War Core 3, Chapter 15.

Chapter 15.

Hugh watched Captain Tran lead the infantry toward the Ssath base. He used the closest route which would likely avoid the fighting going on between the Ssath and the Yaelar. As his forces were closed in on the command post, they were spotted by a Ssath construction drone. The drone retreated toward the base, and Hugh could see the infantry mechs of the enemy defensive garrison maneuvering to counter his attack. There wasn’t much else out there, save for a single Ssath infantry mech walking out of the factory where it had just been built.

“Harkona, we’re going in, there’s nothing in sight to stop us except for the defensive garrisons and a few stragglers,” Hugh said.

“I understand, we are engaged heavily with the Ssath, and their replacements have been slow in arriving, they are likely at the end of their resource reserves and are ripe for destruction,” Harkona replied.

Limited resources or not, the Ssath commander wasn’t out of tricks just yet. Just before entering firing range, the ground in front of his mechs opened up and a swarm of small dino mechs emerged, leaping and grabbing onto his troops. Well versed in defending themselves against these diminutive attackers by now, his infantry worked together to shoot or crush the enemy swarm. There were twenty of the little creeps and by the time they had pried the last of them off, Hugh had lost four infantry and had three others with severe damage.

This time, he had enough resources to initiate repairs in the field, and the pair of construction drones he had shadowing the assault force moved into action. Repairs in the field were less costly in terms of resources and went a lot more quickly than building from scratch, so it would only be a minute or two before the trio of damaged mechs were back in action. Replacements for his losses were already being produced, but they would be too far out to have any effect on the current assault.

“Try to pick them off from range, we have the advantage over the AI-controlled units,” Tran called out to his men. At extreme range, they began to pummel the defenders with rifle fire. There were more misses than hits, but even so, they were greatly outscoring the Ssath’s smaller-caliber ranged weapons that the Ssath infantry mounted. Tran had each section of five infantry concentrated on a single Ssath, and despite the low hit rate, their cumulative damage dropped the defenders one by one.

“Larson, the Ssath are breaking off their engagement and running back toward their command post, work quickly before they arrive,” Harkona advised.

“Roger that, we’re moving in for the kill,” Hugh replied. Tran heard the conversation and began to march the infantry forward once more, their accuracy and that of their foes improving as the distance to the enemy base shortened. With the losses the enemy had already taken, he had the advantage in not only firepower but also numbers.

The last of the enemy defenders were gunned down, a final charge by the Ssath defensive garrison, and the remaining construction drones managed to reach his troops and tear apart another five mechs and damage two more before they were put down. With nothing to oppose him, his troops opened up on the command post, pouring rounds into the reinforced structure while a squad of infantry watched for replacements coming out of the factories. There wasn’t much activity as far as production went, lending support to Harkona’s theory that the Ssath were finally starved out of resources.

“Wall’s breached, were going in,” Tran said. The outer wall of the command post had a mech-sized hole in it now that allowed troops inside, where their shots did even more damage. In the distance, a reinforced squad of Ssath infantry and a pair of battered light mechs were running toward them, desperate to save the command post from being destroyed a second time, but they weren’t going to make it.

The Ssath command post has been destroyed. In 7 minutes, the command post and other structures will be respawned and the Ssath will be given a protected area to recover and rebuild in for 9 minutes. Any hostile forces entering the designated protected area will shut down and their operators will face a severe survivability penalty. Any subsequent destruction of the command post will result in an increased delay for reconstruction as well as a shortened protection duration.

“Well done human, we have a chance to end this,” Harkona said. The growling voice of Hugh’s erstwhile ally sounded elated as notification of the Ssath command post going down a second time was announced.

