War Core Wednesday, War Core 2, Chapter 44.

Chapter 44.

“I’ve just got notice to move my forces to the portal. Hold them back my brothers, do not let the Ssath take a single ring of this city before its time,” Valery said. His surviving mechs formed up and began to march toward the center of the Krixnas capital. Many of the mechs were battle-scarred, and Hugh couldn’t help but worry about how many of his mechs would survive the battle, and even if they did survive, how many of his men would never emerge from their combat pods?

“Well fought Valery, I’ll talk to you soon,” Hugh told his friend.

“Da, we meet again soon in that restaurant on Harmony Station, and maybe this time you try a real Russian meal,” His friend joked.

Your forces have successfully defended the first ring of the city.

Rewards:

1. Survivability for all human cores and combat pod operators has improved by 5%.

2. Bonus resources have been allocated to each core based on their position in the defense of the city. You have been granted 400 resources.

3. The standard resource flow for each factory has been increased.

A short reprieve has been granted to allow you to prepare for the next assault. The Ssath may continue hostilities after 10 minutes have passed. Evacuations may continue during this time.

The rewards were all very welcome, as was the notice that the evacuation didn’t stop during the respite. A steady but slowly moving stream of transports had begun to make their way from the second ring where the Krixnas core they were calling Ivan was preparing to make his stand. Hugh ordered up six more infantry squads, enough to give Brubaker the two squads for each strongpoint that he had requested. With a little over a hundred resources remaining, Hugh decided to start in on some fixed defenses.

“Bob, can you see about getting a minefield out for each strong point, and maybe some at critical intersections? Brubaker can help you with placement,” Hugh ordered.

“I will begin on it immediately,” Bob replied, Brubaker already laying out where he wanted the first minefield to go as well as giving him the placement of any others should they get the resources to build them.

The natural flow of resources had increased with their victory reward, and instead of one every few minutes, it was one per minute. Not enough to do much to bolster his forces with, but enough to hopefully flesh out his fixed defenses while they waited for the results of the next fight. Working with his infantry commander, Bob would use the resources as they came in for more minefields and maybe even some standard turrets. At only ten resources each, they would have enough trickle in to get a few down in between each fight, using the victory bonus, if any, to purchase more troops.

“Ivan, are you ready to go?” Jiro asked. The Krixnas core had been quiet for most of the battle but was working diligently to build more defenses and gather a larger fighting force.

“Yes, I will share my efforts. Unfortunately, I don’t have any of the specialized units that war core known as Valery Akalov used, but my troops are numerous, and my defenses are improving by the minute,” Ivan advised. Hugh looked over his efforts, a bit more skeptical of the Krixnas core’s ability to hold off the Ssath.

Order of Battle, Krixnas war core known as Ivan:

1. Infantry mechs (288).

2. Light mechs (59).

Fixed Defenses:

1. Defensive turret (12).

2. Minefield (33).

3. Hive defense point (4).

The infantry and light mechs were mixed, and there didn’t seem to be any attempt to fortify the buildings. The second ring of the city was set up like the others with three rows of structures, and the buildings were slightly larger than the ones that Valery had defended. Minefields were placed on the roads that crossed this part of the city, with pairs of defensive turrets placed at major intersections. It would help out in any fights that happened to break out in those areas, but the Krixnas ground troops were going to have to do all the heavy lifting.

“What are hive defense points?” Jiro asked.

“They represent members of the hive who have volunteered to stay behind and help cover the evacuation of the majority of my people,” Ivan replied.

“Okay, but what exactly do they do?” Jiro prodded.

“When an enemy nears one of the defense points, the structure will begin to generate defenders to swarm our foes. The defenders can’t move far from their structure and their fighting effectiveness is limited, but many of my kind wished to fight rather than flee, this allows them to do so,” Ivan advised.

“Wait, are there civilians in combat pods driving these things?” Jiro asked.

“Exactly, they will fight very hard to stop the Ssath, would your people not do the same?” Ivan asked.

“Good question, I think some, but not all would. Humans are a little odd that way, I guess. We can be capable of both acts of great bravery and acts of cowardice. You never know what you’re going to get with humans, but I’d like to believe that most would choose to fight back if the invasion were happening on Earth,” Jiro responded.

Hugh wondered about it, would such an option even be open if things took a turn for the worse and the Ssath were at Earth’s doorstep? Depending on what part of the country that the battle would be fought on, Hugh could think of all kinds of problems that the locals could cause the Ssath. Admiral Yamamoto is reported to have said that during the second world war that Japan couldn’t invade the mainland of America because there was a rifle behind every blade of grass. In this case, it might become a mech behind every building.

While they had been enjoying their respite, the Ssath had been active, the main army now pulling into view. It wasn’t just a swarm of infantry supported by some light mechs this time, War Core Hssim had brought all his heavy hitters with him. Large sauropod artillery mechs of several types were walking alongside giant T-Rex-looking mechs, festooned with various ranged weapons while still maintaining the deadly teeth and claws of their smaller kin. Thick armor and powerful shields protected them, and Hugh figured it would take something like Valery’s heavy mechs to make a dent in them. His main battle mechs would likely be up to the task, but for the first time, he kind of wished he had something larger in his order of battle.

