War Core, Chapter 8.

I should also have another chapter in Derelict 3 ready for you tonight. 

Chapter 8.

Hugh’s first infantry mech stomped its way out of the barracks. He set it for attack mode and selected the resource gathering station that could be seen in the distance. His plans were interrupted by a new prompt.

Combat pod integration is active. Connecting operator to the battlefield.

“Major Logan, can you read me, sir?” Captain Tran asked over comms.

“I read you five by five Captain,” Logan replied, unsure of the format they should be using for comms.

“Sir, we tend to be a bit more informal in the battles here since you can see what we’re doing at any time, there is less room for confusion. What’s our current status, any sign of the enemy?” Tran asked.

“Negative contact, we started with a level one command post and barracks. The level cap for the battle is level three. There are no air units, and we have normal resources. I did get a quick peek at the battlefield before starting. From our command post area, the main road you see leads through the forest and into a ruined town. The other side of the town is a mirror image of our side. I’ve got you heading toward the nearby resource gathering station to see what kind of defenders it has. Also, there is another unknown point just outside the city that was flagged as critical,” Hugh said, giving the captain a rundown.

“Good, I’ll continue to investigate the resource gathering site, how many more infantry mechs can you give me?”

“I’ve got a total of eight queued, you’re in the first and the second is coming off the assembly line now. What level of input do you need from me?” Hugh asked, unsure what the soldiers in the combat pod could do or how much autonomy they had.

“We have control over the mechs, and as each one comes online, one of my soldiers will take over. I can’t see any further than my own mech’s viewpoint, handling the big picture is your job. Once given orders, we’ll use every trick in the book to make them happen. I think there should be an interface option for combat pods somewhere for you to give permissions. From what we know of the most successful teams, the War Core will select where you want us to fight and leave the details to us. If things are too tough or we need support, I’ll get on the horn and notify you. With a relatively small battlefield like this, I think you can keep tabs on what’s going on pretty easily,” Tran advised.

“Got it, you do the fighting and I’ll stick with the overall picture and plan,” Hugh acknowledged as he pulled up the combat pod interface.

Combat pod settings. Select a level of autonomy for your combat pod operators.

1. No control. Operators are observers only in their mechs.

2. Limited control. Operators control the mech in combat. Out of combat, the mechs will act based on standard protocols.

3. Full operator control. The operator can handle the mech as they like so long as they follow the overall orders given by the War Core.

His battles were only going to get more complex as time went on so full control made sense to Hugh. He would loose his dogs of war on the enemy and let them do their thing. Hugh’s job was going to be keeping the big picture in focus and exploiting opportunities as they arose.

“Thank you, sir. We’ve got control of the infantry mechs, I’ll let you know what we find at the resource gathering station,” Tran replied.

There wasn’t much for Hugh to do for the time being, at least until more resourced flowed in. Testing out his point of view limits, he found that the same half-mile restrictions were in place. Thankfully, he was able to follow wherever his mechs went, even if was further from his command post. As soon as Tran captured the resource station, he would need to have the infantry scout out the enemy.

“Looks like there’s only a token force here. These types of resource points aren’t that well-defended unless you let them sit unoccupied for a while. Commencing attack,” Tran said over comms. Hugh moved his view to the infantry officer’s location.

The resource station was held by only a trio of infantry mechs, the type of mech once again mirrored his own, save for the fact the defenders were only level zero. That matched with his last fight, where the point they were fighting over slowly improved its defenses over time, pumping out mechs and defensive turrets.

Captain Tran had a total of three infantry mechs, a fourth had just left the barracks and another was constructing. Instead of blindly walking forward and firing at the first target they could, Tran’s soldiers handled their mechs with skill. The jerky gait of the machines was smoothed out, and the units flowed as a team. With equal numbers, his higher level mechs should win the fight even if they weren’t controlled by real soldiers. The real trick was whether his soldiers could win with limited casualties. He would finally get a chance to see what a combat pod could do.

