War Core 2, Chapter 19.

Chapter 19.

Drop pods began to fire out the bottom of the transports, hurling themselves toward the surface while the surviving air mechs that the three cores commanded followed at a much slower pace, unable to match the velocity of the drop pods. The ground forces would be without air cover for a while. Once the last pod had fired, the now-empty transports moved out to place themselves between the combat ships of the fleet and the gathering Ssath naval forces, useless without weapons, the empty transports could at least serve as shields to buy other ships the time they needed.

“The first three cores are one their way, now it’s our turn,” Felicia called out.

“Roger that, we’re ready to go once we’re over the target,” Hugh replied.

“What’s going to happen to our fleet once we reach the surface?” Jiro asked. A system prompt answered the question for them.

Your first ground forces are approaching the surface of the battle planet. Once all the human expeditionary force ground units are launched, the remaining fleet will revert to AI control and either fight to deplete the attacking Ssath space forces, or they can be ordered to try and return to the station they originated at. Should any ships survive the trip back to the station, additional resources will be awarded based on the total tonnage to survive.

“Felicia, you’re in charge of the fleet, do we leave them here to fight it out, or do we send the ships back to the station?” Hugh asked.

“Might I suggest something?” Jiro asked.

“Go for it, but hurry, we’re running out of time,” Felicia answered. Jiro wasn’t prior military and it seemed he was still a bit timid when speaking with the other cores, all of whom had at least some prior military experience.

“We should order them back to the station, the Ssath are surely not going to let them retreat unmolested, so we’ll likely be fighting them the entire trip. Not all their fleet will pursue, most will remain to provide support to their landings, but we will still have chance to not only thin out their numbers, but possibly also gain critical resources for our ground offensive,” Jiro suggested.

“That sounds like the better option to me, good call, Jiro,” Felica said. Hugh agreed with anything that might give him additional resources, and while he was terrified of the orbital bombardment the Ssath were sure to drop on their heads, leaving their fleet to stand and fight wouldn’t change that.

The sacrifice of the empty transports allowed them to reach their drop point without any further losses to their ground forces. Their fleet was battered and down to only a single battleship, a trio of cruisers, and a handful of destroyers, but it looked like Hugh was going to get his army dropped safely, well, as safely as you could get when being fired out of a ship at an insane velocity. Hugh’s transports drifted toward a position over the planet that glowed green for him. Once over the drop point, panels on the transports opened and the drop pods fired out one by one.

He only had eight surviving air mechs, and they began their much slower path toward the surface. Hugh had no control over the drop pods once they launched and had to trust the GCA-created AI would drop them where they were supposed to go. Each core had a different target, and while each of the two groups was being dropped close to each other when viewed from space, the distance between each one was significant. There would be limited support between the cores, at least for the initial battle.

Hugh’s point of view was forced away from the starships as the last drop pod launched. He could move his view between the pods, but couldn’t see much as their rapid re-entry turned into a light show as the bottoms of each pod heated up and the maneuverer thrusters started to fire, gradually slowing their descent. His highlighted target grew closer and he could see he was heading toward a small peninsula sticking out into an inland sea. What looked like a small fishing village was built near the shore, and his pods were heading toward open plains just outside the village.

Hugh’s POV was on the last pod, locked there while he watched the others slam into the ground outside the village. He was worried at first, the impacts were hard, and he expected the mechs inside might be damaged, but almost as soon as the pod hit, the side panels blew out and his mechs began to leave the drop pods and form a perimeter around the landing area. Comms chatter let him know his mechs were functioning as they should. As the pod he was observing hit the ground, Hugh began to receive system prompts.

You have successfully landed your forces at the requested landing zone. The local Krixnas core is fighting against overwhelming numbers of Ssath as he attempts to hold the main road open to allow the citizens of a nearby city to escape. Your objective will be to help the nearby fishing village evacuate its population. Ground transports are being created to represent the ongoing evacuation. Escort these transports safely to the main highway indicated and protect them as they leave the battlefield.

There is no command post structure for this campaign, instead, your core will be housed in an avatar. The avatar will function as a mobile command post and can be upgraded to have an impressive combat capacity. If your avatar is destroyed, a new one will be produced to replace it, but during the time of construction, your combat units will fight under a simple AI and will be cut off from input by the combat pod operators. Casualties during this rebuilding time are 50% higher than normal.

Select a mech chassis for your avatar.

1. Infantry mech. A larger than normal humanoid mech, the infantry avatar is fast, maneuverable, but lightly armed and armored. A wide variety of upgrades including camouflage and more powerful weapons will be unlocked as the campaign progresses.

2. Light mech. An upgraded version of your current light mech, this avatar is fast and possesses modest armament. As the campaign progresses you will have the option to upgrade to a heavier mech and unlock powerful weaponry.

