War Core, Chapter 16.

Chapter 16.

Hugh’s brief overview of the type of fight he was participating in was complete and the GCA began his flight across the galaxy to Ix0071, wherever that was. Despite it happening to him several times by now, Hugh was fascinated by the galaxy he flew through, wishing the amazing the trip wasn’t one that would end in a battle. The type of fight he was heading toward was one that was almost guaranteed to inflict casualties. They would be fighting off waves and waves of enemies, and if he didn’t get the casualty reduction for a victory, there would be a lot of dead soldiers in their combat pods when he returned home.

A blue world filled his vision, a world that looked to be completely covered in water. As he approached closer, Hugh could make out a trio of islands that rose from the sea. He approached the southernmost island, seeing a wide sandy beach that reached to the base of a small hill. A steep slope led up about three hundred yards to a plateau atop the hill where his command post and other buildings were placed. Hugh felt his War Core connect to the structures and production of his first drones began. He pulled up his command post data while he waited for the drones to be built.

Current Battle Information.

Resources: 500.

Structures:

Command post, level 2. Unit points (5/350). Upgrade to level 3 requires 750 resources.

Barracks, level 0. Upgrade to level 1 requires 200 resources.

Light mech factory, level 1. Upgrade to level 2 requires 350 resources.

Signal tower (1/3). Additional signal towers require 50 resources each.

Units:

Construction drones (5/5).

Defensive units:

None.

Available structures.

Airfield. The airfield requires a level 3 command post to construct.

Port. Port facilities require a level 3 command post to construct.

Time until next wave, 30 minutes.

At least the GCA gave him a countdown for when the first attack would occur. Hugh had to decide on a strategy and focus his efforts. First off was determining what other resources were available. Scattered around the hillside were supply containers of various sizes. Those would be the targets for the first batch of drones. Seeing that there were dozens of containers, Hugh felt comfortable bumping up immediate production of construction drones, opting for a full twenty of them, broken down into squads of five. Debris from previous battles littered the sands of the beach so Hugh tasked the second group of drones that came off the line to begin gathering the salvage on the beach.

While there were no resource stations visible, the flow of resources into his command post was better than the previous battles where he had controlled both the command post and a resource station. Hugh had no idea how much of his windfall was due to the upgrade he had selected and how much was due to the battle condition of increased resource flow. With resource gathering underway, Hugh looked at the sea around his island. In the distance to the north, he could just make out another of the three islands. During the brief flight to his command post, he noticed that the three islands were placed in almost a straight line. There would be another island past the one in the distance and that was the one he believed his opponent was located on. Until he developed either air assets or a naval force to begin reconnaissance, Hugh had no way of knowing what the central island held.

No matter what overall strategy he decided to go with, Hugh knew he would need infantry to defend his base. The example battle had shown him trenches and bunkers could be built for additional protection, but he didn’t know how to build them. Selecting the third drone squad that was now under construction, he tried to command them to dig defenses. They rejected his wishes, but the attempt at least prompted a system notification.

Defensive fortifications are built by the construction drones. To begin researching defensive fortifications, upgrade to a level 2 barracks with armory attachment.

Hugh already knew that he would need better infantry for this fight, so going to at least a level two barracks wasn't a problem. He directed the now completed third squad of drones to upgrade the barracks all the way to level two. It cost him 450 resources to go from level zero to two and he would need an extra 100 for the armory. While five hundred resources at the start of the battle had seemed like a lot, they sure didn’t last long.

To speed things up, he had his fourth and final squad of drones assist with gathering supply crates. As far as a strategy for his defense, Hugh knew he would need a sizeable and upgraded force of infantry mechs. In support of his infantry, he figured some light mechs would be effective given their longer range. He wanted to unlock some kind of indirect fire weapons but would have to wait for further upgrades to see if they made an appearance. He really wanted to see what the air mech were like as well as any sea units, but it might be a while before he had enough resources to get those rolling.