“I hope your troops kept on the heels of the Ssath, I don’t know if I can take them down with what I have left,” Hugh replied. The Ssath moving back to defend the command post now keyed in on the survivors of his assault force, which Captain Tran was herding into a defensive formation. Walking slowly backward, the twenty-eight surviving infantry were already firing at the Ssath light mechs that had pulled ahead of their supporting infantry. Return fire from the heavier weapons on the light mechs started to slam into his troops as the distance closed at an alarming rate. These Ssath light mechs were fast.

“Help is on the way,” Harkona announced, and Hugh could see a Yaelar light mech running into the fight with several of their infantry following behind.

His troops continued to retreat, their fire bringing down one of the Ssath light mechs before the other reached them, claws tore through two of his infantry as the others spread out, making the Ssath’s job of chasing them down that much more difficult. The maneuver bought his units a few more seconds, time that they spent pouring hot plasma bolts into the enemy mech. It chased down three more of his infantry before it finally collapsed on a damaged leg, the weapon on its shoulder firing back at his mechs until the Ssath finally succumbed to the mounting damage.

Ssath infantry now joined the fight, and his mechs began to drop like flies. They managed to bring take out a few of the enemy infantry, but when the Yaelar joined the fight, he was down to only four infantry able to fight. The Yaelar mechs made short work of the Ssath, most of them had been damaged to some extent by fire from Hugh’s troops. Looking around for more opponents, Hugh could see there was nothing but his troops and the Yaelar remaining on the battlefield. They had won a reprieve, one they needed to take advantage of before the Ssath forces came back online.

“I’ll rebuild my forces and blockade the Ssath. Will you join me?” Larson asked Harkona.

“Yes, I am also building up replacements. We’ll take the Ssath together once more and after that, I’ll move to take over the control point,” Harkona replied.

There wasn’t much to do now but wait as replacements were created, his resource intake further enhanced by the debris around the Ssath base. Much of it was inside the protected area, but his drones were able to salvage the small mechs that had ambushed them earlier. It wasn't much, but every point of resources was precious at this time. Repairs on the surviving infantry were carried out and by some quirk of the system, he was allowed to also repair the Yalear units that had come to his rescue.

Their combined force wasn’t much, just five human infantry, a similar number of Yaelar infantry, and a single cat-like Yaelar light mech. A good chunk of the resources that he had stockpiled for upgrades was going to be used to produce replacements. But as long as the Yaelar sent a strong force to join him, they should be able to hold off the Ssath when the protected area went away.

Minutes ticked by, with reinforcements trickling in for both his and the Yaelar’s troops. Harkona also sent up the few units he had kept back to defend the command post, adding a squad of infantry to the mix, but other than those, they both had to wait for replacements to be produced and march over to the Ssath base. The seven-minute cooldown before the Ssath buildings were constructed worked in their favor, allowing many of their troops to arrive before the Ssath were able to build a single defender.

By the time the seven minutes had expired and the Ssath factories were online, Hugh was up to fifteen infantry and Harkona had a similar number, as well as two light mechs. With nine minutes to go before they could attack again, both cores watched their foe try to churn out defenders. Lack of resources came into play and after a single light mech and a dozen infantry, the Ssath factories went silent. With only a single additional infantry mech walking out as the protected zone collapsed and the allied troops charged forward.

The Yaelar core led the way, tearing into the newly produced Ssath mechs and defensive garrison forces while Hugh’s infantry hung back and added supporting fire. It was much easier this time, and losses were minimal for Hugh as Harkona took the brunt of the Ssath mechs’ attention. They were able to overwhelm the Ssath forces and pummel his command post down for the third time. A prompt confirming the penalty against the Ssath would be even more severe this time.

The Ssath command post has been destroyed. In 8 minutes, the command post and other structures will be respawned and the Ssath will be given a protected area to recover and rebuild in for 8 minutes. Any hostile forces entering the designated protected area will shut down and their operators will face a severe survivability penalty. Any subsequent destruction of the command post will result in an increased delay for reconstruction as well as a shortened protection duration.

