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War Core 2, Chapter 45.

Chapter 45.

“Move! The prey is there for the taking! Feast upon their metal flesh,” Hssim ordered. Of course, they couldn’t eat the prey, but the image of a fresh kill was what Hssim wanted to impart to his war packs. They didn’t need much encouragement, the defeat inflicted upon them by the monkey-like human core still stung. He could appreciate the cunning planning that the human core had done, preparing the perfect ambush that his forces had walked right into.

Anger, ...

Hssim vs the Krixnas

Found this online and it reminded me of Hssim, only he doesn't have the meaty bits. 

War Core Wednesday, War Core 2, Chapter 44.

Chapter 44.

“I’ve just got notice to move my forces to the portal. Hold them back my brothers, do not let the Ssath take a single ring of this city before its time,” Valery said. His surviving mechs formed up and began to march toward the center of the Krixnas capital. Many of the mechs were battle-scarred, and Hugh couldn’t help but worry about how many of his mechs would survive the battle, and even if they did survive, how many of his men would never emerge from their comba...

War Core 2, Chapter 43.

Chapter 43.

The battle for the Krixnas capital city has begun.

The ominous message prompt let Hugh know that their time for preparation was over. Valery’s forces were in place, and he was ready to engage as soon as the Ssath were in range. Once the battle began, a steady stream of Krixnas transports began to leave the first ring, making their way slowly toward the portal and the new life that beckoned. The transports materialized from just inside of ring one, ...

War Core 2, Chapter 42.

Chapter 42.

“Everyone, it looks like the clock is ticking, do what you can to improve your defenses before the Ssath arrives,” Valery called out to the cores. The countdown for the Ssath arrival had started as soon as the portal flared to life, and they had just over 28 minutes remaining before the Ssath showed up.

“Hey, has anyone heard anything from Felicia?” Tucker called out. Nobody had, which gave Hugh a bad feeling. He had expected her to be here for the final batt...

War Core 2, Chapter 41.

Chapter 41.

“Let’s start pushing the infantry through the factory,” Hugh ordered. Captain Brubaker already had the troops queued up, and from the comm chatter, the men were excited to see how their newly upgraded mechs performed. Hugh knew the threat of a 55% casualty rate was weighing on them all, but like the true warriors they were, they put it in the back of their minds and got to work.

“I have been advised that a total of fifteen of my people will be available to wo...

War Core 2, Chapter 40.

Chapter 40.

The city was eerily quiet, and even though Hugh knew that it wasn’t a real city, just a replica of one built by the GCA for this campaign, the lack of inhabitants was unsettling. Thankfully, the city wasn’t quite as large as a real city either, if it had been, there would have been no way for all their cores combined to even defend the smallest ring of the place. Instead, the overall size was scaled back, but still way too large for Hugh to hope to defend with the forc...

War Core 2, Chapters 38 and 39.

Two chapters today since chapter 38 is just a short transitional chapter.

Chapter 38.

“Admiral, the decision should be coming down any minute, they’re taking the vote now,” The Secretary of Defense (SecDef), Miles Jordan, advised. Admiral Nix had no idea what the world would decide, he was focused on the effect it would have on Hugh and the other cores, not that he had any way to contact them until the campaign was complete and Hugh returned home.

“Thank you, sir, ...

The tank Stephan's avatar is based on.

War Core 2, Chapter 37.

Chapter 37.

“Stay at extreme range, pick them off,” Hugh ordered to his troops. The Ssath infantry had been forming up to attack Stephan and wasn’t expecting a fresh army to appear at their rear. Aggression kicked in and the Ssath at the rear of the formation turned to charge at Hugh’s forces. The canyon floor wasn’t very wide, but Hugh was able to place a platoon of infantry across it, covered by the remaining main battle mech and his avatar. The two anti-air mechs were pos...

War Core 2, Chapter 36.

Chapter 36.

“Sir, we’re ready to engage,” Cartwright called out. It turned out not everything had gone against them. The Ssath air mechs landed to the west and marched on the column, an effort to sandwich the transports between them and the Ssath heavy mechs. Hugh’s light mechs that had been left behind to ambush the enemy were slowly closing in on the threat. Nearly invisible when standing still, the M24’s slow movement was also tough for the approaching air mechs to detect...

War Core 2, Chapter 35.

Chapter 35.

“It looks like David is drawing most of their attention toward the city,” Jiro noted. The Ssath forces spread out, greeted by occasional blasts of the defense spheres when a Ssath scout wandered too close. Half of David’s mechs were hiding inside the outer ring, ready to respond to the inevitable push. The other half of his mechs were working at the center ring of the city, desperately constructing defensive spheres and placing Krixnas mines around the command post a...

War Core 2, Chapter 34.

Chapter 34.

As his avatar went through the factory for its upgrades, Hugh thought he could feel a strange tickle as his mech was rebuilt into the powerful M48 Patton main battle mech. Giving it a quick test drive, his speed was about the same as before, through the greater mass of his new mech meant that rapid direction changes weren’t quite as easy fluid. The improved weapons systems were also functioning well, and Hugh couldn’t wait to try out the 105mm main gun on some Ssath me...

The real life versions of the M48 Patton and the M24 Chaffee AA unit.

War Core, Chapter 33.

Chapter 33.

As Jiro’s units finished their upgrades, Hugh pulled his troops off the line to queue up next to the factory. Due to its location just outside the western end of the city, Hugh didn’t think the factory would survive for long once the enemy’s main force arrived. Any further upgrades would likely need to be completed at another location unless the GCA used their technological wizardry to create a new factory somewhere else inside the city. Hugh kept the same upgrade or...