While he waited for his drones to gather resources, Hugh began to map out his defense. A multi-layered defense would be the best option, that way, a single breach of his lines wouldn’t be as disastrous. He tried to picture how the enemy would approach to attack his command post. Would they just appear, walking up out of the depths of the ocean, or would they arrive in some type of assault boats? There was also the possibility of an air insertion or perhaps even some kind of assault from space with drop pods. He needed defenses that would cover all areas of potential assault, but feared he lacked the resources to build them.

The barracks upgrades completed in good time and he still had nearly twenty minutes on the clock when the armory was installed. Resources had piled up as the construction began, his drones efficiently gathering the nearest resources as his command post also pumped in resources at a good pace. Hugh pulled up the armory, perusing the upgrades that were available.

Standard Infantry Mech Upgrades.

1. Basic targeting package. This upgrade permanently enhances the targeting systems of your light infantry weapons, enabling higher accuracy under all conditions. The estimated accuracy increase is 10%. This upgrade requires 50 resources to activate. Once activated, drones would be required to improve any existing infantry units, while newly created units will already have the upgrade.

2. Improved heat sink mechanism. By improving the heat dissipation ability of your light weapons, the rate of fire is increased. This upgrade requires 50 resources to activate and will increase the rate of fire by 10%. Once activated, drones would be required to improve any existing infantry units, while newly created units will already have the upgrade.

3. Heavy barrel replacement. With enhanced materials, the barrels of your infantry weapons are lengthened and hardened, allowing for a 15% increase in range over a standard weapon. This upgrade requires 75 resources to activate.

The following upgrades require an active Light Mech Factory.

4. Enhanced armor protection. Additional armor plates are attached to your infantry mechs. The upgrade improves survivability of the units by an average of 15% but the additional weight will slow your infantry movement speed by 5%. This upgrade requires 50 resources to activate. Once activated, drones would be required to improve any existing infantry units, while newly created units will already have the upgrade. Units upgraded with enhanced armor require 1 additional resource point at creation. Updating units in the field requires 1 resource point per unit.

5. Plasma Grenades. These thrown weapons have an effective radius of five yards. Any mech or structure in the area of effect will take damage as a wave of plasma energy is released. This upgrade requires 100 resources and an additional 1 resource for every infantry mech produced or upgraded with these weapons. Replacement devices can be manufactured by your construction drones for 1 resource per pair of grenades. Please note that infantry mechs cannot carry more than two of these grenade types at any one time.

All his old favorites were there, and the two additional items would be great for this type of battle. The increased range upgrade was going to be a must-have, and there was no way he would let his infantry go without grenades. With just over two-hundred resources in the bank, he started on the upgrades, going with the targeting package, improved heat sinks, and the heavy barrel replacement for now. He queued up the other upgrades to begin production as soon as more resources came in. Once everything was upgraded it would be time to get the barracks going with the construction of his army.

He didn’t see any options for fixed defense in the armory tab but instead found that new options were available at the command post. He would have to keep checking on his different production buildings as he leveled up things, it looked like there would be potential upgrades that were easy to miss if he wasn’t thorough. Thankfully, what had unlocked didn’t require more resources, only time which was he supposed was a resource in its own right.

Fortifications, level 1.

Your drones are now capable of creating simple defensive points and structures. Given time and available nearby materials, drones can create trench lines and watchtowers. Improvements in your command post and auxiliary buildings will unlock upgraded defenses.

Looking over his little island domain, Hugh sketched out three lines of defense. A trench would be dug around the perimeter of the island where the sandy beach met the beginning of the hill’s incline. This would be his first line of defense, one where he would bleed the enemy before they began the assault up the slope. For the second line, he selected an area midway up the slope, which would provide supporting fire on anything attacking the first line of defense. As a final position, the ridge of his hilltop would have the most extensive fortifications, the smaller area to cover would make it easier to hold with what he assumed would be a reduced number of mechs by the time the battle progressed that far.

