War Core, Chapter 25.

Chapter 25.

Hugh found the pod cramped and dark, only a few indicator lights blinked as the lid sealed over him. The musty interior was distracting, and he hoped the discomfort wouldn’t throw him off his game. Once sealed inside, he could feel his mind link with the pod and his vision changed, the interior of the pod was gone, and he was greeted with a welcome screen.

Welcome to the War Core Trials! A free entry has been detected in your account. The challenge rating for your core is set at one. Complete the current trial to unlock higher challenge ratings and an enhanced prize pool. Select one of the following challenges to begin.

1. Infantry Trial. Guide your infantry squad through a ruined city as your try to take the enemy headquarters.

2. Heavy Mech Trial. Hammer your foes and rack up the kills to earn your rewards.

3. Air Combat Trial. Command the skies in a fighter mech, bomber mech, or scout. Each has a different challenge, which mech will you choose?

4. Naval Encounter. Protect an invasion fleet as it assaults an island. Provide gunnery support and defend against attacks from land, sea, and air.

5. Space Defense. Your space flotilla must escort transports across the system. How many can you save?

Hugh wasn’t sure which one to choose, and he wasn’t sure what exactly he would be doing. Common sense might suggest that he participate in a trial that was close to what he had already experienced, that way, he could get some practice in and perhaps learn a new trick or two. He didn’t have much experience with the air mechs, and none whatsoever with naval and space. It might make better sense to choose one of those, that way he could get some experience commanding those units before he got involved in real battle that required them. He might not perform all that well, but at least he wasn’t paying anything for the experience. In the end, Hugh decided on the space defense trial, the allure of fighting in space overwhelming any other arguments.

Space Defense selected. You have been ordered to escort three defenseless transport ships from the space station to the jump point. Have at least one of the transports survive to progress to the next level. You will be given 1,000 resources to build and upgrade your escort fleet. All selections must be made within fifteen minutes or unspent points will be lost.

Hugh found himself in space, hovering near a large space station. This one looked like something of human design, not the slick and ultra-futuristic Harmony Station he was on now. He also felt different, connected only partially to the experience, feeling his human body inside the pod when he concentrated on it. A display like the one he used in his War Core populated, giving him a brief description of the starships that he could build. Hugh wasn’t all that familiar with space battles and would have liked at least a primer on what he could do, but this trial system didn’t seem to be as integrated as the training missions he had undertaken earlier.

Ship Class Options.

1. Patrol Boat. Lightly armed, the patrol boat is an inexpensive means to provide defense against fast moving foes. Their initial missile barrage can be deadly to unprepared starships. Standard equipment includes a fully functioning vessel with a powerful thrust profile and no armor or shields. Armaments consist of a pair of light point defense weapons and four single use anti-ship missiles. A patrol boat requires 75 resources to build.

2. Frigate. The frigate is perfect for chasing down smaller vessels or teaming up with others of their kind to engage capital ships. Armaments are more formidable than those found on a patrol boat, but still minimal. A standard frigate loadout includes a fully functioning vessel with a strong thrust profile and minimal armor over key areas. A pair of light cannon, a dual mount missile launcher with three reloads, and six point defense weapons round out its arsenal. A frigate requires 150 resources to build.

3. Destroyer. Larger than the frigate, the destroyer can hold the line or perform various tasks for the fleet. Variants can be built to perform special duties including long range missile assault, pursuit, or point defense protection for the rest of the fleet. A standard destroyer loadout consists of a fully functioning ship with a strong thrust profile and a lightly armored hull. Armaments consist of four light cannon, a triple mount missile launcher with four reloads, and twelve point defense weapons. A destroyer requires 250 resources to build.

4. Cruiser. These capital ships can brawl with just about anything, their enhanced defenses keeping them in the fight longer than the lighter ships. A standard cruiser loadout consists of a fully functioning vessel with a moderate thrust profile, modest armor scheme, and a light shield generator. Armaments consist of six medium caliber guns, a quad mounted missile launcher with four reloads, and ten point defense weapons. A cruiser requires 750 resources to build.

5. Battleships. The ultimate weapon, battleships provide the best protection and can unleash the most damage. Capable of standing against multiple foes, the battleship is the center of the fleet. A standard battleship loadout consists of a fully functioning vessel with a low thrust profile. The ship mounts the heaviest armor and shields available. Armaments include nine heavy caliber guns, six medium caliber guns, twelve light cannon, two quad mounted missile launchers with ten reloads each, and twenty four point defense guns. A battleship requires 1500 resources to build.

6. Drone Carrier. Drone carriers are lightly armed and vulnerable to just about any ship. The true strength of a carrier lies not in its guns, but in the attack drones it carries into battle. Drones can be equipped in either an anti-shipping or point defense role. Standard equipment includes a fully functioning vessel with no armor and a weak thrust profile. Armaments include thirty attack drones and eight point defense weapons. A drone carrier with standard equipment and a full complement of drones requires 2000 resources.