War Core, Chapter 32.

Chapter 32.

“Sir, I’ve found an approach path that should be good. The ambush point only has a small hill for cover, but if you get a good first volley in, that should turn things in your favor. The only problem is that these guys are moving kind of erratic, and I can’t guarantee they’ll pass through the ambush point,” Tremaine advised.

“Major Hugh Logan, I believe my forces can be of assistance. I have more infantry under construction so I can grant each of your cor...

War Core 2, Chapter 31.

Chapter 31.

“Human core known as Major Hugh Logan, I am ready to begin repairs on your units, I have assigned a squad to begin the process. I am also pleased to announce that I have gathered enough resources to begin upgrading the defense spheres as well as installing new ones,” David said. Hugh was happy to see ten of the Krixnas infantry mechs pulled from resource gathering, half working on his units and half of them working on Jiro’s

David was back up to fifty infantry ...

War Core 2, Chapter 30.

Chapter 30.

The drop pod slammed into the ground just outside of David’s command post. This time, it didn’t crush any enemies, but its appearance did seem to startle the attacking Ssath, drawing their attention for a crucial moment that the Krixnas took advantage of. When the panels blew out of the side of the drop pod, a swarm of Krixnas infantry mechs emerged. Hugh had hoped for better units, but the Drop Beacon of the Vanquished only had a small chance for upgraded troops and i...

War Core 2, Chapter 29.

Chapter 29.

Hugh and Jiro adjusted their lines, integrating the defensive spheres into their plan. David pushed the data over showing where he intended to double the number of spheres around the first ring. It would still be a pitiful number given the size of the perimeter they were defending, but every bit would help. For now, their Krixnas ally continued to gather resources, focusing on the ones that the human mechs had spotted in the outer ring. While it took longer for them to dra...

War Core 2, Chapter 28.

Chapter 28.

“Good news Hugh, I received some reinforcements and I suspect you will too once you go through your upgrades. They weren’t generous with the number, but I’ll take anything at this point,” Jiro announced as the last of his forces walked from the factory.

“That would definitely help, I’m just worried about whether I’ll have enough time to finish up before we’re dropped into the fight again,” Hugh answered. Jiro’s forces replaced Hugh’s on the peri...

War Core 2, Chapter 27.

Chapter 27.

The dragonfly-looking transport returned along with a second, similar mech. Once they landed, Hugh’s forces boarded one transport and the civilian mechs boarded the other. Hugh could only hope that back on their homeworld, the real villagers were being taken to somewhere safe. The Kirxnas were stuffed into their transport, but his forces looked pitiful, containing only his avatar, nine infantry mechs, and Lieutenant Cooper’s air mech.

“Sir, any idea where we’...

War Core 2, Chapter 26.

Chapter 26.

“Sir, Sergeant Mendez is down, I see four of his squad survived to reinforce the second ambush point,” Lieutenant Cooper advised. Hugh was watching the battle, but part of his attention was drawn away by the preparations they were making for the final defense of the village.

The strange structures had been torn apart to build some bunkers for his forces. He didn’t know if tearing down a structure here would mean that a similar structure on the Krixnas homeworld...

Cat Core 2 is out today!

I hope everyone is having a good week and enjoying the latest War Core chapters. The release of Cat Core 2 is today and I could use some help if you're able. Early positive reviews can have a huge impact at the launch of a new book as it affects the Amazon algorithms and places the book in front of potential readers who otherwise wouldn't know it exists. If you enjoyed the story...

War Core 2, Chapter 25.

Chapter 25.

Sergeant Mendez clanked his rifle barrel into the face of his mech as he instinctively tried to move his hand up to scratch an itch at the end of his nose. Did he really even have an itch, or was it some goofball annoyance built-in by the GCA? He wasn’t supposed to feel his normal body while in the combat pod, only his mech avatar, but Mendez could swear he would often feel aches, itches, and even thirst at times. The doc said it was like phantom pains when you lose a li...

War Core 2, Chapter 24

Chapter 24.

Hugh watched the last of his infantry walk from the factory, each one now sported a small grenade container attached at their waist containing three of the deadly devices. His trip through the upgrade process further improved his avatar, cutting in half the one-second delay between each burst of his weapons. In addition to the weapons upgrades, the motion of his avatar seemed much smoother and a quick check at his status indicators showed his speed had slightly increased a...

War Core 2, Chapter 23.

Chapter 23.

“Sir, don’t go turning my Marines into something weird like that,” Brubaker said over private comms.

“I have no intention of turning your marines into samurai mech’s, despite how cool they look, I’d have a hard time spending reward points on something that doesn’t upgrade our combat potential.

“Roger that, sir, I’m well aware some high-speed gear can make a soldier feel more confident, but I’d only want upgrades that can make them better at ...

War Core 2, Chapter 22.

Here we get an explanation for the unusual infantry mechs from the cover art, enjoy! 

Chapter 22.

Hugh and his forces had to fight off several more attacks, but the enemy forces were almost as spent as his troops were. Once they passed that border of the battlefield indicated on his interface, the Ssath gave up the chase, rushing back to the town they had just conquered. The transports from the fishing village that they had been protecting continued down the main...

War Core 2, Chapter 21.

Chapter 21.

The enemy tried two more assaults on Hugh’s line before they realized his defense wasn’t going to be brushed aside so easily. Each push was made by larger numbers of enemy infantry mechs, and Hugh was only able to hold them back by unleashing counterattacks by his light mechs. The line was thin, much too thin to hold back a determined attack. A quick check of his available forces confirmed his fears.

Current Battle Information.

1. I...