War Core 2, Chapter 20.

Chapter 20.

“The Ssath have artillery, and we’re stuck in barebones level one mechs? How is that fair?” A light mech soldier whined.

“Lock it up soldier,” Cartwright called out as plasma rounds began to impact randomly over the peninsula.

“On your feet, keep moving, this isn’t that bad. I think we killed off their forward observers so they’re firing blind,” Brubaker called out. The three squads of Ssath that they had flushed out must have been there to call in fire correction. For some reason, the artillery must not have been ready, and the observers had nothing to do other than blindly charge his forces when they had approached.

“Keep the same plan, some artillery isn’t going to change anything,” Hugh ordered, keeping the assignments the same for all his troops. A ping in his comm console told him the Krixnas core was calling on a private connection.

“This is Major Hugh Logan of the human expeditionary force. What’s the situation?” He asked.

“Human commander, you are known to my people. The Ssath are still landing forces, and they’re starting to push my warriors back. I will hold them as long as I can, but my forces are overmatched, and the disparity is increasing with every enemy dropship that lands. Can you see to it that the villagers near you are escorted to safety?” The Krixnas asked.

“Roger that, those are our orders, and the first group is already on its way and the second is just rolling out from the village,” Hugh advised.

“Thank you, I have some forces stationed on the highway to assist you in keeping it safe for my people. I am placing them under your command as I try to focus on the main battle. Here is my current disposition, I’ll grant you access to my interface so you can track the battle from my core’s perspective,” the Krixnas advised.

“I’ve got the connection, and you can have access to see my forces as well. I’m working with simple infantry mechs and light mechs, all level one and no upgrades yet, so our effectiveness will be limited,” Hugh advised.

“Understood, my forces are in nearly the same condition I was granted control of this area by the GCA only a short time before the Ssath arrived. Resources are limited and will run out soon, but we’ll not cease in our efforts to defeat the Ssath. We are honored that your people are fulfilling their promises. Can you hold the area I indicate? We need to keep the road closed to the enemy or they will encircle the city before the last of my people can evacuate,” the Krixnas said.

“We’ll do all that we can, but I have a feeling my forces will be hard-pressed before too long,” Hugh replied, happy to see the Krixnas seemed more than willing to work together. His only other interaction had been with the one he called David back on Harmony Station, and his old opponent didn’t seem to have been carrying any grudges over their defeat by Hugh.

Taking a look at the battlefield, Hugh could see it wasn’t the typical setup he normally faced. Instead of carefully constructed terrain designed to channel and limit the movement of each core’s forces, the entire area seemed to mimic the actual terrain of the Krixnas homeworld. The Ssath were landing in a large area to the east of a small Krixnas city. From the interface, he could see that transports were constantly leaving the city and escaping to the west. A display popped up when viewing the city, showing that only 14% of the civilians had been successfully evacuated so far.

The Krixnas core estimated the Ssath strength at around 800 infantry mechs, 200 light mechs, and a couple of dozen that were listed as support mechs which must have accounted for the artillery. As Hugh watched, two more streaks of light dropped from the sky as a pair of dropships landed in the Ssath controlled area. The estimated enemy numbers jumped as the ships landed, the Krixnas estimating each drop ship carried a score of infantry and a handful of light mechs each. Hugh shared the information out with his commanders.

“Sir, can we trust the Krixnas estimates?” Brubaker asked.

“I think they’re about as accurate as we can hope for and the Krixnas has been able to observe all the enemy drops. I’d say we’re better off as far as intel than we normally are,” Hugh answered.

“We’ve got to hold a pretty big area to keep the road open, how do you want us to deploy?” Brubaker asked. Hugh looked at his map. The Krixnas core was housed on the western edge of the city he was defending. The transports from the city were slowly creeping toward the western edge of the battlefield, and once they made it past a marked point, the evacuation percentage would creep up. His ally controlled a large area around the city, while to the south, the sea blocked enemy movement.

Hugh’s forces would need to protect an area from the southern coastline and link in with a defensive line the Krixnas were setting up along the eastern edge of the city. His ally had initially held a much larger area but was being continuously pushed back by the superior enemy forces. The Krixnas had mostly infantry units to work with and the count currently stood at 342 infantry and seven light mechs. The majority of his forces were defending to the east of the city, trying to hold back the Ssath while a new defensive line was created to link up with Hugh’s forces.

Unlike Hugh, the Krixnas core wasn’t in an avatar and had a command post inside the city. Several groups of Krixnas mechs were gathering resources from a single resource station that was placed just outside the city limits. The trickle of resources he was getting wasn’t going to be enough to replace the losses the aggressive Ssath force was inflicting but he was building all he could.

