War Core 2, Chapter 48.

Chapter 48.

“I can’t stop you from doing this, Stephan, but let me know if there is anything else I can do to help,” Hugh offered.

“Cover Mike as best as you are able, it will take a bit of time for my attack to slam home. Now that Valery isn’t here, I can tell you that I killed many Russians on the eastern front using this very same tactic. Perhaps you can use your drop pod ability if the opportunity arises. Now, I must gather my forces and move out,” Stephan said.

“Hey Hugh, what’s Stephan doing, he’s not answering his comms, and his troops are all gathering at the limit marker. I’m worried someone is going to blunder over the line,” Tucker said.

“He’s decided to launch a counterattack, and nothing I could say would dissuade him. I guess he was done arguing and didn’t want to go through it a second time with you,” Hugh said.

“Bloody fool, he’s a big boy and can decide for himself, but all those soldiers with him,” Tucker replied.

“I know, but apparently, they’re all elderly veterans who signed up to fight knowing they weren’t likely to survive,” Hugh said.

“Yeah, still doesn’t make it right, but as long as they agreed to it, I suppose we can’t stop them,” Tucker said, his voice strained with concern.

“The best we can do is help out where we can. When his attack starts, the Ssath might bring up their bombers to counter it, so keep an eye out,” Hugh suggested.

“Will do, mate, just make sure you don’t get any charge of the light brigade ideas. Not sure what it is with your ground pounders that makes you so crazy,” Tucker said, his normal humor sounding forced.

“No crazy here, I’m counting on living long enough to get a new body out of this whole ordeal,” Hugh replied.

A few more rounds were fired by his main battle mechs, but it looked like the Ssath were gathering up for a big push on the command post, and whoever was in command didn’t want to risk any units until they were ready to go. Stephan’s army was gathered, and a system prompt popped up as soon as the first mech stepped over the line.

The human war core, Stephan Wagner, has left his assigned ring of the city. A 25% survivability penalty has been applied to this core and all the forces under his command.

“We’ll begin our assault from the north, I’ll hit the enemy artillery then move on the main Ssath army. We’ll roll up their lines and likely drive some of them right into your guns,” Stephan advised.

“Roger that, we’ll do what we can,” Hugh replied. A faint hiss told him that Stephan had left their comm link open. Whether that was intentional or an oversight by the busy core, he couldn’t say. Looking out over Stephan’s army, they looked impressive as moved in formation toward the northern part of Hugh’s ring. Unlike Hugh’s infantry focus, Stephan had focused on his medium mechs, and those units indeed looked formidable. He reviewed the attacking force, wondering if there were enough troops to do what the German wished.

Order of battle for the war core known as Stephan Wagner:

1. Infantry mechs, Panzergrenadier variant. (120) These infantry mechs have a standard chassis with enhanced agility. They are configured to fight while mounted on a heavier mech and can integrate their small arms into the mech’s targeting system to more effectively use their weapons. Anti-armor rockets and grenade launchers round out their weapon kit while their light shielding can be used to layer with the vehicle they are mounted on. Just as capable when fighting on their own, the Panzergrenadiers can clear buildings and bunkers to allow the heavier mechs safe passage.

2. Light mech, Leopard. (12). A fast-moving and modestly armored mech, the Leopard is stealthy and features a 50mm high-velocity main gun matched with a coaxial 7.92 machinegun and a smoke grenade launcher system.

3. Light mech variant, Mechaflammpanzer III (4). This light mech has had its main gun replaced with a high-powered plasma flame launcher. While the range is short, the weapon can easily melt multiple lightly armored targets as well as work very effectively to clear out occupied defensive structures. A single 7.92mm hull-mounted machinegun gives the mech additional firepower.

4.. Medium mech, Mechapanzer V Panther Ausf.G (24). This medium mech features a powerful 75mm gun that has been upgraded to improve accuracy, rate of fire, and range. A coaxial and hull-mounted 7.92mm machinegun adds additional protection against lightly armored targets. Protected by thick armor and reinforced shields, the mech also features an integrated mortar for indirect fire and directed blast anti-personnel mines attached to the hull.

5. Medium mech variant, Flakmech IV, Wirbelwind (4). Based on the medium mech chassis, this anti-air variant features a quad-mounted 20mm battery. Optimized for their anti-air role, the guns face a drop in accuracy, rate of fire, and range when used against ground targets. A secondary 7.92mm machinegun provides some defense against enemy infantry.

6. Medium mech variant, Hummel-Wespe Artillery mech (2). This artillery mech features a 105mm cannon that provides indirect fire support. A single 7.92mm machinegun rounds out the armament and it is recommended that this mech be kept back from heavy fighting. While the main gun can utilize a direct fire mode, it loses accuracy and range when doing so.

