, the operator of the giant ship had already saved his skin, so Hugh doubted this was some elaborate ruse on the part of the Ssath, it just wasn’t their style. He recognized the voice, despite the normal comm distortion.

“Hugh Logan, this is Pack Monitor Dalven. I owe you a blood debt and my people have agreed to grant your core this support. I’m required to tell you that this action is to repay my personal debt of honor and that the stain of deception that your government has visited on my people is not removed. With that out of the way, it’s good to fight at your side once again,” Dalven said.

“It’s good to have you join in the fun, thank you, I don’t think I’d have made it without your help. Before we catch up, you should deal with the Ssath infantry closing in on you. Here are the comm channels for my forces, an officer named Cartwright is leading the force moving to support you,” Hugh said, pushing information on all the various command channels to Dalven.

“Stand back, take up defensive positions, I’ll deal with the bulk of their troops, then you can mop up,” Dalven said, using the wider area of the nearest intersection to bring the broadside of the ship into position. The guns boomed and the Ssath infantry still tearing apart the human light mechs, were pummeled into scrap. Using the buildings for cover, the enemy infantry moved to engage the ship, but the results proved to be a mixed bag for the Ssath, they made progress, but each building they used for cover was torn apart by the impressive firepower of the Queen Mary.

By the time they closed into melee range, their numbers had been severely depleted. The secondary weapons on the ship, along with the supporting human infantry mechs, fought off the last of the Ssath. Resuming its slow pace, the giant ship moved into gun range to help out Cartwright, who had lost all but one of his main battle mechs but had held off half the Ssath ambush team.

A single volley from the Queen Mary finished off the remaining Ssath medium and light mechs, Cartwright’s forces had seen to the heavy mech and many of the enemy’s supporting infantry. With all their heavy hitters out of the fight, the surviving Ssath melted away, hiding in nearby structures and avoiding contact with the ship and its escorts. Unfortunately, the fight had slowed down the ship and given the damaged annihilator and the other Ssath troops from the jail victory point time to close the distance to the command post.

“That thing’s going to have me in its sights soon, I hope you can make it before then,” Hugh said, getting nervous as the annihilator began to clear past the last of the buildings blocking its view of the command post. Hugh noted that the enemy ships in orbit began to spit out more drop pods, he pushed it out of his mind, he couldn’t do anything to stop them until they landed, and the fight against the annihilator would be over before the enemy reinforcements could make a difference.

Thankfully, the Queen Mary arrived at almost the same time, placing itself between the outer bunker and the command post. Guns on the ship began to fire and sent round after round into the annihilator, but the powerful weapons inside the heads of the enemy mech were already firing. Twin beams burned through the bunker, destroying the reinforced squad of infantry inside. The beams continued their path of destruction, and slammed into the side of the Queen Mary, burning through its shield and then the ship itself before splashing against Hugh’s command post. Hugh’s shield fell, but the beams had been dissipated now and the damage and pain Hugh felt were minimal.

“Pour it on, drop that thing!” Hugh shouted. The remainder of Cartwright’s troops and the forces from the Queen Mary victory point tore into the already badly damaged annihilator. Targeting breaches in the armor, the lighter weapons of Hugh’s troops proved more than up to the task and long before the annihilator could recharge its beams for a second volley, the monster of a mech toppled over and began to burn. Once again, the Ssath fell back, reinforcing the ring around the command post with the surviving troops from the assault on the jail.

“So, that’s the Yaelar that you fought with?” Captain Tran asked.

“Yes, but is he okay?” Hugh asked, worried as the now badly damaged ship swayed on its oversized metal legs.

“This mech remains operational, give me a moment while I deal with the pain,” Dalven said. Hugh knew all too well the pain Dalven was facing so he turned his focus to the final wave of Ssath, which had started to impact all around the city.

“At least there’s not as many this time,” Cartwright noted. Most of the drop pods were again landing at each of the victory points, including the ones the Ssath already controlled, but a dozen were scattered around the command post. Each victory point was hit with only five drop pods but combined with the enemy already on the ground, it was way more Ssath than Hugh wanted to deal with.

You have lost control of the Griffith Park Observatory victory point. This loss will reduce your resource flow for the remainder of the battle. By taking the victory point, all damaged Ssath units in the area are automatically repaired to full operational status.

“They fought well,” Tran said, and Hugh along with all the officers agreed. The defense at the observatory had exacted a heavy toll on the Ssath, destroying the annihilator and over 90% of the other Ssath forces. There just weren’t enough defenders to hold the enemy back and with the reinforcements from the last wave, the final human defending mechs had fallen.

“I think the worst of the pain is over, the ship has a minor internal repair function, but it won’t do much other than stabilizing things enough to dissipate the pain feedback,” Dalven said. The Queen Mary mech he was piloting stood a bit steadier, but the horrible damage was easy for everyone to see, given that two huge holes were burned completely through the center of the ship.

“Can you still fight?” Hugh asked.

“Of course, I am Yaelar, and I will continue the fight. Half my guns aren’t operational, and the targeting matrix is damaged which will reduce accuracy on the weapons I can still fire, but I’ll kill many more Ssath for you, Hugh Logan,” Dalven said.

“Good, at least the latest arrivals don’t seem to be transforming into any new annihilators, but there is still one out there,” Hugh said. Granting Dalven access to his feed, so he could watch the fight with the final annihilator that was about to take place. Near the museum, the mammoth and a pack of saber-tooth tiger mechs were closing in on the annihilator, which had fought its way into the victory point. Surviving defenders poured fire into the Ssath attackers, but the battle of the titans would decide the control of this final victory point.