War Core Wednesday, War Core 3, Chapter 32.

Chapter 32.

Your core is being transferred to the conflict system, please stand by.

The GCA announcement was followed by Hugh’s consciousness taking another trip through space. It’s strange how even something as amazing as a trip through space to an entirely different world can eventually seem mundane. Hugh had an even harder time sightseeing on this trip. This coming campaign could mean the end of humanity. Nearing the conflict system, Hugh could finally see what the GCA created had created for this battle.

The third planet from the sun, the stand-in for Earth, wasn’t the beautiful blue ball he was used to seeing. This world was orange and tan, closer to resembling Mars than his home planet. There were also fewer planets in the solar system. With one orbiting closer to the sun and one where Mars would normally be. Further out was a large planet taking Jupiter’s place, but that was it. Near where the recently demoted Pluto would be, was a large asteroid field, but other than that, there was little in the system. The normal moons that orbited the planets were gone, with only the new Earth’s moon remaining.

Hugh flew toward the battle planet, but he figured he would have to start thinking of it as Earth since whatever happened to this orange and tan planet would happen back home. It was dark where he was headed, a continent that roughly resembled North America. Lights were visible as he entered the atmosphere, but not nearly as many as there should be. The GCA had recreated cities, but only those that were going to be part of this campaign. His core was pulled toward Los Angeles on the west coast. Closer to the city, he could make out many of the familiar buildings and areas, but the closer he got to the planet, the more the difference stood out.

Only major streets and freeways were present, without the majority of the smaller side streets and neighborhoods. Each of the represented streets was huge, easily several times the width they would normally be, likely to accommodate the massive machines that would soon be battling for them. Most buildings were huge, faceless concrete structures that looked sturdy and industrial, like a cross between a fortified bunker and a warehouse. Already thinking of the coming fight, Hugh could see those buildings becoming excellent places to create strong points for his troops and death traps for the Ssath.

He was pulled toward an oversized representation of the LA city hall. This would be his command post for this battle, which seemed fitting. It took only a few moments for Hugh to connect to his new command post. Once installed, Hugh hurried to look over the area he controlled, happy to see that there weren’t any immediate threats, at least, none that he could see. After giving him a minute, the GCA flooded Hugh with system information about the coming battle.

The parameters for this battle have been negotiated. You will hold your command post and destroy the hostile cores assigned to defeat you. Similar battles will be happening all over the conflict world, and victory will be granted to whichever side wins the majority of these battles. Current conquest point totals are as follows.

Humanity: 0/131.

Ssath: 0/131.

The negotiated battle parameters that pertain to your core are as follows.

1. No restrictions on unit types and there will not be a cap on the number of combat units your army may field.

2. Your command post will function as both a headquarters and a production structure. There is no need to construct any additional buildings. Units, upgrades, and defenses can be purchased by your core using gathered resources. It should be noted the initial tier of all invading forces has been negotiated at tier 7, and they will retain the ability to upgrade their units in the field. Your command post will upgrade itself over time, and after reaching certain stages of the battle, not through the spending of resources.

3. Ten points of interest have been chosen inside your city. Hold these to prevent your foe from acquiring additional resources. Your command post and each point of interest will generate resources over time and you may scavenge the battlefield for additional resources. Scavenged resources must be brought to your command post via your construction drones, no resource drop-off locations are in the city other than the command post.

4. The number of construction drones you control is capped by the command post tier. When a drone is destroyed another will automatically be queued for production at no additional cost in resources. The rebuilding of fallen drones will be a slower than usual process, be sure to protect those you have.

5. Combat pod support is active and defensive garrison forces will not be present.

6. While some reinforcement options will remain open to your faction. Earth’s cores cannot directly aid each other. The Ssath empire will be limited by the invasion forces they are bringing to the conflict; no additional units may be built while they are on Earth.

7. Your command post will activate as soon as the first Ssath starship appears in human-controlled space.

8. Limited communication with your command team will be granted until the first Ssath planetary landings occur.

9. Orbital bombardments will be limited and based on the size of the Ssath fleet. The command post and immediate area around it cannot be targeted for bombardment.

Communication with your faction will be re-established now.

“Hugh, can you hear me?” Admiral Nix asked.

“Yes, it looks like I have comms for this battle, at least until the Ssath land. I take it that they haven’t entered our space yet given the fact my command post is inactive?” Hugh asked.

“That’s correct, and the Ssath have thrown us a bit of a curve ball on the space battle portion of this fight. Twenty-four command teams were required to enter combat pods and conduct the fight in space. I wasn’t trained for pod operation, but the interface isn’t too difficult to operate. I’m already getting the hang of it,” Admiral Nix said.

“What? You’re in the fight? How is that possible without you being in a war core?” Hugh asked.

“We’re using the advanced combat pods the GCA delivered, and each of the selected teams can control multiple starships and space structures, unlike the normal combat pods where we can only control one mech. We’ve been assigned areas of responsibility around the solar system just like your war cores on the ground,” Nix said.

“Okay, now I get why the conquest totals for the battle don’t match the number of war cores we have. You said earlier we had a hundred and seven active cores, but the GCA’s conquest totals showed me a possible hundred and thirty-one. Is it just you in a pod or others from our team?” Hugh asked.