6. Heavy mech, Mechakampfwagen Tiger II (8). This six-legged heavy mech is equipped with a powerful 88mm main gun. A thick armor scheme is further enhanced by reactive panels and a dual shield system. Two 7.92mm machineguns protect against infantry, while a grenade launcher and laser-based point defense system round out the mech’s weapons loadout. Capable of absorbing great amounts of punishment the Tiger 2 is a powerful foe on the battlefield.

Stephan halted his forces in Hugh’s circle of the city, forming up in front of the open area separating the fourth and fifth rings. Infantry clung to the sides of the medium and heavy mechs, ready to engage the enemy or jump off to fight directly when needed. Stephan placed his heavy mechs along with his Maus avatar in the center of the line with the medium mechs forming the flanks. Light mechs moved up to screen the wedge-shaped formation with a few positioned behind the line to protect from any surprises. Stephan’s artillery and flak units were near the rear with the odd plasma flamethrower mechs just behind the main line, ready to jump in when needed. Painted in the traditional grey of the old Wehrmacht, the mechs looked dangerous, like a pack of war hounds straining at the leash to join the battle.

“My brothers,” Stephan started, Hugh feeling a bit guilty at listening in on what was a private conversation between the core and his men.

“A final time, we stand ready to do our duty, but this time, we serve a worthy cause. Back in our prime, we fought for a madman, a man who threw the world into flames and brought shame to our great nation. We can whine and moan that we were just following orders and that we did what we did to survive, but I know that such statements do nothing to assuage the guilt we all feel to some extent.

“Maybe some of you were evil men that relished in the dark deeds of the past, perhaps some wore the black of the SS or worked in the camps, to you, I hope you find the eternal damnation that surely awaits your corrupt soul. To the rest of you, we fight once more, at the end of our physical lives we have been given one last chance at battle, only this time, we fight for something different. We do not fight for a madman, we do not fight to fill someone else’s pockets, no, this time we fight to save an entire race.

“I don’t know much of these Krixnas, but I believe that they deserve a chance to live and prosper, just as humanity does. Today, each shell we fire, each enemy we destroy will allow a few more of their civilians to live. Fight hard today brothers, not because it will somehow absolve us of our sins, which it will not, no, fight hard to show the Ssath that they cannot consume the universe around them.

“Once, my brothers, we caused the world to quake in terror at the sounds of our panzers. Now, we will show the universe what it is to face not just the might of the Whermacht, but also the might of humanity. We die this day, make no mistake, but from here on, when a Ssath sees the Schwarzes Kreuz, the black cross, on a mech that is piloted by our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, they will cower in fear and know in their gut that their end is upon them.

“One last time, my brothers, we attack. Auchtung! Panzers Vorwarts!” Stephan commanded. The comm line was silent then, none of the elderly German veterans piloting the mechs had anything further to say, it was now a time for deeds, not words. Hugh cut the line with Stephan, recording his speech and as much as he would be able to of their coming fight. He would give it to the next German core he worked with, they should know what was happening here today.

The German formation charged out, moving at the pace of its slowest units, the heavy tanks. It wasn’t until they were near the fourth ring when the first Ssath units started to react. Most of the Ssath forces were gathering around Mike’s command post, ready to take out another of the cores defending this world. A few scouts tried to engage Stephan’s force, but the German’s combined firepower swept away the small scouting groups and hastily cobbled together troops trying to slow them down.

“Okay, it looks like the enemy bombers are going back into the fight, we’re on them, but check for leakers,” Tucker advised. Hugh’s flak units scanned the skies, ready to react to any bombers that dropped low enough to be in range. While they weren’t nearly as dangerous to other air mechs as the fighters were, the enemy bombers did have an impressive number of defensive machine guns. Tucker knew his business though and already positioned his forces to hit the enemy where their defense was weakest, head-on.

The remaining fighters poured in the plasma rounds as they rapidly closed on the enemy bomber formation, one, then another of the bombers burst into flame and dropped from the sky. The casualties mounted, and then the two groups met, the final German air mech slammed into one of the bombers, destroying it and sending fragments of their catastrophic collision into a second mech, leaving it struggling to keep up with the rest of the bomber force.

Tucker swung the four surviving fighters around, all of them damaged to some extent from the wall of fire the Ssath bombers were putting up. Their initial pass had taken down seven bombers and left three others damaged that were falling behind and losing altitude. They poured on the power streaking toward the enemy formation from the rear. The Ssath had more guns mounted to protect the rear of their mechs than the front, but this time through, the formation was broken up, preventing them from coordinating as well as they should have been able to.