3. Air mech. Fly above the battlefield as you control your forces. This is the fastest avatar type, yet it is also the most vulnerable to damage. Various upgrades are available, improving the avatar’s combat capability as well as reconnaissance reports when flying near enemy formations.

The whole avatar thing was new, and Hugh wasn’t sure what to make of it. He tried the comm channel for other cores, but there was interference. The others were likely in the same boat and having to figure out the best path for their avatar. It wasn’t all that tough a choice for Hugh, the air mech was out, he felt it would be too vulnerable to enemy attack, and his avatar was sure to attract enemy fire given the penalties the Ssath would inflict on him if it was destroyed.

His decision was between the infantry mech and the light mech. The infantry mech offered a chance for him to blend in better with his other forces, and he was interested to see what upgrades might be unlocked for it. On the other hand, the light mech had more armor and firepower. Depending on how the battle progressed, he could stay in the light mech chassis or perhaps upgrade to a medium or even a heavy mech if that was needed.

Light Mech Avatar has been chosen, please wait as your new form is created. Your avatar will perform several levels higher than your other light mechs, having enhanced armor, speed, and firepower. Complete battlefield objectives to unlock new upgrades.

Compatible upgrade detected. The Drop Beacon of the Vanquished has been integrated into your avatar, allowing you to use this ability without the need for a command post.

Consumables detected. You may use the consumables that you purchased at Harmony Station. An icon for accessing these items will appear in the avatar interface. You have the following items in inventory.

1. Defensive turret (2). These defensive turrets normally require a construction drone to produce, but for this campaign, they have been upgraded to automatically deploy. These turrets are classified as level three defensive constructs and will take thirty seconds to deploy.

2. Hypervelocity ammunition (2). You may activate this upgrade at any time. The type of weapon used will determine the ammunition count for each crate and you may use it on one of your mechs as well as with your avatar’s weapons systems.

Hugh’s vision blurred as he waited for his core to be connected to his new avatar. It was going to add a new dimension to the battles, and it would be tough to find a balance between engaging directly in combat and focusing on the overall picture. As his vision cleared, Hugh found himself looking out over the battlefield from the viewport of a T-7 mech. He had a moment's panic before realizing that he could pull his vision out to get a better picture of the battlefield. The view remained centered on his avatar and could only be pulled back about a hundred yards in either direction. Thankfully, he could also move his point of view to any of the other mechs controlled by his forces and wouldn’t be spending the campaign looking through one tiny viewport.

“Sir, are you with us yet? What are your orders?” Captain Brubaker asked. His marine commander jolted him back into action.

“Roger that, Captain, we need to escort some civilian transports that are going to be rolling out from the fishing village,” Hugh advised, pushing the GCA-generated objectives to his commanders. Brubaker was going to command his infantry since they were drawn from the 2nd MEF. His light mechs were under Captain Cartwright’s command, and whatever was left of his air mechs would be commanded by Tremaine once they made it to the surface.

“I’ll run a recon team to find the road connection, how many transports do we need to cover, and how fast are they?” Brubaker asked.

“I think we’re about to find out,” Hugh said as he detected movement from the village. The buildings there were typical Krixnas construction, large almost organic-looking structures. Three transports were leaving the village and each was about the size of one of the Krixnas medium mechs he had fought against. A large caterpillar-like mech body was propelled by some kind of hovercraft tech, the mech moving slowly forward on a cushion of air. This was a battle planet, so no live Krixnas were inside, but Hugh knew real civilian lives were on the line if he failed to protect them.

“They’re not going to set any land speed records, how about we cover them with the infantry mechs and move the light mechs forward to help hold the road open?” Cartwright asked. The transports were moving slowly, just below the normal pace of his infantry mechs. It would be nice if they were faster, but at least he could cover them with just some infantry.

“Let’s do that, I’ll attach two full-strength platoons to cover them. The rest of the infantry, supported by the light mechs, will push to the main roadway and get some eyes on what’s going on out there,” Hugh ordered. His avatar interface wasn’t too different from his normal command post one, and after a few seconds of fiddling with the settings, he had a hundred infantry mechs spread out around the three transports. A flashing icon on his interface notified Hugh that things weren’t going to be quite so easy.

The first evacuation transports are moving toward their objective, protect them and the following transports that are still gathering passengers. Rewards for this stage of the campaign will be based on the number of transports you can successfully protect as they leave the battlefield. A total of nine transports are needed to evacuate the entire population of the fishing village. The next trio of transports will be ready to depart in five minutes.

“Bad news gentlemen, this is only the first wave of evacuation transports. We’ve got two more waves to protect. Brubaker, let’s cut down the direct escorts to a single platoon. I’ll have the second platoon wait here just outside the village for the next wave,” Hugh ordered. He pulled a third platoon back to the village, intending to have them escort the third and final wave once it was ready.

