War Core 2, Chapter 34.

Chapter 34.

As his avatar went through the factory for its upgrades, Hugh thought he could feel a strange tickle as his mech was rebuilt into the powerful M48 Patton main battle mech. Giving it a quick test drive, his speed was about the same as before, through the greater mass of his new mech meant that rapid direction changes weren’t quite as easy fluid. The improved weapons systems were also functioning well, and Hugh couldn’t wait to try out the 105mm main gun on some Ssath mechs. His marines seemed especially pleased with their new infantry mechs, which at tier seven were finally as agile as a normal human. All in all, his upgraded force would have trashed the more numerous army he had started with, but even with the replacements and David cobbling together what he could, they just didn’t have enough to hold a city this big against a determined assault.

Human war core Hugh Logan, order of battle:

1. Infantry mechs (102).

2. Light mechs (7).

3. Light mech anti-air variant (2).

4. Main battle mech (7)

5. Main battle mech fire support variant (2).

6. Air mechs (6)

Human war core Jiro Masaki, order of battle:

1. Infantry mechs (111).

2. Light mechs (6).

3. Air mechs (2).

Krixnas war core designated David, order of battle.

1. Infantry mechs (80).

2. Light mechs (5).

Jiro had received more infantry and the upgrades he had lavished on them were beginning to show. Hugh didn’t know it was possible, but Jiro did manage to add a shield unit to his infantry mechs. Testing it out, they found that it could stop somewhere between one to three rifle hits before failing. Just like with the larger mechs, when the system was fully depleted, there was a long downtime before the shielding snapped back into place. Their armor had also been improved, along with their melee weapons.

Just like before, Jiro transferred over two squads of infantry to support Hugh in exchange for a pair of light and medium mechs. David had also increased his forces a bit, but the Krixnas core was still funneling most of his resources into fixed defenses. The second ring was also protected by twenty of the defensive globes and work was beginning on the third ring. In addition to the defensive globes, David had unlocked the strange tentacle mines that he had used against Hugh in their previous battles. Since they didn’t consume many resources, David had a squad of Krixnas happily sewing minefields around the outer ring of the city, with plans to duplicate their efforts in the open spaces between each ring.

With more air mechs at their disposal, Tremaine was keeping a close watch on things as the three cores tried to coordinate their defense. Hugh and Jiro divvied up the city as they had before, with Jiro protecting the northern half and Hugh the southern. Most of their infantry was dug into the outer ring buildings, supported by roving pairs of light and medium mechs. His flak mechs were kept in the center near David’s command post, Hugh counting on their own air assets giving him an early enough warning if they needed to shift position. His pair of artillery support mechs were also parked in the city center, their range was long enough that they could stay safely back from the main fight and drop some hate on the enemy as they approached.

“Hey, David, why don’t they name your cities? Human cities all have a name to tell them apart,” Jiro asked.

“We don’t need names, we use scent,” David replied.

“Yes, but how do you differentiate if you’re communicating over long distances?” Hugh asked, curious how these Krixnas worked.

“Our technology can transfer the scents needed to communicate intent. I also am curious how you humans manage to communicate without misunderstanding using only words and dubious body queues? Scents are definite, they aren’t subject to interpretation or misunderstanding,” David asked.

“I never thought about it that way, but yeah, we have lots of misunderstandings,” Hugh replied, wondering how many arguments could have been avoided over the years if he knew exactly what everyone meant.

“Hugh, do you know what this means?” Jiro asked.

“I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” Hugh replied.

“If we are somehow able to share technology with the Krixnas, we might finally develop smellavision,” Jiro joked. Hugh laughed with his fellow core, both eventually agreeing that humanity wasn’t ready for smellavision for anything other than maybe some cooking shows. It was a moment of levity in the face of the constant battles, and Hugh was glad to share this time with another core. He considered Valery a friend and now felt the same about Jiro. The Japanese businessman turned war core had a carefree and humorous side that Hugh wouldn’t have expected. They were both forced into this situation, but they were determined to make the most of it.

“Contact, sir, we’ve got a massive force heading in from the northeast, trying to get a count,” Tremaine advised, pulling Hugh from his thoughts. Like with the engagement against the scouting parties, the human air mechs were flying as high as they could to avoid detection, while still getting a good view of the approaching Ssath.

“That’s a lot of dinos,” one of the pilots commented. He was right, the Ssath column of forces seemed endless. Hugh counted over five hundred infantry, a hundred light mechs, and a similar number of the sauropod artillery mechs. More were following behind, including a truly massive mech that dwarfed anything Hugh had seen yet.

“Hey look, they brought Godzilla with them,” Jiro added as the monster mech stomped into view.

“I don’t know about Godzilla, but I’m willing to bet that we’re getting our first look at the Ssath avatar,” Hugh offered.

“Large enemy air mech formation approaching, I’ll have to pull back,” Tremaine advised. There were around thirty enemy fighter mechs, and behind them were twenty more of the larger bomber mechs. Tremaine transmitted the totals he had to all three cores.

Ssath Order of Battle.