Hugh’s area of responsibility was placed to link into the new defensive line the Krixnas core was trying to build before the line further to the east collapsed. The one thing he had going for him was that the open terrain was perfect for his mechs and their focus on ranged weapons. While the Ssath had the same plasma weapons his mechs used, they seemed to prefer getting up close and personal. The Krixnas were the same way, and Hugh was interested to see the two fight it out.

“Here’s the line we need to hold if we want to keep the Ssath from getting around our flanks. We’ll keep two platoons of infantry as escorts for the transports, supported by a platoon of light mechs. Everyone else will man the line and hold off the Ssath for as long as we can,” Hugh ordered, highlighting unit assignments for his troops. He was forced to move further east than he wanted to, but anchoring his right flank on the ocean just past the peninsula would prevent him from having to deal with Ssath pushing around his lines to get at the transports.

“Roger that sir, though I’d like to put out a forward screen here,” Brubaker suggested. The Marine captain drew a line along a small rise in the ground about two hundred yards in front of the main defensive line. Troops stationed there would have good fields of fire and allow him to push back any forward observers before they could call down artillery fire directly onto his main defensive force.

“Go for it, just make sure those marines pull back if the Ssath push hard, I don’t want any last stands if we can avoid it. There’s an entire campaign ahead of us and we don’t know if or when we’ll get any reinforcements,” Hugh ordered. The forward screen moved toward the low ridge while Hugh’s main force moved to tie into the Krixnas defense. Without cover or prepared positions, his troops simply found the best ground they could and knelt or went prone, depending on the marine’s preference. His light mechs patrolled behind the line, ready to move up and provide support wherever they were needed.

There were fifty infantry mechs in the forward screen, a hundred escorting the transports, and just over two hundred manning the main line of defense. It wasn’t going to be enough; the line of infantry was too thin to hold back a determined attack, causing Hugh to pull one platoon of infantry mechs off escort duty and assign them to the defensive line. The two squads of Krixnas that had met him on the highway followed his forces, their combat pod operators positioning them among Hugh’s troops to stiffen the line. They were garbage at any long-range fire, but he figured they’d come in handy if things got into melee range.

The line still looked too thin, but it would have to do for now. His left flank was tied in with a Krixnas squad while his right flank was anchored by the sea. A quick question to the Krixnas core confirmed the Ssath didn’t have any type of amphibious ability for their mechs, so at least that flank should be secure enough. The Krixnas line that was forming up looked even weaker than Hugh’s, and the allied core must have felt the same way, pulling most of his units that were gathering resources into the defensive line. He would run out of resources soon, and that would stop the production of any replacements for the Krixnas.

While the Ssath were numerous, they wouldn’t have enough troops to push the entire line, allowing Hugh and the Krixnas core to shift their forces as needed. It took time for his forces to move into place, with Hugh shifting the line slightly based on suggestions from Brubaker and Cartwright. The first transport mechs from the fishing village had reached the main road and were moving slowly toward the west and safety. A third and final group of transports were forming up and would move out soon, while the second group was about halfway up the peninsula as they headed toward the main highway at their best possible speed.

“Major Hugh Logan, my forces are pulling back to the new defensive line, the Ssath will be upon you soon,” the Krixnas advised.

“Roger that, we’re in position and ready to fight,” Hugh replied, watching through the Krixnas sensors to monitor their fight. He pushed the feed to his commanders so they could all get a better idea of how the Ssath fought. The forward defensive lines that the Krixnas had positioned outside the city were abandoned, the troops occupying them pulling back to the new line that Hugh was helping to defend.

Many didn’t make it, the Krixnas mechs weren’t slow, but the Ssath were faster. It was going to be a problem when Hugh eventually tried to disengage, they couldn’t rely on speed and would have to rely on sheer firepower to get his forces out of harm's way when the time came. Moving his avatar behind the patrolling T-7 mechs, Hugh prepared to jump into the fight directly for the first time. Movement to his front drew Hugh’s attention as one of the marines in the forward screen called out.

“Sir, I’ve got a dozen Krixnas falling back, with Ssath hot on their tails, can we open fire?” The marine asked.

“That’s what we’re here for, light them up,” Brubaker ordered. The marines in the forward screen that had a clear line of sight began to hammer the Ssath mechs that were moving ever closer to the retreating Krixnas infantry. One of the Krixnas went down, caught by the accurate fire of the Ssath. It was avenged by Hugh’s marines, who didn’t seem to miss any of the shots they made. The Ssath raptor-like infantry mechs were sturdy, but even their upgrades couldn’t stand up to multiple hits from a plasma rifle.

“Your marines are shooting well, Brubaker,” Hugh said, proud of his troops.