“Ah, thank you for the support human war core known as Hugh Logan, it is much appreciated,” Ivan said. Hugh was confused at first then noticed movement at Ivan’s factory. Walking out of the factory were several main battle mechs, his contribution for the Allied Force perk he had chosen. Looking back at his factory, there were none of the free AI-controlled units promised by the ability. Maybe it would hit when they finally got around to Mike’s ring, but for now, he felt kind of ripped off.

“You’re welcome, they’re AI-controlled, but they will help bolster your firepower,” Hugh advised.

“Don’t forget that our artillery is also at your disposal,” Stephan added, nudging the Krixnas core to incorporate the guns into his defense. Hugh and Stephan would have them join in regardless, but it would be better if they could coordinate with Ivan to maximize their effectiveness.

“I was going to say we could help as well, but it looks like my boys are going to be a bit busy up here,” Tucker advised. Large flights of the Pteranodon fighters and bombers had flown into view. For now, they were circling the Ssath army, but once the battle commenced again, they were sure to jump in.

The Ssath army broke up into four groups, one moving to each compass point. For this fight, there would be no charging in blindly to attack at one location. Hugh was forced to change his mind as the Ssath reversed course and began to gather into a single army once more. Ivan had been shifting his defenders to match the Ssath movements, leaving a few units to patrol around the other parts of the city, while concentrating wherever the Ssath did. Maybe this was some kind of mind game to force the defenders to march to their tune.

“What are they doing?” Stephan asked, giving word to the confusion they were all facing.

“I’m not sure, but time is almost up, so I think we’re about to find out,” Jiro added. The Ssath spread out their forces once again, only this time most were still concentrated with the original group to the north, and while the other three had a powerful force, they were a tenth the size of the main army. Stepping to the front of the Ssath army was the largest mech that Hugh had seen so far, the avatar of Hssim had joined the fight.

“Look at that beast!” Stephan exclaimed.

“Yeah, Hugh and I saw that avatar in one of our previous battles. It’s no joke,” Jiro advised.

“Ha, I just hope none of you steals that kill from me, my little Maus wants to take on the giant monster,” Stephan said.

“He’s all yours,” Hugh offered. While he enjoyed getting stuck into the fight, he didn’t fancy tangling with the Ssath avatar one bit.

“I will endeavor to do my best to defeat it in the coming fight, but I do not share your desire to meet it in combat human war core known as Stephan Wagner,” Ivan added.

“It’s a worthy foe, my ancestors would say that fighting something like that would guarantee your place in Valhalla,” Stephan said.

“Hugh Logan, may I have your assistance?” Mike asked. The new core had been quiet during the fight so far, so his request surprised Hugh.

“No problem, what can I help with?” Hugh replied.

“Should I spread my troops around the entire city ring, or focus on a single location for defense, neither strategy seems optimal,” Mike asked.

“Either can be right or wrong depending on how the fight develops. See how Ivan is shifting his forces to match the enemy movements? That’s a smart thing to do, with live troops, I might not recommend it since they’ll become fatigued, but mechs don’t get tired. I would also seek to protect any valuable assets, in your case, that’s your command post. You don’t want a few Ssath to slip through and destroy it. Keep a solid group to defend the command post and move your others about. While the fight against Ivan is going on, try to look at his actions and see what works and what doesn’t,” Hugh offered.

“Thank you, may I make one more request?” Mike asked.

“Sure, what do you need?” Hugh replied.

“I would like to speak with one of your commanders, the human called Brubaker, to assist me in the placement of defenses, I have purchased several, but I am not sure where they will be most effective,” Mike requested.

“Not a problem, I’ll send you his comm channel code so you may contact him directly,” Hugh replied.

“What is that!” Tucker shouted. During his conversation with Mike, Hugh had missed that the countdown timer had ticked to zero and the battle was officially begun. Despite being allowed to fight, the Ssath were still maintaining their same positions, not a single mech moving forward to attack. Tucker drew their attention toward the sky which was glowing red in several areas. Hugh knew what this meant, and it wasn’t good.

“Ivan, spread out your forces, now! That’s an orbital bombardment heading your way!” Hugh shouted. The rounds were coming in much faster than the previous bombardment he had the misfortune of witnessing.

Ivan gave the orders as soon as Hugh told him what was happening, but the Krixnas weren’t very swift, and with four shells approaching, Hugh wasn’t sure that anywhere in the second ring of the city was going to be safe. Krixnas moved randomly, separating and scattering into the different buildings. Given their almost insect-like appearance, Hugh, for some reason, pictured cockroaches scurrying away when a light was turned on.

Four glowing red shells slammed down to the planet like the fists of a god. The ground didn’t just shake, it jolted. Buildings across all the rings of the city collapsed, and even Hugh’s avatar back at the fifth ring of the city staggered a bit under the blow. Four mushroom clouds rose from the second ring, images of nuclear blasts filled Hugh’s memory. These were just kinetic strikes, far more powerful than any normal artillery, but it was a conventional shell fired from a starship instead of a radiation-emitting weapon. Radiation wouldn’t be a problem for their mechs, but the big question was whether or not any of Ivan’s forces had survived the blows.

It was always joked that if World War 3 ever broke out, the only survivors would be the cockroaches, seeing the massive damage each shell had wrought on his ally, Hugh felt that cockroaches surviving what had just happened was optimistic. In the distance, the Ssath army moved in for the kill.