A quick check of the resource requirements for each ship told Hugh he wasn’t going to be commanding a fleet of carriers and battleships in this engagement. There was also an upgrade tab, so he wanted to save some resources to upgrade his ships from the standard variety. Hugh ended up selecting two destroyers and a frigate. Once he confirmed his choice, the ships appeared docked to the station he was looking at. They sort of resembled traditional navy ships and he was expecting something more futuristic. It was perhaps par for the course given how the GCA build his ground mechs. His other units resembled tanks and vehicles from World War 2, and it looked like starships resembled their wet navy cousins. Opening the upgrades tab, Hugh needed to decide on how he wanted to improve on his small fleet.

Upgrades. Limited upgrade options are available at the beginning of this trial. Complete the first objective to unlock new options.

1. Drive systems. Improve the thrust and maneuverability profiles of your light ships for fifty resources each.

2. Armor can be upgraded for twenty-five resources per vessel. This upgrade will have a slight negative impact on drive performance.

3. Main gun upgrades. Improve the accuracy, rate of fire, and damage for your ship’s main armaments. This upgrade requires fifty resources per vessel.

4. Missile upgrade. Improve the range and survivability of your missiles for twenty-five resources per vessel.

5. Point defense upgrade. Add an additional point defense weapon to your vessel for twenty-five resources.

Given that his ships would be serving as an escort, they may need to move quickly to respond to unexpected threats, which made the drive upgrades a must for each ship. He also wanted to have the chance to outfight the opponent, opting for the main gun upgrades. With only fifty resources left, Hugh decided to improve the point defense on his two destroyers. They were more likely to survive long enough to make the upgrade useful. The armor wasn’t a good deal, his ships weren’t well armored to begin with and improving what they had by a small percentage wasn’t worth giving up their maneuverability. Missiles may or may not be useful, depending on the enemy they would face, but point defense was likely to come into play with every ship type.

His decisions made, Hugh was asked to confirm the selections and then issue a set of orders for his flotilla. He also could give orders to the transports he was guarding. With only three defenders he kept the transports close together in a line. That may or may not be the smart thing, but it made it easier to cover them with his warships. The frigate would lead the formation with the two destroyers flanking the trio of transports. All he had to do was activate the scenario and the battle would begin.

Like his fights on the ground, there was limited control that Hugh had over his forces. He would give them orders and they would do the best they could using the GCA supplied AI to complete them. He could opt to change things on the fly, ordering ships to close and engage specific hostile vessels or to remain close to their charges. For now, he kept the defenders close, making a point to not go chasing off after a target and leave the transports undefended. All weapons were set to automatically engage, but Hugh could identify priority targets for each ship and each type of weapon. The only change he made before things started was to have missile batteries on standby, they had limited ammo and he didn’t want them dumping all their missiles at some worthless target.

Activating the mission, Hugh watched his fleet pull away from the station and sort themselves out into the formation he had designated. Their pace was limited to the thrust on the slowest vessels, the transports. A countdown timer appeared with thirty minutes remaining before they would reach the targeted jump point at their current pace. Another option popped up asking if he would like to keep the transports together or leave behind any with damaged drive systems. For now, he kept them together, but if it meant winning or losing the trial, he would gladly sacrifice a transport to have a chance at progressing further into the trial.

Spending some time fiddling with the weapons systems on the ships gave him a new way to gauge ranges on each weapons. Colored globes appeared around each ship, showing the range of each weapon system. It was a useful feature he would have to try out on his ground forces. He had seen range indicators before but keeping the overlapping range indicators active might be useful as the battles increased in size and difficulty, such as his last holdout mission. Maybe there was even a way to track the range of enemy weapons? He supposed he might be able to come up with a guesstimate given his experience with a particular foe. It was something to test out in his next real campaign.

Red contacts appeared from deep space, heading toward the fleet. Zooming in, Hugh could make out a trio of what looked like armed versions of the transports he was escorting. They were coming straight from the direction of the jump point and were nearly in missile range. The attackers didn’t seem too difficult so he opted to let the range close in until they could be targeted by the main guns. Just before they entered range, Hugh ordered the destroyers to go on the attack, leaving the frigate with the transports as a last line of defense.

As soon as they were in range, his destroyers began to fire their main guns, the weapons let loose with the same type of plasma projectile used by his ground forces, only in a much higher caliber. The first shots were way off mark, but the AI corrected with each volley and hits started to register on the foe. Each attacker mounted a single, cut down version of his ships’ main guns, the stubby barrel seemed to limit its range and they only began to return fire after his destroyers had unloaded their fourth volley.