“Just another day at the range, sir,” Brubaker replied.

“Damn, these Jurassic Park rejects don’t know when to quit, do they?” A marine called out. Despite the fire tearing them apart, the group of Ssath pursing the Krixnas didn’t give up, their charge eventually bringing them into melee range. Once close enough the Krixnas turned, tentacles glowing with power as they laid into their pursuers.

The fight was short and deadly, the Ssath chainsaw teeth and Krixnas plasma charged tentacles both created horrible damage, typically leaving both mechs destroyed. With his marines sniping at every opening they could get, the tide turned against the Ssath, but not before they were able to drag down all the Krixnas save for a pair of damaged infantry mechs that were slowly hobbling toward the safety of Hugh’s defenders.

“Anyone get a count?” Hugh asked. He wanted to keep tabs on enemy casualties, but he didn’t want to risk sending one of his marines out there to check.

“I counted thirty-one Ssath pursuing the Krixnas, none of them made it back,” A marine advised. It was another good exchange, thirty-plus enemy vs ten KIA and two WIA among his allies. The only trouble was the Ssath were still landing the occasional drop pod to replace their losses and the number of troops Hugh and his ally commanded was going down permanently with each casualty they took.

“Incoming,” Brubaker called out. The artillery had let up a while ago, shifting its fire to the fight with the Krixnas. Now, it looked like they were going after Brubaker’s forward screen. Without cover, they started to take casualties as a shell landed directly on a marine, blowing the infantry mech to pieces as two others were damaged from shrapnel and near misses. The barrage continued for another five minutes, destroying three more of Hugh’s infantry mechs before letting up.

“Here they come, what’s that thing?” One of the marines called out as the Ssath closed in, having used the barrage to cover their approach. The forward screen began firing into the swarm of enemy infantry mechs as well as a pair of what must have been light mechs for the Ssath. Their light mechs were double the size of their infantry mechs but retained the same overall design. Instead of a plasma rifle over its shoulder, the light mechs sported a short, wide barreled weapon of a type that Hugh hadn’t seen before.

The enemy force had sixty infantry and their combined fire began to score hits on his infantry mechs despite having to fire on the move. Brubaker’s marines were manning these combat pods, and they didn’t even flinch, slamming accurate return fire as they tried to establish fire superiority. One than other of his troops were brought down, and then the enemy light mechs began to fire, the weapons on their shoulders giving a dull thump as they opened up.

“What is that, get it off me!” A marine called out as the shot from the enemy light mech hit the marine in the chest. Instead of plasma burning through the thin armor of an infantry mech, a small mechanical creature unfolded itself and began to tear at the human-controlled mech.

A memory from some forgotten nature show popped into Hugh’s mind. He remembered that there was a type of micro raptor that were efficient hunters, and this new mech looked like the dino he saw on that nature show. The Ssath were using small, chicken-sized mechs as ammunition! Despite its small size, the tiny raptor’s sharp metal claws and teeth seemed to have no trouble cutting into Hugh’s infantry mech. To make matters worse, the enemy light mechs kept firing, each shot leaving a tiny monster to harass and destroy his forces.

The unexpected weapon did its job and Hugh’s advance screen came apart as infantry mechs began to shift fire from the forces charging toward them and instead focused on the tiny mechs harassing them. While the little mechs weren’t that hard to kill, his infantry had enough strength to crush them with their hands, they drew their attention away from the true threat, the enemy infantry mechs that had closed the distance and were now on the attack.

His mechs fell quickly to the onslaught, the marines controlling them fighting to the last, but once the melee-focused enemy reached the line, the fight became a one-sided affair. He was tempted to order forces forward to help, but it would be a foolish choice. Never reinforce defeat had been drilled into him by now, and the smart thing to do was what his troops were doing right now, showering the enemy with firepower from his main line of defense. With several T-7’s supporting them, the infantry on the line picked off the Ssath as they mopped up the remaining troops of the advance guard.

Despite their aggression, the Ssath core was smart enough not to run his troops into the buzzsaw of fire Hugh’s troops were putting out, and they pulled out of range once the last of the advance guard was down. Hugh’s T-7’s pushed out after the retreating enemy, gathering more kills, but stopping and returning to the main defensive line before they overextended.

“Okay, we’ve seen their little trick and we also saw that those little chicken dino’s can be crushed in one hand. When the Ssath tries that again, and you know they will, just squash the little turds and get back to the business of killing more Ssath,” Brubaker ordered.

The Marine Captain sounded unfazed by the skirmish they had just participated in, but Hugh was more concerned. He had just lost fifty of his troops and had no way to replace those losses. Sure, the kill ratio was still in his favor, but a few more skirmishes like this and his army would cease to exist.