War Core 2, Chapter 35.

Chapter 35.

“It looks like David is drawing most of their attention toward the city,” Jiro noted. The Ssath forces spread out, greeted by occasional blasts of the defense spheres when a Ssath scout wandered too close. Half of David’s mechs were hiding inside the outer ring, ready to respond to the inevitable push. The other half of his mechs were working at the center ring of the city, desperately constructing defensive spheres and placing Krixnas mines around the command post and any open spaces they could find.

“I will engage them at the outer ring and have my forces flee toward the center of the city, as if in panic. Hopefully, I can draw a significant number away from the evacuation,” David advised.

“Roger that, we’ll get your people out of here safely,” Hugh replied.

Hugh moved his avatar toward the southernmost column, his Attached Units Krixnas light mechs forming a protective ring around him. For the time being, the Ssath seemed content to push most of their forces around the city, likely to launch an attack from all directions given that the Krixnas didn’t have enough forces to screen or effectively defend the entire perimeter.

As they crept further from the city, Hugh could see a strong force breaking off to pursue. It looked like the Ssath were committing most of their troops to the assault on the city, but they had plenty of numbers remaining to make Hugh and Jiro’s lives difficult. Tremaine and his air mechs circled the columns, their altitude helping to get an accurate count of the forces peeling off to pursue the evacuation.

Ssath pursuit force.

1. Infantry (100).

2. Light mechs (25).

3. Medium mechs (25).

4. Heavy mechs (2).

“Most of their heavies are staying at the city, along with all the artillery. Their air mechs will be flying directly over the city, but that doesn’t mean they won’t continue past and join the pursuit,” Tremaine advised.

“There’s a lot of Ssath heading toward us, but it’s not an unmanageable number. I’m going to have the light mechs push ahead of the columns and set an ambush, the rest of us need to cover and delay as best we can. I think we can defeat the force heading toward us, but I’d like to avoid a stand-up brawl if possible. We’ll win, but our army would be gutted in return,” Hugh told Jiro and the commanders.

They weren’t very far from the city, and the enemy was closing in. Hugh pulled the main battle mechs along with his avatar toward the rear of the columns, intending to use their impressive firepower to put the hurt on the Ssath, at least until the enemy heavies closed in. True to form, the faster Ssath infantry and light mechs were closing in first, desperate to catch the fleeing prey. A boom caught his attention as the pair of artillery mechs opened up for the first time. Looking toward the approaching Ssath, he spotted twin explosions of plasma erupted a few seconds later, landing harmlessly in the gap between the infantry and the light mechs.

“Still getting the hang of these and firing on the move isn’t easy, sir, but we’ll be on target in no time,” Cartwright assured him. The rate of fire was good, and another pair of shots were thrown downrange a second or two later. This time, the shots were better placed, both artillery shells landing at the rear of the infantry approaching the center column. The blasts, once again, hit behind the enemy, but fragments of burning plasma sprayed out over the enemy infantry mechs, taking out two and damaging several others.

Hugh had placed both his artillery mechs in the center column, from there, they could hopefully reach any pursing force, but for now, they focused on the Ssath heading toward the center column, since that was where the enemy seemed to be focusing most of their troops. Pairs of main battle mechs were placed with each column, dropping back toward the rear as the enemy closed in, the lead enemy elements were almost in range of their new 90mm main guns.

Dull thumps were sounded behind the main battle mechs and for a moment, Hugh was concerned there was a problem, but then he felt the light mortar mounted to the back of his avatar go into action. The upgrade had attached a rather small 60mm weapon to the main battle mechs. His 105mm gun fired shortly after, but the sound of its discharge was drowned by a larger rumble that filled the battlefield as the main Ssath army unleashed all its artillery at once. The outer ring of the city flickered with plasma blasts, tearing down entire buildings with the fearsome barrage.

Turning his attention back to his own fight, Hugh could see his main battle mechs were having a field day, Jiro’s light mechs now joining in with their 20mm shoulder-mounted weapons. His avatar unleashed another main gun round, his automated targeting was on point and, so far, each shot had resulted in a dead Ssath. His main battle mechs were having similar success, wearing away the lead enemy forces with main guns and mortar fire. His artillery mechs shifted to the enemy light mechs, trying to inflict casualties there before they entered range with their shoulder-mounted weapons.