The trio of attacking mechs spread out about five yards apart and moved into rifle range. Defending mechs immediately moved to face them, the closest firing where it stood, while the other two moved into range. As one, Tran’s forces dropped to the ground, firing from a stable prone position. His first volley was on target, all three rounds burning their way into the closest defender and taking it out of action. His soldiers then targeted the next, ignoring the incoming fire which was less effective than normal given their prone position. The second and third defending mechs met the same fate as the first. Three volley and three kills were all it had taken Tran and his men to win the fight. They were performing better than advertised and Hugh’s confidence at winning received a big boost.

“Area under control sir, too easy,” Tran said confidently.

“Well done, just don’t get too cocky, we haven’t met the real enemy forces. I would like you to move forward to the critical location at the edge of the city where there should be some structure or a resource point,” Hugh ordered.

“Roger that, but we should probably sweep the woods first, just to make sure the enemy doesn’t send over any surprises. If you want, you can detach one of our mechs to get some eyeballs on the enemy,”

“Sounds good, make it happen,” Hugh ordered.

“Uh, sir, you have to assign those orders to us, we’re still keyed to this location,” Tran said. Oops, had forgotten that even with full control, he was still required to tell them where to go. Hugh selected Tran’s main force, ordering them to assault and take whatever was outside the city. Two of the infantry mechs, including one just coming off the assembly line, where he assumed the enemy base was.

The two soldiers that he had tasked to find enemy base separated, one going on each side of the map and into the forested area. While they couldn’t change their destination, the combat pod controlled mechs could decide the route to get there, making them effective at recon. If he had done this to non-controlled mechs, his units would have walked straight down the middle of the map and into whatever firepower the enemy possessed.

After giving his soldiers their assignments, Hugh assigned a group of five drones to the resource gathering site they had taken. The battle hadn’t been going on for very long so only about fifteen resources had been gathered. They were trickling in from the captured site at the same rate his command post did. The only problem was that he had to get the resources from the site to his command post in order to use them. With the drones assigned to that point, he found he could set a minimum return amount for resources. Hugh set the return number at ten resources, keeping them flowing instead of waiting for it to fill an entire crate with fifty resources.

The first drone to arrive grabbed the partially filled resource crate and began walking back to base. The others gathered up the destroyed defensive mechs and dragged them in as well. He would only get a point or two at most for them, but every point of resource could make a difference, especially now, while he was trying to build things up. He had a few resources available at this point, but should he build more infantry or save up for new buildings and upgrades?

“Captain Tran, how big a force do you need right now? I want to stockpile resources for upgrades, but I don’t want to leave you hanging out there with no support,” Hugh asked.

“There’s really no way to tell at this point, sir. Can you get me up to a full ten mechs for the time being? I’ll know more once we get eyes on the whatever is outside the city,” Tran replied. Hugh queued up another pair of infantry mechs to give Tran ten to work with. He had nothing to do now but wait for resources to gather and for his troops to find and observe the enemy. Tran’s force was inside the woods, choosing to use them as cover for approaching the mystery point of interest instead of just walking down the main road.

“Sir, I have eyes on the objective. It looks like a forward base,” Tran called out. Hugh moved his view over and could see what looked like a Vietnam era firebase. A concrete central bunker held a plain grey flag, indicating the place was neutral. A series of trenches wound around the base, marking out a rough square shape. At each corner sandbagged bunkers were constructed, and Hugh could see movement within them, defenders most likely. Walking the trench line on patrol were another ten mechs, all tier one. A system prompt advised Hugh of what he was looking at.

Forward operating base, level 1. The forward base provides a strong position for defense and are often found at strategic locations. A forward base has no natural defensive force, and the capturing faction must supply their own troops. The base can be set as a destination for new units that are produced, negating the need to manually select and move them into the battle.

