52 Chapter 52
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
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Of course the night was never going to be truly peaceful. Only an hour after they had finished setting up their defenses another air raid came for their position.
Fortunately, they detected it long before it arrived, relying on a combination of visual and thermal imaging instead of the unreliable radar and satellite feeds.
With the three anti aircraft equipped vehicles plus the Tarith's Rage, the raid was easily repelled, in fact, almost too easily.
[Everyone on Full Alert. Light Mecha check the extended perimeter of our position. An attack that easily repelled is guaranteed to be cover for something.] Max instructed the unit as soon as the plants were downed.
That pulled everyone into immediate readiness, and various sensors began sweeping the area. The Mecha patrolling the outer area stopped to scan for anything out of the ordinary.
[Movement in Sector 3. Rebel infantry attempting to flee the city.] One of the Line Mecha reports, grabbing Max's attention.
[Lieutenant Becki, take two fast units and go deal with them. Watch for ambush attempts.] Max instructs, linking their targeting sensors to his own.
It is a feature commonly used by Commanders to get a good overview of the battleground, but for Max it has a double purpose. The Battle Cannon is an artillery piece, firing heavy shells on a curved trajectory. With his Targeting Skills, he can use it at longer ranges as an indirect fire weapon, lobbing shells into the air to land on targets from above.
If they should come across an ambush, he can engage on their behalf and provide cover to keep them from being pinned down.
The light mecha squad corners the traitors in a former Residence, so Max sends one single Battle Cannon round into the building, the explosion destroying the fragile brick structure and killing everyone inside.
[Sensors detect all clear. Thanks for the assistance Stalwart.] Lieutenant Becki calls over the radio before returning to base.
Now that they've eliminated the last defenders of this position, the enemy is most likely going to send Mecha in to attempt to clear them out and regain control of the area and the munitions storage bunkers that the infantry has claimed.
That means they're going to have to dig in for a nasty battle, but fortunately, they've gotten an infusion of firepower. Max orders camo netting and rubble be spread over the vehicles, as well as Tarith's Rage and a number of the burned out tanks.
Nico took that as a hint to hide herself better, tearing through the basement of a building and shielding herself in the ruins, then placing a door from the lander over her carapace and covering everthing in netting and broken bricks.
With her Mecha hidden like that, and the thick alloy door as a lid, thermal scans would never detect that to be a mecha. The thermal signature looks far more like a makeshift bunker with a fire lit in back for warmth during the cold nights here on Belmont.
Her top guns are still functional, as are the guns on the vehicles they covered, so they're not losing out on defense, but by the time the sun comes up their numbers are fully obscured.
No more Mecha patrols are sent to the edge of town, only a half dozen infantry scouts, well hidden inside buildings and waiting for the inevitable counter offensive.
They don't have to wait too long, the first strike comes just before noon. A full combined Mecha Patrol. Three Crusader Class Chassis and twenty light mecha.
[They're splitting up. Light mecha coming from the east and west, Crusaders from the North.] a scout whispers into his radio.
[Stalwart is positioned to fire East. Infantry assets, find me a target lock with the laser scopes. Tarith's Rage, take out the Crusaders, and Lieutenant Becki has the West.] Max makes sure everyone is clear on the plan.
Their pilfered tanks are also facing north, and the infantry have set up dozens of small bunkers around the ruins. With luck, the enemy won't make it that close but if they do, Bravo Company has a number of anti armor rockets and other heavy weapons with them.
The laser targeters have two options, either identifying a target directly, or firing a sticky locator beacon. Mecha can sometimes track those targeting beams back to their source, so the first choice is usually to attach a beacon and return to hiding inside a thermally shielded nest to avoid detection.
The scouts do an excellent job of it, getting four of the ten light mecha in the East and two Crusaders. The light mecha in the west swung wide of their position, and nobody was going to reveal themselves and ruin the trap this early.