“Well done, Hugh, we’ll build up our forces and take the Ssath one last time before I prepare for an assault on the control point. Do you think you can handle the Ssath on your own without my troops assisting?” Harkona asked.

“I don’t know, but I think we’ll be able to handle it if you help with the next respawn of their command post,” Hugh replied. He had twenty infantry already covering the Ssath or on their way, and producing as many infantry as he could before reaching the unit cap would still leave him with resources in the bank. Hopefully, he could upgrade the command post before he had to face the Ssath on his own.

This time, both Hugh and Harkona had a full army ready to go when the timer ticked down and the protective field dropped. The Ssath commander had even fewer units produced this time, and they destroyed the enemy command post with little trouble. Hugh’s mechs held back to provide fire support and only lost three infantry this time. The Yaelar had a bit more trouble, losing ten infantry and a light mech, but overall it wasn’t too bad and Hugh was confident that he could handle things on his own with the next fight as Harkona built up for his push on the control point.

The Ssath command post has been destroyed. In 9 minutes, the command post and other structures will be respawned and the Ssath will be given a protected area to recover and rebuild in for 7 minutes. Any hostile forces entering the designated protected area will shut down and their operators will face a severe survivability penalty. Any subsequent destruction of the command post will result in an increased delay for reconstruction as well as a shortened protection duration.

Harkona replaced his losses and began his assault of the control point, taking it over but suffering heavy losses due to the enhanced number of automated defenses the place had constructed since the battle began. Leaving a few infantry to hold the control point, Harkona sent a light mech and four infantry to help Hugh with the Ssath. This time, the Ssath only had a single light mech and eight infantry when the battle began. Hugh took serious losses even with the depleted enemy force and he was glad for the support Harkona had given.

This time, the Ssath had to wait ten minutes for his command post to rebuild and only had six minutes to construct units before the protected area ended. Hugh would be ready and he had finally gathered enough resources to upgrade his command post to tier two. The upgrade was completed quickly and with a boosted unit cap, Hugh was able to bring his total infantry count to forty-eight when the next fight got underway. His troops poured fire into the Ssath defenders, cutting them down before they could do much damage in return. The Ssath command post fell once again.

Now able to build up a total of over fifty infantry before hitting the unit cap, Hugh had a lock on the Ssath commander. The Ssath never gave up, continuing to attack as aggressively as he could each time the protected area was dropped, but each fight became easier for Hugh as resources continued to flow and upgrades were made to his units. It seemed like a long wait, but eventually, the Yaelar held the control point long enough to claim victory.

Defeat: Both you and the Ssath core have lost the battle for u22285x and the Yaelar core has secured victory. Post battle calculations are now commencing. This system is now protected for one year from any hostile activity by both human and Ssath forces.

Note: The Yaelar core has listed you as a neutral entity for the battle, negating any penalty for this defeat.

Post-battle calculations are commencing.

Reward Point Calculations:

Base reward: 25 points

Victory bonus: N/A, your core is listed as neutral and you are not entitled to a victory bonus.

Observation bonus: 100 points

Total points awarded: 125

War Core Termination Calculation:

Base chance for termination: 0.0001%

Failure penalty: none

Loss penalty: none

Victory enhancement: inactive

Effectiveness rating: above average

Effectiveness penalty or enhancement: A minimal decrease in lethality is granted.

Observer rating: above average

Observer penalty or enhancement: A minimal decrease in lethality is granted.

Bonuses to survivability: none

Combat pod lethality: active

Reward point total: 725/1000

Hugh waited as the calculations that could mean his death and the death of his soldiers were made by the GCA. It was a helpless feeling, but also one that angered him. Who were these aliens to toy with his life like this?

We’re sorry to inform you that your core has been slated for termination. Please standby for core disposal.

***

Sorry for the cliffhanger on this chapter, it just worked out that way and won't be as jarring when the book is done and you can just turn the page to resolve it. Don't worry, things will be resolved for Hugh next week, and the story didn't just end.