In a V formation, the lead attacker began to soak up damage as the large rounds burned through its unarmored hull and destroyed whatever was inside these things. After three hits, the lead attacker stopped returning fire and began drift blindly as its engines failed. Wary of a trick, Hugh altered the flotilla’s course, just in case the attacker was playing possum. His ships registered that the disabled attacker was no longer a threat, shifting fire to the two survivors just as the first hit landed on a destroyer. The round hit the hull and burned through the light armor, but Hugh could tell his destroyer’s hull seemed to resist the damage better than the attacker’s ship had done.

A second attacker was taken out and one of his destroyers had lost a main gun when new contacts appeared, three more armed transports were closing in from aft, the attackers had somewhat better drives than his transports did, allowing them to slowly gain on the flotilla. Hugh ordered his undamaged destroyer to assist the frigate against the new formation while his damaged destroyer finished off the remaining armed transport from the first group of attackers. His frigate moved to engage the new wave of attackers, its pair of main guns proving just as effective as those on the destroyers and landing two hits before the armed transports could reply.

The return fire was inaccurate at first, the rounds missing by a wide margin, just as with his own ships, each successive volley came closer to hitting the frigate. His frigate soaked up a few hits, taking out the missile launcher and a point defense gun before the destroyer entered range. With the destroyer entering range, his forces had a decided advantage in firepower, but worried about further damage to his forces and wanting to see just how effective they were, Hugh ordered the destroyer to launch a wave of missiles. Targeting options popped up, allowing Hugh to designate fire on a specific target, or for the missiles to divide spread out and engage separate threats. Not seeing any point defense on the attackers, Hugh opted for one missile each, watching as the three of the large weapons launched from a trio of openings in the hull of his destroyer.

The attackers switched their fire, the main guns shifting from his ships as they tried to engage the incoming missiles. Hugh was a bit surprised they would do that but remembered that on modern navy vessels, the smaller cannon often formed a dual-purpose anti-ship or anti-air capability. Whatever their intended capability, the AI on the attackers sure wasn’t up to the task, the incoming fire missing by a wide margin. Their accuracy wasn’t helped any as the missiles began simple evasion patterns while closing in on their prey. His ships didn’t stop their other weapons while Hugh waited for the missiles to engage, the main guns continued to hammer the lead transport, pounding it into scrap before fire shifted to a second vessel.

The missile heading toward the now dead attacker, shifted its course slightly and targeted another of the armed transports. All three hit at around the same time, large explosions of burning plasma dug deep into the unarmored hulls. Neither ship survived the ordeal, their design wasn’t intended for combat and they lacked any defense against such firepower. The victorious destroyer and frigate returned to the transports, joining the damaged destroyer which had already finished off its target.

With only a few minutes left until they reached the jump point, a final trio of armed transports appeared on the scanners. This time, Hugh didn’t want to risk any further damage to his warships and used missiles at maximum range to take them out. Each destroyer loosed a volley of missiles which had no trouble taking out the final attackers. He had depleted half the missiles on one destroyer, and with the frigate’s launchers being damaged, his supply was very limited. Hugh would have to use them sparingly in the next stage of the trial.

First objective reached; your fleet will jump to the next system where you will escort the transports on the next leg of their destination. You have received 250 resources and may resupply and upgrade your vessels as you choose. Your time is limited, and the transports will continue their journey without you when the timer expires.

The view in front of him flashed as his ships jumped into the next system. When his vision reappeared, his flotilla was docked at another generic space station and options appeared to repair the damage to his ships. The frigate was the more heavily damaged and would require seventy-three resources to bring back to full effectiveness. His damaged destroyer would take forty-seven resources and refilling his magazines would take another forty-five, the missile turned out to cost five resources each. That left him with eighty-five resources for upgrades. His options were limited, he could buy another ship, having just enough to purchase a patrol boat, or he could choose to improve the ones he had.

Opting to go with what he had, Hugh saw that the upgrades hadn’t changed much, the original options were only supplemented by a new category that allowed him to place armaments on the transports. A pair of new transport upgrade options populated as he explored that tab on his interface.

Transport Upgrades. Your transports have two hardpoints for upgrades. You can switch loadouts at any time but will lose the resources spent on any upgrade you choose to replace.

1. Main gun. Add a single main gun to one of your transports. These light cannon are not the full military grade weapons mounted on your other vessels, having less range, damage, and accuracy than their warship counterparts. Sometimes a little extra firepower may help turn the tide of battle. The main gun upgrade requires 25 resources.

2. Point defense. A pair of point defense weapons will be mounted on the selected transport. They have the range and firepower of the military versions, but having a less robust AI, the transports have limited accuracy at longer ranges and are unable to link with the warships to coordinate their fire. The point defense upgrade requires 25 resources.

Arming the transports was intriguing, but his funds would be better spent on upgrades for the actual warships. Hugh ended up deciding on adding the point defense upgrade to his frigate, and the missile upgrade to both destroyers, happy with how the weapons had performed so far. With his selections made, Hugh ordered his flotilla to get moving, plotting a course to the next jump point. He kept the same formation as before, waiting for the inevitable attack to commence.