Tarith's Rage makes the first move, Her Ion Destroyer and all three Rail Guns lighting up the leading Crusader the second it comes into sight. The Ion blast was a direct hit to the cockpit, followed by three rail gun rounds punching through the weakened armor.
The unit goes dark in the middle of a step, simply collapsing as it loses power, causing the other two giant Mecha to retreat back around the corner of a building.
Unfortunately for them, that building held one of the Infantry bunkers, and the brave soldiers of Bravo Company put a volley of rockets up into the vulnerable rear structure of one retreating mecha, causing it to explode and creating a burning wreckage that hid their escape through the heavily damaged building.
The sudden attack has made the light mecha rush their advance in order to offer support, putting the ones approaching from the East squarely in Max's line of sight.
The Battle Cannon thunders as the Gatling Battery spins up and the approaching light mecha find themselves caught in a shooting gallery between buildings. They have only an instant to flee before a hail of Gatling Battery rounds tears into them, and Max begins to hear the signs of battle behind him, from the Western front.
The remaining targets are in full flight now, and Max orders his unit to stand down.
[Do Not pursue. They won't be back anytime soon, and we can hold this point as long as we need to. Intelligence says the front line battles are going well.]
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Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
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According to the satellite feed, the retreating mecha simply kept going, all the way to the capital.
By mid afternoon, they still hadn't seen any threats close enough to engage, and Max began to wonder what was going on. It wasn't clear if the front line battles had stretched their resources too thin to bother with objectives like the one they were on or if the enemy was regrouping.
Sunset brought the answer. A reinforced mecha wing with two companies of infantry and a bomber squadron. Textbook rookie Commander tactics.
Twice the numbers that the defenders can count on, with a fully mechanized final assault, led by expendable infantry. The exact reason that Max's veteran neighbor Dave hated everything to do with Kepler Military Commanders.
Compared to their neighbors, Kepler had an enormous population, with many more habitable worlds than would be expected for the size of their territory. But that led the Commanders to only value the elite and treat the rest of the population as expendable materials.
[Stalwart, we have brought anti infantry rockets from the rebel munitions bunker to the lander to resupply you with. Do you want your Mecha topped off before they arrive?] Captain Catan asks Max, striding into the damaged lander.
[It is best if we do. Since they have numbers on their side, we need to cut that advantage down as much as we can. Get some scouts out to mark ground targets in advance, that way I can indirect fire on the marked points.]
That is not a standard Kepler technique, and is viewed as a waste of valuable ammunition by a Crusader Class Chassis. Captain Catan doesn't mind in the least, sending a detail with orders to keep Stalwart stocked. They don't have much compatible ammunition in storage, but they do have a little extra, and they have just retrieved a full Battle Cannon Magazine from the fallen Crusader that didn't explode.
Beyond the small city that they are stationed in is a large open area of fields. For the scouts placing targeters, that is perfect, allowing them to make a grid pattern encompassing a full two Kilometers out. Every point is recorded and relayed to Max for the map in Stalwart's Heads Up Display. All they need to do is call the points now and he can hit them.
The first attacks to arrive come from a bomber wing. They came in at extreme high altitude, out of range of the Anti aircraft guns, and dumped an inordinate number of munitions towards the city. Looking at the incoming waves, Max decides that they've almost certainly overestimated the strength of his forces.
[Incoming. Everyone to bunkers.] Max calls as Nico and the Anti aircraft vehicles light up the sky with explosions, don't their best at reducing the number of incoming bombs.
From that height, they have a long time to do it, but the sheer volume of the barrage is too much for only four sets of guns, and the city is pummeled by the bombardment. They manage to keep the worst of it away from the infantry bunkers and the courtyard, but even their highest priority locations take some damage.
[Do we still have eyes on the incoming Mecha?] Max calls, stepping out of the smoldering Lander. It took a direct hit to the top, but as it was already damaged beyond flight capability, the extra dents and broken frame joists are no big deal, the structure is still holding.