The forward base can be upgraded with automated defenses and even a resource processing station at higher levels, giving your construction drones a place to drop off materials for your use. Beware, the more you build up a forward base, the more you leave for the enemy’s use should they take it from you.

The base was in a perfect spot to control his side of the city and provide overwatch on the main road. Positioned around two hundred yards from the city itself, it was outside of rifle range, preventing attackers from sniping with infantry units, at least he hoped so. Hugh wanted that base, but ten infantry mechs weren’t going to capture it on their own, especially when two were off scouting for the enemy. The base would have to wait. For now, he needed more resources.

“Captain, I think we’ll have to wait on taking that base, I want you to push into the city if you can do so without the base engaging you,” Hugh asked.

“Not a problem sir, I didn’t see any crew-served weapons or mortar pits so we should be able to slip in and stay out of range. Feel free to queue up some objectives for us in town, typically you can set two or three before you’re locked out,” Tran advised. Hugh selected three spots on his side of the city where had seen what looked to be resource crates during the pre-battle recon. Tran’s infantry moved out, keeping well clear of the forward base.

“Contact Left! Engaging single enemy infantry mech,” the soldier operating the mech on the left shouted into his comm unit. Hugh moved his viewpoint over, sharing the image to Tran and the others. The soldier was using a tree as partial cover while aiming his arm-mounted rifle at another mech that was only thirty yards from him. The forest itself was reasonably dense, hiding the approach of the two mechs until they were almost on top of each other.

The enemy mech, which was supposed to look like the alien race the fought, was more like something from a mad scientist’s laboratory. Walking on six legs, the mech’s metallic body resembled that of an ant. Instead of the expected insect-like head, a writhing mass of tentacles protruded. As Hugh watched, a red glow started at the tips of one of the tentacles and after a few moments, a burst of energy shot forth toward his infantry mech.

The soldier piloting his mech was good, dropping prone just before the blast fired. Once on the ground, the soldier returned fire, his round striking into the mass of tentacles, shearing off a pair and burrowing deeper into the mech. With the glow just starting to build again on another tentacle, the enemy infantry mech charged. The mech’s insect-like legs burrowed deep into the soft forest floor, its weight impairing its speed and giving the soldier another shot. The second round from his rifle was on target, punching deep into the mechanized monstrosity, taking it out of the fight.

“Sir, did you see that thing? I’m really hoping we don’t run into any of the live versions of those things,” the soldier controlling the mech said. He fired a final round into its body, just to be sure, and then continued with his scouting mission toward the enemy base.

“Looks like those things might be a bit more durable than our mechs, but we have the advantage in firepower and accuracy. I don’t know if that because of our soldiers’ skill or if these Krixnas are naturally bad marksmen. Nobody should miss a thirty-yard shot like that thing did,” Tran added.

“Contact right! Get it off me!” The soldier moving toward the enemy base on the right said. Hugh moved his view over, just in time to see another Krixnas infantry mech charge into his. Tentacles at the end of the mech all began to glow softly as the creature lashed out and grabbed onto his solder. Where the glowing tentacles struck, armor and components melted. They had immense physical strength, pulling the rifle arm off his mech within moments. His infantry mech hit feebly with the other hand against the monster, to no effect. As his mech deactivated, Hugh caught a glimpse of the machine latching onto his mech and dragging it back toward their base. His vision popped back to the command post, the connection with his destroyed mech was, of course, broken.

“Did you see that Captain Tran? Hugh said in shock.

“Yeah, it looks like we don’t want to get into melee range boys, blast them good before they close in,” Tran ordered to his troops who were even now approaching the first suspected resource container. His forces had moved a little way into the city and had seen no sign of the enemy there yet. The first container he had marked did turn out to be a large resource crate. Instead of the fifty resources that he had seen before, this one held a hundred and would require a pair of drones to recover. He selected a pair from his command post to pick it up, but it would take the slow bots a while to arrive.

They had met the enemy for the first time in combat and the score was now one to one.