The northern and southern columns each had to deal with thirty or so infantry and a sprinkling of light and medium mechs. Enemy heavy mechs both pursued the center column, their more ponderous pace was still greater than that of the slow-moving transports, but they were gaining ground much more slowly than the other Ssath units. Hugh and Jiro should have enough time to deal with the other Ssath before they had to tangle with the enemy heavies.

Back at the city, the enemy air mechs circled over the center ring, where once again, they dropped payloads of Ssath airborne troops. This drop wasn’t spread out over several rings, they were dropping directly onto the center of the city, close to David’s command post. Thirty or so Krixnas infantry moved to protect the core, their face tentacle beams reaching up to swat down the falling airborne mechs. Inaccurate as usual, they didn’t do much to deplete the enemy forces dropping directly on top of them. Other Krixnas stationed in the area moved to reinforce, but they wouldn’t arrive until after the Ssath landed.

The bombers could hold up to twenty Ssath infantry inside, but this time, his ally David caught a break. Maybe the initial air assault had packed in the infantry since their earlier attack was the main effort, but for this drop, only five or six Ssath infantry were launched from each bomber. With twenty-one bombers in the attack, it still meant that over a hundred enemy were dropping on top of David’s command post, a command post that was currently defended by thirty or so inferior Krixnas infantry.

Krixnas continued to thin the enemy as they dropped, but it became apparent that most would make it to the ground. As the first Ssath touched down, they released their chute harness and charged toward the nearest Krixnas, guns blazing and chainsaw teeth ready to strike. David’s troops fought hard, taking down several enemy mechs, but these Ssath had been further upgraded since the last battle, their armor was thicker, their ranged weapons more accurate, and their melee capability remained as deadly as ever. Krixnas after Krixnas dropped, gunned down, or torn to shreds by metallic teeth and claws. Where before, the Krixnas fought the Ssath at near parity in melee, now they were thoroughly outclassed.

The first of the Ssath airborne troops broke through the defenders and were charging the vulnerable command post. Hugh was thinking that his enemy turned ally was about to be destroyed when the doorways to the buildings near the command post burst open and Krixnas flooded the streets. These Krixnas weren’t infantry mechs, they were only about a third the size, and instead of a mass of face tentacles, these only had a single, shorter pair on their faces.

“You think that’s what their civilians look like?” Jiro asked.

“That’s my bet, they’re brave enough, but they’re not doing too well, are they?” Hugh replied. The swarms of civilian Krixnas charged the momentarily confused Ssath airborne infantry. The Krixnas didn’t seem to have any ranged capability in their tentacles and had to close in to strike at their foes. Responding with excitement to the newly arrived prey, the Ssath tore into civilians, ripping them to pieces with little difficulty.

“Yeah, they stink at fighting, but they're sure a lot of them,” Jiro replied. It was true, the Krixnas were being smashed, but their sheer numbers guaranteed that some made it close enough to lash out with their plasma-enhanced face tentacles. Not nearly as powerful as the ones on proper Krixnas infantry, the weapons on the civilian mechs were still able to melt into armor, and the damage to the Ssath started to mount.

The Ssath seemed to realize they were being overrun and tried to disengage from the Krixnas civilian mechs who were still pouring from the nearby buildings. Ssath clawed and shot their way past the swarm, a few breaking clear and charging the command post, ranged weapons hammering the building as they closed in. Just before they reached the command post where they could put their more effective melee weapons into play, the ground around the Ssath shifted, writhing tentacle mines bursting forth to grasp onto and burn into the Ssath.

Hugh had faced these weapons back in his final battle against the Krixnas. The mines had surprised his troops and while he felt they weren’t as effective as a traditional explosive; they were more adequate for this type of fight. Krixnas civilian mechs had no trouble crossing the minefield, the weapons obviously having some friend or foe capability. The surviving Ssath airborne forces tried to free themselves but were soon swarmed under by the much more numerous defenders.

“Enemy air mechs are heading our way, we’ll try to thin their numbers,” Tremaine advised, drawing Hugh’s attention back to the fight in front of him. Squads of infantry had joined the main battle mechs at the rear of the columns, adding more firepower to the mix. The Ssath infantry that had pursued the columns were mostly down, and the surviving enemy light mechs weren’t going to last long either. Return fire was hot and heavy, causing multiple casualties among both core forces, but so far, the losses were manageable.