[We have eyes on target. The Scouts avoided any direct impacts.] Comes the response right before the call out of locations starts.
[Infantry entering A1 through A12.]
[Zone A full. Infantry Entering Zone B]
That's what Max was waiting for, and he fires a barrage of anti infantry missiles at fifty points simultaneously. They won't get full coverage, but the next volley is staggered, aimed for the gaps between the previous points.
[Get me a reload on the rocket pods.] Max orders the support staff who swing the crane around with a loading rack of rockets at the ready. The process will take a couple of minutes, so Max hopes they don't mind the Battle Cannon going off.
The light Mecha, believing that the automated defenses are now expended, charge through the craters towards the city. Max can only fire every half second or so, but the Battle Cannon is doing all it can for fifty shots, leaving the barrel smoking and glowing, and the magazine empty.
[Reload on the Battle Cannon, and break out the sprayer, we need to get the barrel temperature down.] Max orders, then drops his empty magazine so that the crew can replace it with the full one they pilfered.
The inside of the metal box that was their lander becomes a steam sauna the moment the sprayer hits the barrel, but slowly the overheating warnings go away in Max's display and he's ready to go again.
[Light Mecha, move forward into the city and find cover. Shoot and retreat once the enemy enters the city.]
Most of the incoming light mecha were destroyed by his targeted bombardment, but they are much more agile than infantry, and at least six survived.
The scouts know their role well, and each of the enemy light mecha gets tagged with a tracker when they enter the city, so the light mecha under Lieutenant Becki can begin hunting them.
They're all damaged, some severely, but still dangerous targets, and Becki had managed not to lose a mecha yet this mission. He wasn't going to throw that away by being in a hurry now, not with five Crusaders incoming.
All five carried the same equipment pattern, a Thermal Spear and a hand. The thermal weapons are great for mining, as they can even melt rock, so colonies like this preferred them for their utility. The downside was the very short range, only a few hundred meters at the very most.
With their escort down, the Crusaders split up, rushing the city to look for targets.
[Do not tag the Crusaders. They will slag any building they suspect you are in. Just let them approach.] Max orders, receiving affirmative grunts from the infantry.
They're not even trying to be subtle, smashing through abandoned brick buildings as they rush to get in range with their deadly thermal weapons. Max's vision lights up with targeting solutions and he begins to fire again now that his Cannon has cooled a little.
They're still spraying it down, and he's firing slower this time to avoid permanent damage, but he can see that at least two of his rounds hit home, Seriously damaging their targets.
Like the Thermal Spear inside the Rending Claw, these Mecha are using are fuel fired weapons, and Nico is making the most of it, putting Rail Gun rounds into the tanks and coating two more in liquid fire.
The woosh and howl of the ruptured tanks burning has the infantry, safely hidden in their bunkers, covering their ears, but the Mecha have turned off outside sound, hearing very little through the multiple armored layers of their hulls.
Two bursts from the Gatling Battery finish two Crusaders, while two more burn to the ground, but Max has lost track of the last for a moment.
It comes bursting through a building, flames roaring in his direction, but Tarith's Rage is up and out of her hiding spot, charging him with her sword behind her while her Ion Destroyer plants a solid hit on the intruder's right arm.
The Thermal weapon goes silent as its structure is torn apart and the pilot turns to grab Nico's weapon arm with his Mecha's hand. The pilot didn't expect the sword though, being so uncommon among Kepler Pilots, and the sirens on Tarith's Rage sound a victorious wail as the broken mecha is lifted into the air and smashed mercilessly to the ground.
Nico pulls her sword free of the mechanical carcass and returns to her hiding hole without a word over the intercom, pulling the battered lander door and netting back over her carapace armor and returning to sentry duty.
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Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
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While the rest of the evening passed without another mecha attack, they did occasionally hear vehicles in the distance headed towards the front lines. Max reported all movement they detected to command, but for the most part the night was eerily calm.