Hugh assigned the third drone squad to start on the first layer of defense. With the crazy array of tools at their disposal, the drones worked quickly to dig a trench line. Their methods proved to be very efficient as each of the five drones in the squad placed themselves at different points around the base of the hill where the first line was to be constructed and began to dig. They all dug in a clockwise rotation and would eventually link the trenches. Watching for around thirty seconds revealed the drones would have a good portion of the trench dug, but it would not be completed by the time the first attack wave arrived. Hugh pulled the fourth squad off resource gathering and had them join in the construction effort.

Confident that at least his first line of defense would be ready, Hugh now had to build up a force to defend it. The upgrades for the infantry mechs were complete and he queued up the barracks to begin construction of fifty of them. His resource intake with two squads gathering crates and salvage was more than enough to keep the infantry building constantly without pause.

“Major Logan, I’m in the fight, what’s our situation, sir?” Captain Tran asked as he took control of the first infantry mech to step off the assembly line.

“It’s a holdout mission. This little island is ours and we have to hold it longer than the Krixnas hold their island. I’ve got our first defensive line started and we’ll eventually have fifty infantry mechs for you, though I’m not sure how many will be done by the time the first wave of attackers arrives,” Hugh advised. Tran was silent for a while, no doubt looking over the terrain to see what he had to work with.

“Kind of a desolate place, no trees or much of any natural cover except for the hill itself. I would have maybe suggested starting with the second line of defense I see you’ve sketched out, but we’ll work with what we have. For now, just assign all the infantry to the trench line and I’ll sort out who goes where. We’ll be stretched pretty thin, but we can shift forces toward wherever the main enemy effort is aimed at. We’ve got good visibility in all directions so we should have some time to react before the enemy is in range,” Tran said.

“I’ve got you all decked out with every upgrade I could produce so your mechs should do pretty well. Sorry, I didn’t have the time or resources to build any light mechs for support,” Hugh added.

“No problem, these infantry mechs are quite a bit better than our level zero ones from the last battle and I’m a big fan of the grenades, they should be very effective in this type of fight. Don’t worry about the light mech’s just yet. A level one light mech isn’t very powerful and the resources are better spent on infantry for now. Hopefully, we can level things up before the next wave hits,” Tran replied.

“Have you ever fought in this type of battle before?” Hugh asked. After over a minute with no reply, he assumed the GCA had blocked Tran from either replying or hearing the question in the first place. Time counted down and every couple of minutes a new infantry mech stepped out of the barracks to join Captain Tran. The captain spread the arriving troops around the perimeter, trying to get eyes on every possible approach. By the time they were down to the last minute, he had a total of fourteen mechs. At least the factory would still be pumping them out during the battle.

Hugh pulled in the drones in that were collecting salvage on the beach, he didn’t want them caught in the crossfire. He had them help with the second line of trenches which the other two squads were working on now that they had completed the first line. Only one squad of drones was needed to gather the dwindling number of resource crates on the hillside. As the countdown timer hit zero, Hugh began to look about for the unknown enemy force.

“I’ve got some type of landing craft to the east, I’m counting a half dozen of them,” one of the soldiers manning the trenches on that side of the island advised.

“Anything else that anyone can see?” Captain Tran asked. There were no other replies.

“The waves of attackers will get progressively harder which makes me think that six landing craft might be it for this wave,” Hugh offered.

“You’re probably right, sir, but there’s no reason to get complacent. I’m readjusting my infantry to meet the threat,” Tran advised. There were now fifteen infantry mechs and Tran had all but three of them reinforce the eastern side of the trench line. A single mech was left to watch each of the other three compass points just to make sure there wasn’t another attack incoming.

The landing craft came into closer view, and they were definitely something from the Krixnas arsenal. Resembling a large worm, the bloated landing craft closed at a moderate pace, tentacles on the sides of the vessels pumped jets of seawater to move them. Hugh wasn’t sure how many Krixnas infantry mechs the strange craft would hold; it could be anywhere from five to ten of the things packed inside. His thin line of well-upgraded defenders would have to hold, no matter how many horrors spilled out of the landing craft.