War Core 2, Chapter 23.

Chapter 23.

“Sir, don’t go turning my Marines into something weird like that,” Brubaker said over private comms.

“I have no intention of turning your marines into samurai mech’s, despite how cool they look, I’d have a hard time spending reward points on something that doesn’t upgrade our combat potential.

“Roger that, sir, I’m well aware some high-speed gear can make a soldier feel more confident, but I’d only want upgrades that can make them better at killing things,” Brubaker said.

Maybe there was a middle ground somewhere, a small upgrade to make the soldiers and marines feel like they’re in an elite unit, without compromising upgrades for combat potential. Wasn’t morale a combat multiplier? It was moot for now, Hugh had a war to fight and there would be no shopping trips on Harmony Station until the fight against the Ssath was done. As he approached the factory, several system prompts began to appear.

After the successful completion of each segment of this campaign, you will be given the chance to spend any upgrade points you may have collected. Your units can now automatically be upgraded to level 2 and you may spend points to level them further or to purchase other upgrades.

Well, at least they seemed to get a free level after each battle, that would help. Hugh found new menus had opened up in his interface, allowing him several options on where he could spend his hard-won upgrade points. He’d have to think carefully, but quickly, as he was pretty sure the GCA wouldn’t hold up the campaign just so he could make his choices.

Upgrade point options:

1. Level increases.

2. Avatar upgrades.

3. Infantry mech upgrades.

4. Light mech upgrades.

5. Medium mech upgrades. This option is currently locked, upgrade your light mechs to level 4 in order to unlock medium mechs.

6. Heavy mech upgrades. This option is currently locked until medium mechs have been acquired and upgraded to level 7.

7. Air mech upgrades.

8. Allied force options.

There was a lot to cover, and after asking the other two cores, Hugh found out there were differences in each of their upgrade options. Jiro advised him to run his units through the factory for any level upgrades first, as a mech’s level determined what other upgrades were available for it. Hugh pulled up the level increase tab to see if he wanted to spend points to bring his mechs to level three before researching other upgrade options.

Level Increases:

1. Level up a single class of mech, 1 point. You may use one point to level up a particular class of mech. Each level increases their basic combat capability and also unlocks further individual unit upgrades.

2. Level up the entire force, 3 points. You may spend 3 upgrade points to upgrade your entire force, no matter how many unit types you have fielded.

It was going to be expensive, but going to level three seemed like the right thing to do. With only three unit types, his avatar was apparently was upgraded along with the type of mech it was patterned after, the cost for either option was the same. Once he added medium mechs or other variants to his existing mechs, leveling up the entire force for three points would become a better value. He spent three points to upgrade his forces to level three and was pleased to see that just selecting the upgrade was enough to unlock any options for that level of mech. Before digging in further, he started his units through the factory.

Jiro assured him that upgrading the mech level before applying upgrades was the fastest option. With a potential hidden time limit for completing his upgrades ticking away, Hugh felt it best to at least get things started. The infantry went first, then the light mechs before his air mechs brought up the rear. Hugh’s avatar would go though after his troops were done. It might take some time to review upgrades, so he was fine with waiting and giving the various options his full attention.

A quick peek inside the factory showed two separate assembly lines and once a mech in need of upgrade walked close, it was snagged by the factory and pulled down the line, each station doing a portion of the upgrade until it was completed and the mech walked out the other end of the factory. The process was quick, but there were a lot of units to work on. One pleasant surprise was that each unit was also repaired as it went through, which would be a big help given how many of his units were damaged. After making sure the level upgrades were going smoothly, Hugh pulled up the various tabs on his interface to review his options in depth.

Avatar Upgrades:

1. Enhanced armor package. This upgrade will improve the armor on your avatar, replacing many of the existing panels with lighter weight, but more resilient material. This upgrade requires 1 upgrade point. This upgrade is mech specific to the T-7 and doesn’t transfer to other mech designs you may acquire later.

2. Ammunition selection for the main gun. Your main gun can be configured to fire two additional types of ammunition. This upgrade is universal and will function with any new mech designs.

The first type is the fragmentary round. This round will separate into multiple, smaller bits of plasma that cover a large area, making it very useful against multiple, lightly armored enemies. Note that this new ammunition type has a limited effective range.

The second type of ammunition is a fin-stabilized extended range round. Using some of its mass as additional propulsion, this type of round has a 25% greater range than a standard round, but does less damage given that some of its mass has been consumed to propel it to a greater distance.

3. Indirect fire attachment point. This upgrade adds a new weapons hardpoint to your mech, allowing for an indirect fire weapon with a much longer range to be added. This attachment can be researched further at additional cost, enabling the mounting of larger caliber weapons when you upgrade to a larger mech. On your current T-7 mech, it adds a 40mm grenade launcher that has a range equivalent to that of your standard main gun round.

Infantry mech upgrades:

Upgrade options are limited at first, but at higher levels, new options and upgrades will unlock.

1. Plasma grenades. A grenade compartment is added to each infantry mech. The compartment will automatically produce plasma grenades for each mech, up to a maximum of three grenades at one time. Grenades must be thrown, limiting their range.