Around two in the morning Nico's voice broke the silence of Stalwart's radio.
[Get some sleep. I'll bet you two spicy cheese tubes we've got an attack coming before noon, so you'll need to be in peak shape. I'll keep watch for the night bombing raids.]
[You can't have my cheese. Wake me at the first sign of trouble.]
The banter made the soldiers of the Bravo Company smile. Some forms of currency were truly universal. Both pilot and infantry rations contained the highly regarded condiment.
[Low Altitude aerial attack incoming from the South. All flak guns prepare to engage] Nico called out just as the sun came up, bringing the camp to full alert.
Max briefly wonders why they didn't go for a more effective high altitude run, then he sees the flashes in the slowly brightening sky. The air battle has pushed much further forward than it was yesterday and is now almost directly overhead. If that's the case, then the Mecha battle will likely be pushed back to their location by the end of the day.
That's good news for the Battle of Belmont, but not great news for their unit, which is about to be caught between the retreating forces and the relative safety of the capital region. From what Max can tell, no unit that dropped near the capital managed to hold their position, so the area is still fully controlled by the Rebels.
There are so many communications that it is almost impossible to keep track of the battle as the advancing forces come into short range radio distance.
[Closest Signals are the force approaching from the North. It sounds like they are pushing the enemy into us.] Nico informs Max on the command channel.
[All units prepare for incoming from the North. Call the grids when they get in range. We want to stall them until the Kepler advance catches up.]
Max does this best to restrict Battle Cannon usage for the time being, starting the defense with guided anti armor rockets from his pod. He's only got twenty five, with no extras available, so he fires them individually at the group of incoming Crusaders.
The damage they usually do against a heavy mecha is minimal, but if one finds a munitions storage cartridge or a vulnerable joint it can be enough to effectively cripple even the mighty Crusaders.
As more and more contacts are called, Max realizes that this is not going to be viable, the force is too large for him to delay with indirect fire from the relative safety of their entrenched location.
[Tarith, move forward. Stop those mecha from making it to the city for a long as you can.]
[Affirmative. Moving out.] Nico replied before climbing out of her hole and stalking through the city in a crouch that puts her heaviest top armor forward, but would leave the pilot hanging in their harness facing the ground.
It's not slowing Tarith's Rage, though she does move her sword to a mount on the side of her Mecha and stop to pick up the battle shield she was supposed to use for the landing before deciding the door was a better tool.
By the time Tarith's Rage makes the edge of the city there are ten Crusaders within 500 meters of the first buildings.
[Enemy Mecha will be stopped in E6 though E8. Charging in 5 seconds, fire for effect.] Nico calls and Max wonders what she's planning to do to stop the Crusaders.
But she's right, the scouts are reporting that they are stopping, so Max drops the last of his anti armor missiles on the indicated locations and begins cycling his battle Cannon at full rate.
Seven seconds later an update call comes from the scouts. [Friendly Mecha in E6. Adjust fire.]
Max ignores the firing solutions in E6 that his System is providing and continues to fire ten more rounds until the cease fire call comes.
Nico's voice crackles over the radio, heavily distorted, possibly by damage. [42nd Armored, this is Tarith's Rage. Area is under friendly control. Follow Main road to the secured position.]
[Copy that Tarith's Rage. Majestic plus six incoming with two more wings to follow. Is your lander repair bay still active?]
[Affirmative. Bring these fallen mecha for materials, we didn't drop with any.]
All eight Mecha enter the city pulling a disabled Crusader, and the men of Bravo Company pull the emergency hatch releases and check the cockpits for survivors. Infantry gets a reward for capturing living enemy officers, payable on retirement or as a death benefit, so Max doesn't begrudge them any survivors they might find.
The scouts have already informed the next incoming Mecha wings to bring any Crusader chassis they can find to resupply from, and Majestic is organizing his accompanying light mecha units by damage.
