War Core Wednesday, Book 2, Chapter 10.

Chapter 10.

Hugh sent the light mech designated as his scout further into the canyon toward the sound of weapons fire. While it was out scouting, he set the plateau containing the mercenary outpost as the new rally point for his forces. A line of infantry mechs was making its way through the canyon to join his army. His barracks was almost done maxing out his forces, and after that, it would be time to put his army to work.

Coming around a curve in the canyon, Hugh’s scout got a good view of a fight in progress. Not wanting to let the enemy know he had a scout nearby, Hugh pulled the unit back out of sight, reviewing the footage it had shown him. There, in the middle of the canyon were six Ximkas mechs. Four of the six were the larger, six-legged mechs that counted as medium mechs in their arsenal. With armor even thicker than that of their “light” mechs, these monsters sported two of the scorpion-like tail weapons. The other two mechs were the same Ximkas light mechs that he had fought in the previous battle.

The enemy force was backing its way down the canyon, weapons firing at what must have been their maximum rate. Charging toward the mechs were dozens of the Plenurian creatures that Hugh had fought with earlier. Each blast of plasma destroyed several of the attacking creatures, but the heavy weapons had a low rate of fire, about the same as the main gun on his M4 mechs. Having two weapons on each of the larger units helped, but the Ximkas seemed to lack any type of secondary weapons, leaving them vulnerable to just this type of attack, a swarm of light units, that were faster and didn’t care about losses.

Hugh ordered up his entire army, there was an opportunity here, one that could swing the entire battle in his direction. While he waited for his forces to arrive, Hugh had the light mech step back into view, his path was set, and having his scout spotted by the Ximkas wouldn’t make much of a difference at this point. The fight in the canyon had progressed about as he expected, the creatures had overtaken the slower Ximkas mechs and were slamming their acidic appendages into the thick armor of the machines. The attacks didn’t seem to be doing much, but Hugh knew that each blow was burning through some of the thick armor, weakening it for his forces.

One of the Ximkas light mechs staggered as several of the Plenurians attached themselves to the leg of the machine, their corrosive secretions finally damaging the limb enough to cause it to fail. Faltering, the wounded mech attracted more attention from the creatures, like a predatory animal seeking easy prey, they swarmed. Several blasts from the medium mechs cleared out the monsters, but also obliterated their friendly mech in the process.

A fresh wave of monsters charged from the side passage, reinforcing the initial force that was nearly depleted by this point. Hugh didn’t have an exact count of the enemy, but their numbers rivaled the ones that had been guarding the oasis on his side of the map. This battlefield must have fallen into the normal GCA guidelines of each side being similar, but this time, each commander had to face exactly the same challenges. Hugh had been hard-pressed to hold off the Plenurian attack, and his opponent seemed to be having just as difficult a time. The Ximkas firepower was impressive, as was their ability to absorb damage, but their low speed meant the monsters were all over them in no time.

There was no obviously damaged mech to draw their attention, so the Plenurians focused on the nearest pair of mechs, a medium mech, and the final light mech. Similar to his response to the swarming attack, it looked like the Ximkas commander was willing to sacrifice those two units to preserve his other forces. Three medium mechs marched slowly away as the swarm focused on the beleaguered stay-behind forces. The Ximkas didn’t go down without a fight, each mech blasting and stomping on anything they could, while the retreating forces kept up their fire as long as possible, the natural curvature of the canyon eventually blocking their line of sight.

After finishing off the sacrificial pair of Ximkas mechs, the surviving Plenurians, around sixty in number, began to head down the canyon and toward what he presumed was the Ximkas command post. These GCA-created neutral creatures all seemed to be programmed with the instinct to kill the command post regardless of losses. Hugh sent his scout mech to follow the running fight, making a conscious effort to keep it from getting too close to the monster swarm, it wouldn’t do him any good to draw their attention off the Ximkas and toward his command post.

His army had arrived, and the infantry numbers had swelled to thirty-three. Hugh had a choice to make, the enemy was under assault and would take further damage if not more casualties before the Plenurians were fought off. If Hugh pressed the attack, his army would arrive right on the heels of the monsters, his fresh troops would then face depleted numbers of enemy mechs. Many of the survivors would also have absorbed at least some battle damage, thinning the armor for him. He had the advantage, and with the first victory under his belt, it was time to take a risk and go all in.

Hugh pulled up the mercenary interface, he bought out everything that was offered, using up seventy-five of his tokens. The transport countdown had started, he had five minutes before they arrived. It wasn’t much, only ten of the relatively weak combat drones and five swarmer bots. Added to that number would be the siege spheres, which he activated, his nearby construction bot repairing the last one percent of health on them to start their attack. The siege spheres were fast and had a long way to travel, but they should arrive before his army reached the Ximkas command post. A light mech was sent into the side canyon to see if he could capture this location.

