War Core 2, Chapter 24

Chapter 24.

Hugh watched the last of his infantry walk from the factory, each one now sported a small grenade container attached at their waist containing three of the deadly devices. His trip through the upgrade process further improved his avatar, cutting in half the one-second delay between each burst of his weapons. In addition to the weapons upgrades, the motion of his avatar seemed much smoother and a quick check at his status indicators showed his speed had slightly increased as well. He was just about to ask the others about what they should do next when the question was answered for him by the system.

Having secured a solid foothold on the planet, the Ssath continue to drive deeper into Krixnas territory. Your cores are being ordered back to a new series of defensive positions where you will assist your allies in holding back the invaders. Additional tasks are also being relayed to each human core. These are optional objectives that can be a good source of additional upgrade points, or they could cost you valuable resources if you fail in your tasks. You have been offered the following mission.

A small hive of Krixnas lives atop a nearby mountain that the Ssath wish to use as part of their sensor network. Despite warnings of the impending attack, this simple community has limited means to evacuate the area and is reluctant to leave the land they have inhabited for countless generations. With all their units tied up in defending critical locations, the Krixnas have no troops to spare and have asked you to provide a small force to assist in their defense until evacuation transport can be arranged.

Preventing the Ssath from taking control of this village will leave gaps in their sensor network, making it easier for the human and Krixnas cores in the region to redeploy their forces without being spotted. Reach the village before the Ssath assault force arrives and defend it for as long as possible. If you successfully fend off the Ssath, the surviving Krixnas civilians will be granted safe transport out of the area. Once you have completed the objective, your forces will also be allowed to safely airlift and rendezvous with the rest of your forces. The following forces are the maximum allowed for this battle.

1. Infantry mechs (50).

2. Light mechs (4).

3. Air mechs (1).

4. Avatar (optional).

“Did everyone else just get a new mission?” Hugh asked the other cores. He was surprised to see his participation in the mission was optional and wasn’t sure what to make of that. It was a risk given how much of an impact losing his mech would have on his other forces, but with the rest of his troops just marching back to the next rendezvous point, losing his avatar wouldn’t likely have that much of an impact.

“Yes, I’m asked to take two squads of infantry and ambush the Ssath recon team looking for our column,” Felicia advised.

“I assume you’re heading off too, Hugh, given my task is to lead my troops and your remaining forces to the new rendezvous point,” Jiro said.

“You’ve got it, I have to move to some mountain village and stop a Ssath attack force that’s heading there to build a sensor station. I can only bring a small force, so I guess that means you’ll get to play nursemaid to the rest of my forces,” Hugh replied.

“Okay, so I got the short end of the stick this time, and have the dreaded escort mission. I’m not sure what happens when your avatars move that far away from your troops, but it must have some impact if the GCA thought I would need to protect them,” Jiro said.

“I guess we’ll find out shortly, You should have the commlink codes for my commanders, they’ll do whatever they can to assist you,” Hugh offered, pushing the mission information out to his commanders as he spoke.

“I’m on a time crunch for my mission, so I need to get moving. Jiro, work with my commanders to get my remaining forces arranged where you want them in the marching order. If something happens to my avatar and they revert to AI control, at least they won’t be blocking in your troops or marching in a tight formation that makes for a good target. My commanders are pinging my comms, I need to work out the details with them,” Hugh told the others.

“My mission is time-sensitive as well, I’ll head out presently,” Felicia said. They agreed to speak again once they go their subordinates organized.

“Major Logan, why exactly are you risking your avatar when its participation is optional?” Brubaker asked. The other commanders also piled on, not letting Hugh get a word out the moment he dropped back into their comm channel.

“Woah, hold on, I’ve already thought this out. The bulk of our forces are going to essentially be marching for a while as we move to our next assignment. There will never be a better time for me to engage in battle. If my avatar is destroyed, I’ll rebuild eventually, and since we’re not in a major conflict at the moment, it would have little to no impact on the rest of you. With the limited number of forces available, my avatar and its firepower could be a decisive factor in the battle,” Hugh told them. The others were silent for a bit, hopefully thinking about what Hugh had said.

“I understand sir, but I don’t like it. What if your avatar is destroyed and the column is attacked?” Cartwright asked.

“I don’t know, the GCA isn’t exactly forthcoming with all the details. Given that Jiro has been tasked with shepherding the column to its destination, I have a feeling that your troops will be able to coordinate with his core to some extent,” Hugh offered.

“Sir, why don’t you just send one of us to take your place? Sure, we don’t have upgraded mechs, but we can at least get the men organized for a fight,” Tremaine offered.

“Unfortunately, that’s not an option for us, it’s me or nothing for the forces we send. We’re working on guesses and assumptions here and I know it’s not the optimal way to fight a war, but we can only make the best decision we can with the available intel. I’ll lead the team on this one, but I assure you I have no intention of making front-line combat a habit. The risk of disaster if something were to happen to my avatar is limited for this particular battle, and you all know those civilians stand a much better chance at surviving if I’m with the troops we send. I’m going, I’ll make it an official order if I have to, but I’d prefer to have your support in this decision,” Hugh argued.

“Roger that sir, do you want me to select a platoon for you?” Brubaker said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had occurred after Hugh spoke.