1. Infantry mechs (583).

2. Light mechs (122).

3. Artillery mechs (97).

4. Medium mechs, (74).

5. Heavy mechs (12).

6. Fighter mechs (32).

7. Bomber mechs (21).

8. Suspected avatar (1).

“Sorry, sir, there were more at the rear of the formation, but I was too far out to get a count, but based on the distance of the column, I’d say we only counted about two-thirds of what they’ve brought to the fight,” Tremaine said.

“Any thoughts about their heavier mechs?” Jiro asked. They were getting their first look at the Ssath medium and heavy mechs. The medium mechs were scaled-up versions of their light mechs, resembling a larger raptor with cannons over both shoulders. Thoughts of Triceratops filled Hugh’s mind as he looked at their heavy mech variants. More than double the size of the medium mechs, a trio of cannons was mounted in place of horns on a metallic head plate that protected the rest of the mech. Two lighter weapons, the Ssath versions of machineguns were placed in turrets built into the rear hips.

“I’d say the medium ones are just more powerful versions of their light mechs, and those heavy mechs look like something you don’t want to fight head-on. We should try and get flanking shots if we want to avoid having to punch through that frontal armor,” Hugh offered.

“I believe the avatar appears particularly formidable,” David interjected.  Like the giant mech version of a T-Rex, the Ssath avatar bristled with firepower. It was easily triple the height of the enemy's heavy mechs and moved with a grace that something that big shouldn’t possess.

“Any suggestions? I don’t think we have a chance against that many enemy mechs,” Hugh said. The sheer number of foes was daunting, not to mention they were also likely to be even more highly upgraded than when he had faced them the last time. A system prompt appeared as the three cores tried to come to grips with what was heading their way.

The main Ssath army, backed by their war core’s avatar is approaching. While the forces at your disposal are unlikely to defeat this force, they can be used to help more of the civilians escape from the city. You may either defend the city to the last mech or form escort teams to protect the final evacuation efforts.

“I suspected this might be a possibility. While I must stay here and defend, I ask you to help more of my people to live,” David said. It didn’t sit well with Hugh to run out on the Krixnas core, but to stay was starting to look like certain death. Not having looked at it in a while, Hugh took stock of the evacuation’s progress.

Evacuation status.

Ring 1: 100%.

Ring 2: 100%.

Ring 3: 58%.

Ring 4: 26%.

Civilian casualties 1%.

“Hugh, I know you want to stay and fight, but we can’t handle this with the force we have available. We need to save as many as we can and try to regroup with the other cores before we’re ready to go toe to toe with the Ssath avatar,” Jiro offered. Hugh wanted to object, but Jiro and David were right. To fight here was to lose, but if the human cores fell back, they might be able to save more of the civilians.

“I don’t like it, but I don’t see any other way. We’ll escort the civilians out, at least as many as we can. David, can’t you set your defenses on automatic mode and pull back with us? We need every core we can get,” Hugh said.

“Thank you for escorting the civilians, and no, I am unable to retreat from here, nor would I desire to do so. You see, this city is my home, the location of my hive. I will defend it to the best of my ability and buy you time to see my people to safety,” David advised, despite the strange tone given by the automatic translation protocols, Hugh could hear the resignation in David’s voice. He wondered if he would feel the same if this were his home back on earth that he was defending.

“Jiro and I will do what we can,” Hugh replied.

“Thank you again, I’m receiving notification that all available transports will leave the city shortly. Unfortunately, there is not enough space for all of them to fit, and many are volunteering to stay behind and help defend the city,” David advised.

You have opted to escort the evacuating population. Three columns will soon leave the city, use your forces to protect the transports until they reach the designated area. Once you reach the indicated location on your map, the Ssath will be required to cut off any further pursuit.

The Ssath continued to close as more and more of the strange Krixnas transports gathered at the western edge of the city. Hugh hadn’t noticed that many before, leading him to believe the GCA had somehow created them while the cores’ attention was drawn elsewhere. Some innocent civilians would be left behind, whether that was due to not enough transport being available on the real Krixnas homeworld, or it was just another cruelty inflicted upon them by the GCA, Hugh couldn’t tell. It was yet another mark in his ledger against the GCA, one Hugh was determined to balance someday.

Transports started to leave as the Ssath closed in, the enemy formation spreading out as they prepared to encircle the city. Three columns of transports formed up as they left, with Jiro and Hugh arranging their troops to cover them as best they could. Sadly, the transports were automated, and they couldn’t coordinate with any operators of the mechs to help move them into a more defensible formation. It was going to be three gaggles of transport mechs, all of which were moving painfully slow toward the safe zone in the west.

Pulling up his map, Hugh could see where their targeted area was, a long trek given the slow speed of the columns, one that guaranteed the Ssath could catch them if they weren’t slowed down somehow. Jiro arranged his forces around the northernmost of the three columns and Hugh did the same for the southern group, with both cores shaving off some units to protect the center column. At least the three columns seemed to be moving at the same pace, it would have made defending them close to impossible if they were staggered out. Each group was about a mile from each other and progressing toward the safe zone at the same rate. Once the last transport scampered out of the city, Hugh was able to get an accurate count. Each column had a hundred transports, giving the two cores three hundred targets to protect. How many civilians were on each transport? How many were being left behind in the city to face certain death?