2. Targeting enhancement package. This upgrade enhances the accuracy of all infantry mech weapons systems by 5%. The upgrade evolves and improves as the mech levels up.

3. Melee weapons. This upgrade creates a melee weapon appropriate to the combat pod operator’s preference. An initial targeting and combat integration system for melee combat is installed in the mech which will evolve and improve as the mech levels up.

4. Camouflage. This upgrade creates a coating over your infantry mechs, making them 10% more difficult to spot on enemy sensors. This upgrade improves as the mech levels up.

Hugh wanted everything on the list, but with only two points to spare he would have to settle for the most effective bang for his buck. He was leaning toward plasma grenades since they had always performed well for him. While the grenades were automatically replenished over time, Hugh had no information on how long that process took.

He also was drawn toward melee weapons, even though he was pretty sure the upgrade wouldn’t be on par with the Ssath melee abilities, having something to fight back with was important. Before he could spend anything on his infantry, he had to see what else was available for his other mechs. Upgrades for his avatar were tempting, but for now, he figured that upgrading multiple mechs would generate a better benefit than just making his avatar into a combat juggernaut.

Before jumping back into his upgrade options, Hugh could see the infantry were about halfway done with their upgrade to level three and the light mechs were queuing up behind them. His air mechs were flying a pattern over the area, giving air cover for Jiro and Felicia's forces as they defended him during the upgrade process.

Light Mech Upgrades:

1. Main gun replacement. This upgrade replaces the .50 caliber main gun in the T-7 mech with a 20mm, rapid-fire cannon. This upgrade is mech-specific and doesn’t transfer to other mech designs.

2. Shielding unit. This upgrade creates an energy shield that protects the front of the mech. The shield is limited in power and once depleted, it takes some time to recharge. This upgrade is universal and can be further upgraded as your light mechs level up. The upgrade also transfers to medium and heavy mechs, including any variants of those designs you may unlock.

3. Smoke generators. This upgrade allows the mech to generate a dense cloud of smoke around it, hampering enemy sensors and granting concealment for the mech and units around it. This upgrade is universal for all light mech types but is incompatible with medium or heavy mechs.

Medium mech upgrades:

This option is locked until your light mechs are level 4 or higher.

Heavy mech upgrades:

This option is locked until medium mechs are level 8 or higher.

Air Mech Upgrades:

1. Bomb racks. This upgrade allows your air mechs to drop powerful plasma bombs on ground targets. The upgrade is universal with the size and level of the air mech determining the type of weapons that can be carried. Your level three light mechs can carry a single 100lb bomb. Bombs will be replenished over time, though at a rather slow rate.

2. Ground combat enhancement. This upgrade allows your air mechs to transform from air into ground modes much more quickly. While in ground mode, their maneuverablity is improved and weapons accuracy is on par with other ground-based mechs. This upgrade is universal across all air mech types and improves with the level of the mech.

Allied force options:

1. Attached Units. Selecting this option will attach a small number of Krixnas units to your forces, bolstering your numbers. These are AI-controlled units and the number and type of Krixnas mechs selected is based on your avatar’s level. The upgrade generates a new set of forces for each battle and optional mission you are participating in. This upgrade has the added benefit of generating a similar number of AI-controlled human mechs to assist a single Krixnas core that is participating in the same battle as your core.

Once again, just about everything looked good to Hugh. He settled down and tried to focus on what would be the best overall for the campaign. Upgrades that weren’t universal would be less effective in the long run, so that eliminated a few things. He also had to consider what would have the greatest impact based on the number of units he fielded. Having upgrades dumped into air mechs when he had only seven of them seemed a poor choice. While light mechs were limited in number, they did have a much greater impact on the battlefield, not to mention some of them would likely transfer to his avatar. The descriptions didn’t specifically say that, but a quick question to the other cores confirmed it worked that way.

Hugh pushed the options to his commanders, getting their input and buy-in on his decisions. He had two points to spend and the first one would be used for plasma grenades for his infantry. They had always performed well in his other battles and would help equalize things if they faced swarms of enemy mechs. A volley of grenades could shatter a Ssath charge before they got into deadly melee range. He wanted the melee upgrades for his troops, but there was one other option that stood out for him.

The Attached Units upgrade would be his second selection. Having free units attached to his forces, even if they were AI-controlled, was a force multiplier he could count on for each battle. The potential benefit was doubled if he worked with an allied core again. The Drop Pod of the Vanquished was a great upgrade and this was like a second charge of it for each battle of this campaign. His selections were made just as the light mechs completed their upgrade to level three.

“Sir, I’ll get the boys back in line,” Brubaker said after the decisions were made, marching the infantry back into the queue, getting them ready to receive their plasma grenades.

Tremaine had made an argument for shields on the light mechs, and it was even more tempting since it would affect his avatar as well, but in the end, upgrading almost two hundred infantry with grenades would be more effective than some extra survivability for just over a score of light mechs. The others weren’t sold on the attached units upgrade but did understand that it could be a force multiplier on par with his drop pod ability.

With the upgrades locked in, Hugh just had to wait for the factory to finish its work.