“Thank you, Brubaker, pick out fifty of your best, same with you, Cartwright, I need a solid platoon of light mechs for this little mountaintop vacation,” Hugh replied. The others pulled out their choices for the mission, Hugh trusting that they knew the individual soldiers and marines much better than he did. Tremaine tried to assign himself to the force, but the GCA blocked any of the commanders from joining in.

It didn’t take long to get organized, the main column continued toward the rendezvous point to the west, while Hugh marched to the mountains in the northwest and Felecia marched east with her team to seek out the Ssath scouting parties. Nav points popped up on Hugh’s map, showing him the way to the village. With an air mech overhead for recon, and a squad of infantry pushed out scout for threats, Hugh had little to do while they marched on. After several miles, the connection to his commanders was severed, and Hugh was forced to trust them into Jiro’s care.

“Sir, I’m Sergeant Mendez, I know Captain Brubaker isn’t here, but if there’s anything you need, just let me know,” the sergeant called out over the open commlink.

“Thank you, Mendez, I’ll want your input once we see the situation we’re in. How are the upgraded infantry mechs handling?” Hugh asked. He was curious about what the upgrades would feel like to a soldier in a combat pod.

“Level three isn’t great, but it sure beats the level one mechs we piloting in the last battle. Our pace is now normal, but input delays are still a problem and the rifle can only fire about as fast as a bolt action weapon. The grenades will help, though, we’ll put those to good use,” Mendez advised.

“Good, we’ll tear up some dino’s and save as many civilians as we can,” Hugh replied. The rest of the platoon gave a series of oorah’s as the mention of killing Ssath. He was glad to see the previous battle hadn’t dampened their aggression.

The road they were on began to climb into some foothills, the simple dirt path led toward the highest peak in the area. Back on earth, it would have been a single-lane country highway, but instead of tire tracks, the dirt road was perfectly smooth, giving him hope that they had beat the Ssath to the party. Thankfully, the sharp incline didn’t hamper their mechs very much, if they had been in their physical bodies and humping the usual sixty pounds of weapons and gear, it would have been a different story.

As they climbed, Hugh noted several good spots for an ambush. Mendez also picked out a few that Hugh had missed, the marine was a combat veteran and knew what to look for better than Hugh did. It didn’t take them long to reach the top of the mountain and the Krixnas they were supposed to protect. A couple of dozen small structures were placed at seemingly random locations. Several groups of figures moved about the mountaintop village, information on them pulling up when he concentrated.

Krixnas civilian mech. While these mechs have minimal combat capabilities when compared to a standard infantry mech, but they are able to perform basic construction tasks.

“Human war core, thank you for coming to assist this village,” A voice called out over the general comm channel.

“Your welcome? Who is this?” Hugh asked.

“I am the Krixnas war core assigned to defend this area. My focus is needed elsewhere, but these AI-controlled civilian drones are yours to command,” the Krixnas responded.

“I’ll do my best to protect them. The description of this type of mech mentions some construction capability, do you know if I can order them to build some defenses for us?” Hugh asked.

“Yes, though more complex structures are beyond the AI’s capacity. Good luck, human, my attention is demanded elsewhere, the Ssath are attacking once again,” the Krixnas said, cutting off the comm channel. The translation software didn’t convey stress or inflection very well, but Hugh got the distinct impression that core was in a desperate fight.

You have been granted control of 119 Krixnas civilian drones. A Ssath hunting team is heading toward this location, defend the civilians and eliminate the attacking force to complete this battle. An alternate win condition is to survive the next 48 hours.

“Okay people, we’ve got work to do. Sergeant Mendez, take two squads down the trail and keep watch for the Ssath. The rest of you, spread out and recon the village, I need to know if there’s another way up here,” Hugh ordered.

“Roger that, sir. Is it okay if some of the drones tag along? If they can build stuff, I could use their help to prepare the ambush points we spotted earlier,” Mendez asked.

“That sounds good, take as many as you need. His sole air mech was piloted by a Lieutenant Cooper, and she had the best chance at spotting the enemy before they drew too close. “Cooper, do a quick spin around the village and look for any threats, then follow the main trail until you get eyes on the Ssath. Get a headcount if you can, but don’t get into range of their weapons,” Hugh ordered.

“I’m on it,” Cooper replied, her mech starting to run some ever-widening circuits over the village.

The small flat plain that the mountain village sat in should be a good defensive position, but the buildings were blocking much of his line of sight. He would need to remove at least some of the buildings to clear up his fire lanes if they didn’t want Ssath finding cover as soon as they made it up to the village. The place was defensible, but it would take a lot of work.

As far as setting up ambushes along the roadway, that was a much easier task. The single narrow road leading to the village was flanked by brush and strange tree-like fungal growths. It would give cover to the attacker’s approach, but if they tried to do so, it would funnel them into the narrow drainage ditch that ran alongside the road. One side of the road had a small ten-foot shoulder area before the downward slope became too much for a mech to traverse. The other side of the road had the drainage ditch and a similar-sized shoulder area before meeting the nearly vertical stone of the mountainside. It was a dream of a chokepoint, but would the Ssath have something to overcome that deadly challenge?