There was a single, narrow dirt road leading from the village toward the main highway in the distance. The peninsula they were on was relatively flat, with short grass-like plants that came up to an infantry mech’s knees. There were a few depressions in the ground here and there, but nothing that would hide more than a squad or two of infantry mechs and would provide almost no cover to his light mechs. Pulling up his order of battle, Hugh took stock of what he had left to fight with.

Current Battle Information.

1. Infantry mechs (379).

2. Light mechs (47).

3. Air mechs (7). Estimated arrival of air mech force, 32 minutes.

The order of battle didn’t include his spacecraft. Whether that meant they were destroyed or just indicated they were no longer under his control was unknown. Hugh didn’t think the air mechs would be of much help for this first battle, but at least there were some survivors, and they were on the way. His light mech platoons were spread out over the peninsula, pushing toward the highway with the infantry just behind them. He wasn’t in a hurry, they were going to have to wait on the transports, and Hugh wanted to make sure the plateau was swept for any hostile forces, they didn’t need some hidden Ssath units sneaking past him and tearing into the village and transports.

“Contact!” One of Cartwright’s soldiers called out as a squad of Ssath infantry mechs stood up from a small depression in the ground and wasted no time in attacking the forward screen of light mechs. The thumping sound of the T-7’s fifty caliber main guns was heard as the platoon of light mechs that had discovered the ambushers engaged. Two squads of infantry were close by, and the marines pushed their mechs as hard as they could toward the fight.

The Ssath mechs were only about twenty-five yards from the nearest light mech and they moved much faster than not only Hugh’s infantry and appeared to also be slightly faster than his light mechs. Cartwright had his soldiers walk their mechs backward, trying to keep the distance open, but the Ssath infantry was slowly gaining on them. Plasma rifle rounds pinged off the thin armor of his level one light mechs, whose main guns answered back with a slow rate of fire. A slow rate of fire or not, a single fifty caliber hit did considerable damage to any enemy mech it hit. One, then another Ssath fell before the rest entered melee range, where his light mechs were helpless.

“Fire on my mech, get them off!” The operator of the lead mech called out. Knowing the mech was a goner either way, the other mechs opened fire, heavy rounds tearing into both Ssath infantry and human mech. A pair of volleys dropped three of the attackers but also left the T-7 a smoking wreck. The surviving Ssath charged toward the next closest light mech, but this time, they were also met by fire from the supporting infantry who had just entered into range. The superior firepower of his combined forces cut down the Ssath before they could reach their target.

“Close up with the light mech’s keep within supporting range of each other,” Hugh ordered, watching his units reorganize, closing gaps and moving at a pace that didn’t leave the infantry behind. Another two pockets of Ssath infantry were discovered, each one was dealt with, and his forces only had minimal casualties in return. While the peninsula was narrow, it was wide enough that his available forces were barely able to cover the entire width as they pushed toward the main road.

Hugh realized he was now standing in the middle of the landing zone, all by himself. Feeling a bit embarrassed at forgetting he had a unit to maneuver, Hugh moved out to join the escorts on the first group of transports. His mech moved smooth and fast, the T-7 he was operating was upgraded considerably from the ones his other troops were driving. The mech was slightly larger than the standard variety and had several comm antennas attached to it Whether they served some real purpose, or if it was just to advertise to the enemy where the core was housed, Hugh didn’t know.

His avatar also had a full complement of secondary weapons, a hull-mounted thirty caliber was installed and a second thirty caliber weapon was mounted to the top of the turret. Targeting the ground, a safe distance from the transports, Hugh hit the triggers, revealing that his weapons were operating at full capacity. Instead of the slow thump of single rounds, his guns fired off long bursts with only a second delay between each one.

A check of his interface showed that he could leave the guns in auto mode where they would target the nearest threat with the most appropriate weapons. According to the information tab, the weapons would target accurately and weren’t hampered by a reduced capacity AI like most units were when operating in automated mode. He could take manual control anytime he wanted, but it was a relief that he could keep his eye on the battlefield and his avatar would competently defend itself. He left the guns in auto mode for the time being and matched his pace to that of the lead transport, keeping his avatar near the supporting infantry platoon. It would be foolish to try and fight on his own.

Eventually, the main highway showed itself as the main force pushed to clear the way. Bursts of plasma fire were seen in the distance and a couple of squads of Krixnas infantry mechs were milling about the four-lane wide highway. Hugh found a comm channel that should link him to the allied Krixnas core, only to have his thoughts interrupted by a warning called out by one of his commanders.

“Incoming, find some cover!” Brubaker called out as the distinct sound of incoming artillery rounds was heard overhead.