His avatar had been fighting automatically, and its superior firepower ensured that all the Ssath infantry and light mechs pursuing his column were down, but the medium Ssath mechs were closing in, his avatar already trading shots while he executed random movements to help throw off the enemy aim. With Hugh’s latest avatar upgrades, his heavier main gun maintained a better rate of fire than his opponents could maintain.

A shot from one of the Ssath medium mechs slammed into the flank of Hugh’s avatar. Normally, he would feel a burst of pain as the blast hit him, but this time, the plasma dissipated against his shield. He could feel some pressure from the hit, letting him know it occurred, but there was no pain and his shield charge dropped from 100% down to 48%. It looked like it would take two hits from the main guns of the Ssath medium mech to discharge his shield. The enemy medium mechs featured a pair of cannons over their shoulders, so there was always the possibility of getting hit with both at once which would drop the shield in one blow.

Hugh’s main gun swiveled to track the Ssath that had hit him, sending a 105mm plasma round directly into the chest armor of the enemy. A panel on the mech exploded as the round slammed home. The Ssath staggered, but then continued to attack, its wobbly gait telling Hugh the thing had been badly damaged. Given the way the panel exploded, Hugh figured the Ssath medium mechs had some version of the reactive armor upgrade. His avatar avoided one of the two enemy return shots, the Ssath had smaller caliber main guns, somewhere around a 50mm weapon, but they packed a punch and his mech shuddered the shield charge completely dissipated.

The enemy medium mechs had closed in enough for his fifty caliber weapons to join the fight, the heavy machineguns started chugging out bursts of fire, the first of which hit the same spot his on the enemy mech where his main gun round had burned away the armor. Without anything to slow it down, the heavy machinegun rounds tore into the guts of the Ssath, and after the second burst, the enemy machine went down in a shower of sparks and flame. His weapons began seeking more targets, Hugh trusting them to fight on their own while he reviewed the status of the battlefield.

At the southern column, Hugh and his forces were finishing off the last of the enemy medium mechs, the added firepower of his avatar turning the tide against the Ssath rather quickly. The center and northern columns were still in the fight, but were well in control, having time to cut down each wave of Ssath before the others could get into range. With both artillery units supporting it, the center column had done good work at thinning the Ssath long before they could enter melee range. With Jiro’s avatar helping out the northern column, they were mopping up the last few targets. The only wildcard was the two Ssath heavy mechs that were still closing in.

“Jiro, any idea about what to do about those heavies?” Hugh asked.

“I don’t think I want to stand my forces in front of that thing, we’re going to have to flank it and attack somewhere away from that armored head plate,” Jiro advised.

“I think the artillery mechs can outrange it, but I’m not sure how much damage they can do before those monsters can shoot back. My light mechs are up ahead in an ambush position, but I don’t think we’ll get to them before those heavies can attack,” Hugh replied.

“Why don’t we engage it with our center column troops while you and I lead a force from the north and south? That way, we can catch it in a crossfire and no matter which way they turn, at least two groups will be able to get shots into the more lightly armored sections,” Jiro suggested.

“I don’t see any other way, let’s go with that. Do we risk our avatars, or hang back?” Hugh asked, not sure which was the best choice. He knew he was going to ask his troops to fight something that likely outclassed them, and it seemed cowardly to hold back the two best mechs they had at their disposal. On the other hand, losing either of their avatars would be a disaster. That was the problem with this whole battle, the GCA gave each core a powerful tool, but that same tool was also each core’s greatest weakness.

“I think we have to go in, skirt the outer edge of their range and jump in to strike where we can, the move back when the Ssath focus on us. Those things are huge, but they don’t seem too agile, after all,” Jiro replied.

“That sounds pretty good. Those things will try to focus on our avatars once we get in range, but we can use that to bait them around, maybe even move them away from the column,” Hugh said, agreeing with Jiro’s plan. He still had his Drop Beacon of the Vanquished ready to go if the heavy mechs turned out to be more powerful than he thought, but Hugh did want to save that ability to support David at some critical point.