Machinegun fire hammered into the enemy formation, their answering shots seeking out the jinxing fighters. Another pair of bombers went down, then two of Tucker's air mechs. Tucker’s avatar was a mech version of the old Spitfire and instead of several small-caliber machineguns, his craft was equipped with no less than eight 20mm cannons mounted in the wings. He evaded the incoming fire, the shield on his mech deflecting the few rounds that happened to connect. Each burst of his weapons shredded the target. When they passed back through the front of the formation, only Tucker and Tremaine were left.

“Sir, I’m going to take at least one more down with me, see you back home,” Tremaine said, his damaged air mech turning to slam into the lead bomber head-on. Hugh’s flak units began to fire, tearing into the wounded bombers that had finally drifted down into range.

With Tremaine gone, Tucker’s avatar was the last human air mech in the sky. They had done well, though, and only seven enemy bombers remained unscathed. Several more damaged craft drifted down while trying to line up for a bombing run before Hugh and Stephan’s flak mechs swatted them from the sky.

“Damage is mounting, but I’ll do what I can,” Tucker said. Hugh could hear in his voice, the strain of the pain that the damage to his avatar was generating. The shields on the air mech were down, and several gouges were penetrating the armor of his mech, one wing had the barrels of two of the cannon bent out of shape, but the other six his mech mounted were still firing away. His current target shattered into pieces under the fire, and the next bomber was taking a pummeling when one of the Ssath got a lucky hit, something on Tucker’s aircraft going critical and exploding, sending the remains of the human’s last air mech crashing to the ground.

“Just you and me Stephan, but Tucker did put up a hell of a fight. The last five enemies are heading toward you,” Hugh advised. With the number of flak units that they possessed between them, the damaged Ssath mechs that dropped into range were easily handled before they could release their payload, but the five intact mechs were too high for them to engage, bombs already falling toward Stephan’s army.

The old soldiers had worked out any kinks in their efforts during the earlier battles of the campaign, so they reacted like the veteran soldiers they were, opening the formation and changing directions to throw off the drop. Explosions rippled along their formation, but when the smoke cleared, Stephan had only lost a single medium mech, one of his artillery mechs, an air defense mech, and a dozen infantry.

“That should be all we have to worry about from the skies for a while, their bombers will take some time to regenerate munitions if they function anything like my air mech bombers do,” Stephan advised. His army reformed once they exited the fourth ring, turning directly toward the enemy artillery that was set up in the open area between rings three and four. The ponderous dinosaur artillery mechs were slower than Stephan’s heavies, and even now, Stephan and the tigers were firing at them with their main guns.

The 128mm gun on the Maus tore into one of the artillery mechs, blowing off a leg and causing it to stumble and sag toward the ground, easy prey for the mediums who would be in range soon. The tigers paired off and worked over the remaining artillery mechs. The enemy was picked off easily, their answering fire was in the form of an artillery barrage that the human pod operators were able to predict and avoid. Once close enough, the Ssath had trouble targeting human mechs, their artillery not working well, if at all, in a direct fire mode. Leaving some light mechs to run down the last of the damaged survivors, Stephan turned his army back toward the fourth ring, on a path that would take them directly toward Mike’s command post, and the Ssath that were even now pressing the attack home.

“Human war cores known as Hugh Logan and Stephan Wagner, I cannot last much longer, the damage is mounting on my command post,” Mike advised.

“Hold on as long as you can, pull infantry from the fighting, and have them work on repairs,” Hugh advised. Mike did as instructed, pulling eleven of his infantry over to being some repairs on the command post. They made progress, but the incoming fire was increasing, any Ssath that had a shot at the command post was taking it, ignoring the other Krixnas mechs to do so.

“Big force making their move on the command post,” Cartwright warned. Hugh watched as an enemy heavy mech left the city, moving into the open area to get a clear shot, several medium mechs, and infantry accompanied it.

“I’ve got the big guy, the rest of you concentrate on the others,” Hugh ordered. With his main gun’s magazine full, Hugh slammed home a shot every half second. The first two rounds dropped the enemy shield, the next one blasted a large divot in the side armor of the mech. The next shot was slightly off, destroying more armor and making a bigger breach, but the last shot was spot on, the shell penetrating deep into the enemy mech before exploding. The belly and chest of the giant enemy mech erupted in plasma and the monster dropped to the ground. I was still showing as functional, so Hugh hit it again and again once the gun reloaded, the weapon doing so much slower now that the magazine was empty.

The other mechs were beaten back, but Mike’s command post was in the red, time to pull out all the stops. Hugh targeted the largest concentration of Ssath, the ones damaging Mike the most, and activated the Drop Beacon of the Vanquished.