You have taken command of a critical location. This oasis will slowly generate Plenurian warriors to defend the location. You can order these forces to assault the enemy command post at any time. Once ordered to attack, the Plenurian’s will move at their best possible speed toward the enemy, stopping to engage any hostile threats on the way. Current defender count, 10.

Between the two Plenurain locations, he had twenty-two monsters under his control. He ordered all of them to attack. Sadly, he couldn’t control the Plenurians, other than to give them the go order. The monsters were just charging forward and would no doubt engage the first enemy they spotted. His scout following the Ximkas fighting retreat allowed him a ringside view of the action. The horde that had been pursuing had caught up and Hugh’s acquisition of the critical location controlling them didn’t cause the Plenurians to act any differently. He was kind of worried they would despawn or turn to defend their home once he took control, but they were happy enough to swarm over the slowest Ximkas medium mech.

His opponent didn’t know that Hugh’s entire army was right on their heels. The Ximkas were down to two medium mechs when the retreat passed another side passage, this was the one with the cannon and the weapon tore apart the last of the Plenurains. It was then that the Ximkas noticed Hugh’s light mech lurking in the distance. A pair of blasts were fired, but Hugh was on the ball, ordering the mech back out of the line of sight before the shots connected. He continued that tactic, peeking out every once in a while to keep tabs on what the enemy was up to.

Both Ximkas mechs maintained their vigil and eventually, one of their construction drones arrived to start repairs. Both mechs had battle scars in various places, but Hugh didn’t think the damage to these two was that severe. The first mech was repaired and the construction drone started on the second when Hugh’s first group of Plenurians attacked. These were the ones that had come from the Ximkas side of the map and with the cannon covering the intersection, he didn’t give them much of a chance of getting into melee range.

It didn’t matter to Hugh, their sacrifice would serve another purpose, it would cover the assault of his main army. Being AI-controlled, just like his own forces, the Ximkas mechs and the cannon in the side passage would focus on the closest target, allowing his army to get into range before taking casualties. Every step his units were able to make toward the enemy was vital, as they held the advantage in range and armor, the closer he could get, the more damage he could do.

The Ximkas reacted almost immediately, both mechs opening up on the monsters running toward them even as the juicier target of Hugh's army made its appearance. His medium mechs were already in range, and as soon as they had line of sight, they began to bang away with their 75mm main guns. The light mechs opened fire soon after, their light cannons joining in just as the last Plenurian went down. Back on the central plateau, the landing craft holding the mercenary forces Hugh had ordered was landing and the Plenuraians from his side of the battlefield were also closing in.

Machineguns entered range about the same time that the Ximkas landed their first hits. A pair of Hugh’s light mechs were gone in one volley, but the damage on the enemy was mounting. One of the Ximkas stumbled as an incoming shell snapped off a leg, this caused its next shots to miss and by the time it stabilized, rifle fire was joining in. Individually, a rifle round wasn’t going to do much but between the nearly forty attacking infantry, each enemy mech was glowing from all the plasma hits it was taking each second.

Five of Hugh's infantry were swept away by the next volley, the Ximkas focusing on the closest targets, his infantry. Hugh held back the light and medium mechs, they were in range and scoring hit after hit, and there was no reason to risk them when the infantry could take the brunt of the enemy fire. The Ximkas mech that hadn’t been repaired yet was the first to go down, something inside going critical and causing a large explosion that battered the mech next to it. The second mech soon followed, even its impressive armor was not able to withstand the firepower of his entire force for long.

Hugh held his units back, not sending them into view of the cannon until the next wave of Plenurains arrived. Sadly, the siege spheres had overtaken the more expendable monsters, and the first one to pass the side passage ate a heavy cannon blast, destroying it in one shot. The others changed their focus, turning to charge the cannon emplacement. Hugh would rather they continue toward the command post and do more damage, but the turret must have counted as a structure and their programming guided them toward the nearest structure. A pair of spheres went into overdrive, accelerating right into the cannon emplacement before its weapon could recharge for another shot. Two huge blasts erupted, obliterating the cannon. The surviving pair of siege spheres turned around and continued on their way, rolling steadily toward the enemy command post.

You have taken control of a critical location. This area will periodically spawn resource crates and is protected by a heavy defensive turret. The turret is currently damaged and inoperable.

The critical point and its resources were his, but the cannon was out of action and would have to be rebuilt. A squad of construction drones was assigned to the location, but it would take them time to arrive, and even longer to repair the cannon and drag back whatever resource crates were ready to go. It was all good in Hugh’s eyes. Every second he controlled this point, more resources were being denied to his foe.

With the siege spheres in the lead and the Plenurains right behind them, Hugh held back his army. Once the mercenary forces passed by, he would be right on their heels, hopefully mopping up a weakened foe. The Ximkas were tough, and even a few of their mechs could turn the tide of battle, but the momentum was in Hugh’s favor, and he intended to keep it that way.