They formed up the troops they planned to use in the assault, moving almost everything to the rear of the columns, leaving only a couple of squads of infantry to continue with escort duty while the rest of them fought off the Ssath heavies. Letting the column of civilians pull ahead, Hugh and Jiro led their troops toward the flanks of the Ssath heavies, staying well outside what they suspected was the range of their huge cannons. The fight started with the artillery, both the mechs opening up at the maximum range. Rounds started to land, but the first shots were off target. Adjustments were made by the gunners and the second rounds landed between the two behemoths. It wasn’t a direct hit, but both enemy mechs were sprayed with plasma fire, their shields flickering as they absorbed the energy of the blasts.

The next rounds were on target, both slamming into the back of the same mech. Gouts of plasma shot up, dropping the shields protecting the heavy mech and digging into the armor. Despite the fireworks show, the enemy mech didn’t so much as flinch, shrugging off the hits. More rounds landed, the two artillery mechs focusing on the already damaged enemy. A few more hits and the enemy heavy mech began to stagger under the damage. A few cheers went out over the open comms when both enemy mechs suddenly stopped, turning their heads toward the troops guarding the center column.

A red glow appeared inside the triple barrels of the Ssath cannons, and after building for a second, the weapons fired. Huge plasma rounds shot toward the defenders, the mech pilots separating and dodging away from the attack. All six shots hammered into the artillery mechs, the Ssath having a much greater range than any of them had thought possible. Both of Hugh’s artillery mechs exploded, shields and armor completely overwhelmed by the monster-sized rounds. Only a glowing pile of parts remained of his longest ranged weapons.

In response, the other defenders of the center column charged forward, desperate to get their weapons into play before the Ssath picked them off one by one. Jiro and Hugh also pushed their troops forward coming at the pair of enemy mechs from the flanks. A new sound was heard from the center of the column, Hugh looking over to see both his flak mechs firing their 40mm guns into the air. Tremaine’s fighters had done what they could, but the swarm of enemy air mechs was closing in.

Continuous fire, one round after the other thumped from the twin 40mm anti-air weapons. Tracers showed where the rounds were headed, and whenever one got near an enemy mech, the shell exploded showering glowing fragments into the enemy mechs. Caught off guard, the enemy hadn’t expected ground-based opposition and lost time as they pulled out of range of the anti-air mechs. His mechs had got their licks in, though, and a pair of enemy bombers smoked and sputtered as they lost power and dropped from the sky.

His main gun opened up, drawing his attention back to the more immediate and deadly threat that the enemy heavy mechs represented. The 105mm round was on target, despite the extreme range, and slammed into the already damaged Ssath. A tier ten weapon, his main gun had little trouble penetrating the side armor of the Ssath, the explosion tearing off large, armored panels, and leaving the monster mech exposed to fire from his other troops. Without the protective armor, even infantry rifles could deal punishment, once they got into range, that is.

The two Ssath fired again, their cannons tearing into more of the troops defending the center column. Both Hugh’s main battle mechs positioned there were down, but the infantry was now in range and firing. The Ssath frontal armor seemed to shrug off the hits, but Hugh knew that given enough time, the plasma-based rifles would melt their way through anything. The only trouble was that the Ssath weren’t going to stand still and let the infantry do it. Each blast of their heavy cannons wiped a few more of Hugh’s troops from the battlefield.

Hugh focused his main gun on the damaged sections of the enemy mech, holding his avatar at extreme range while the rest of his troops pressed on. The damaged mech stopped, then began a ponderous turn, shifting the deadly cannons in Hugh’s direction. Reversing course, Hugh juked his avatar back and forth as he charged outside of Ssath range. When the cannons fired, the rounds fell short, but the concussion and blast radius was enough to drop his newly recharged shield. A second “near miss” would be a deadly one, so Hugh would have to skirt the edge of the Ssath’s range, jumping into range with his main gun, before fleeing out again.

The heavy mechs weren’t his only problem, the remaining Ssath air mechs had rocketed west, past the range of his air defenses. Once out of range, they landed, transforming into ground mode as they moved to engage the thin screen of infantry that they had left behind to protect the column. Eighteen bomber mechs and a baker’s dozen of the enemy fighters marched toward his infantry spraying fire as they moved. The evacuating transports didn’t respond to the threat, their programming driving them blindly toward their objective heedless of the threats in front of him. The fight that Hugh and Jiro felt was well in hand just minutes ago, had suddenly turned against them.