“I’m here too,” Maddison said.

“Maddison?” Hugh asked.

“Yep, I volunteered when I heard the type of fighting the space teams were going to do,” Maddison said.

“By volunteered, she means she jumped into the other pod before we realized what she was doing,” Nix said.

“I knew you’d just stick some navy guy in here and while the space battles kind of resemble a naval battle, they’re more like an RTS fight, and for that, there’s no one else that can do what I do. Just look at how good I was when fighting with Hugh in the simulator against the other cores,” Maddison said. She was trying to put on a brave face and act a bit cocky, but Hugh could hear an undercurrent of fear in her voice.

“Disconnect, Maddison. We can get another qualified military officer, we’ve volunteered for the risk, you didn’t,” Hugh argued.

“Hugh, this is where I can make the most difference, otherwise, I’m sitting back in the base not able to do anything while the invasion happens. Here, I can fight, and fighting this type of battle is something I’m good at. That’s why you brought me on board in the first place. It’s a moot point, anyway, I can’t get out now that I’m in the pod, the GCA has accepted me as a participant,” Maddison said.

“Hugh, like it or not, she’s in the fight with us. The best thing we can do now is to win so the risk is lessened for everyone. Now, we have work to do, and I need to debrief you before Maddison and I get pulled into the fight,” Nix said.

“Roger that, sir, what can you tell me,” Hugh said, not at all happy about the situation, but understanding there was nothing he could do about it. While Nix spoke, he unsuccessfully tried to establish a private link to Maddison’s pod.

“First off, the Ssath are coming at us with everything, and by everything, I mean every core they have, not to mention that they’ve spent every last influence point. We expect their fleet to massively outsize our own,” Nix said.

“How big is our fleet?” Hugh asked.

“Right now, it’s just twenty-two space stations, and a what they’re calling a planetary defense station here on Earth and one on the moon. Maddison and I have been assigned to a space station orbiting Jupiter. When the battle starts, we can begin building up the forces and defenses for our assigned sector. As of right now, the GCA has everything on pause, giving both sides the chance to debrief their people and understand the battle parameters,” Nix said.

“If the Ssath fleet is unstoppable, do we just start the fight by losing twenty-four conquest points when they take out our space forces?” Hugh asked. The GCA could be devious, but that would be a pretty egregious act of stacking the deck against the humans.

“When the fight starts, we’ll be given individual victory conditions for each of the space defense teams. From the vague information the GCA gave us, it looks like victory and defeat for us will be determined by the damage we inflict and how long we delay the invasion fleet. If we stall them out or kill enough, we get the win. If the Ssath blows right through our defenses and takes out our station, it’s a loss,” Nix said.

“My instructions said the Ssath will have a limited number of forces to bring to the fight, so that means whatever we kill in space is something that won’t make it down to the surface,” Maddison added.

“Still, it sounds like the Ssath have all the advantages, what did we spend our influence points on if we don’t have anything to show for it,” Hugh asked.

“There’s a couple of things that we’ve bought to help tip the scales. First off, we’ve got more time. We were supposed to get a couple of hours to build up forces before the Ssath fleets arrive, but we negotiated for a full day to build up our defenses,” Nix said.

“With that much time, can you build enough to stop them?” Hugh asked.

“No, they’re going to enter the system with tier seven ships and units, we’re starting at tier zero. We’ll start to close the gap, but they’ll outnumber and have better units. At least with the delay, I hope we can damage them significantly before they reach you,” Nix said.

“That’s it, some extra time is all we bought with our points?” Hugh asked, feeling that whoever was in charge of this didn’t know what they were doing.

“There is one other important thing we purchased, one that might be the key to winning this. We’ve bought the Krixnas their very own space station. It’s in hidden orbit on Mars, which is showing as a non-combatant until the Krixnas announce they’re in the fight. It’s only a single station, and it has a very low resource gathering rate until they officially enter the conflict. Still, the entire time the battle is going on, the Krixnas will be building up a fleet, hidden from the Ssath. When the Ssath are focused on the ground invasion, the Krixnas will strike, along with whatever is left of our fleet,” Nix said.

“Now, that’s a good investment. The Krixnas are facing extinction too, but I thought they were out of the game entirely once their planet fell. The GCA let them have another core?” Hugh asked.

“Not, not a core, they’re letting them participate in the space battle, but the influence points also bought them some of the advanced combat pods that will let them fight. Other than the time and the Krixnas, command says they’ll purchase whatever they can for the cores on the ground from the influence points that are still coming in. It might not be much, but even a few mechs or an upgrade could help,” Nix said.

“It should also be noted that this battle is rather unique compared to some of the others we’ve seen. If the theory holds that the GCA is doing this for entertainment value, don’t be surprised if they throw us a few curve balls for the ratings,” Markum, their intel analyst, added.

They couldn’t speculate further, as the battle officially began. Nix and Maddison got to work, and even though he hated to see Maddison risk herself, Hugh had to admit the pair made a good team. The grizzled Navy veteran and the skilled gamer were going to give the Ssath more than a few headaches, but would it be enough?