That's when Max finally notices Tarith's Rage, standing near the back of the line, a bit scorched and pitted, but mostly functional. Nico has hung her battle shield from the hooks mounted on her carapace armor, obscuring the entire front of her Mecha.
Ii is a very effective method of protecting yourself from frontal assault, but Max wonders how she can see anything. The shield is mangled, but it's still blocking almost all of her sensors.
It doesn't take long for the second and third wings of mecha to arrive and begin to fortify the location. They were sent ahead of the main advance to assist and help prepare this spot to become a forward repair and rearming post. It looks line they'll be using mostly ammunition pilfered from the enemy today, but with a little luck they might get a supply run tonight.
The air battle high above them is steadily getting even more intense though. The battles have moved from sporadic to constant, and by mid afternoon the sounds of Big Guns in the distance can be heard, as the advancing Kepler Heavy Mecha are pushing the Rebels back.
[Majestic, Vidalia, this is Command. Move East towards the front, eliminating all resistance. That road needs to be cleared for a forward command asset to move in.]
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Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
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Max didn't know it yet, but his performance was far from average, and it had not gone unnoticed.
Most Battle Cannons can only fire roughly once every second, but a shot every five seconds is standard for the sake of accuracy. The big gun shakes not only the pilot, but the Mecha, requiring pilots to compensate and adjust their targeting if they plan to get the following rounds even close to their intended target.
With Nico having upgraded his Battle Cannon, he could fire twice a second. The multiple targeting feature of his System would constantly update predictions for firing solutions, and while indirect firing Max was unable to tell what was enemy Mecha moving and what was his mecha moving.
Nico took full advantage of the situation as well, having linked to his Mecha's display using her Innate Talent. She overlaid his Targeting information on her own display, showing where incoming rounds would be hitting.
To those watching, her maneuvering the enemy Mecha to ensure they took critical blows looked like Stalwart having uncanny accuracy, even blind. Though even without her assistance, his missiles and Battle Cannon rounds had far better than average luck hitting vulnerable joints and weak points.
General Tennant and General Mons, who was leading the combined mechanized forces on this incursion were both watching the satellite footage while in video chat with each other.
[That Red Mecha isn't afraid of anything are they? That round missed them by millimeters and they didn't even flinch.] General Mons comments, impressed.
[They must have found a way to work together. Even with his System Skills, that level of targeting shouldn't be possible. Unless he can see the future or she can see the incoming trajectories, there's no way to have hit that shot. The shell was already in the air when she shoulder checked that wing leader] General Tennant agrees.
[I sent Command Group 3 to their location. That puts the command group's artillery in range of the city, and Stalwart's mixed unit can be moved forward to take the next point in the valley.]
[The technology labs? I thought we were going to level them from orbit.] Tennant asks, checking his map again.
[If we can take it intact Central Authority believes that we will find information on the higher ranking rebels. Under war spoils rules the 42nd mechanized will be able to use the facilities until the end of the battle, that should be enough to motivate the Pilots. The facility is believed to have cutting edge technology.]
General Tennant sighs, worried for his prodigies. But the way they've been performing they might be fine. Who would have known that their trial by fire would go so well? He'd even had units moved in to position to rescue them, but they hadn't been needed.
The rumble of tracked vehicles warns Max of the incoming force long before he can see them. They've identified themselves as Command Group 3 though, so he knows they're not hostiles.
After two the three three wings of mecha left to clear the road to the front lines the battle began to progress more rapidly. No longer are they an isolated outpost behind enemy lines, they're now right at the line.
Word of entrenched artillery spread to the rebel forces as they retreated, and the battle has kept well clear of Max's position for the last few hours while all around them a harsh battle reigned, filling the air with the sounds of distant gunfire, but leaving Max and his unit standing in an island of calm.
They took the opportunity to finish as many repairs as possible and reload the visiting Mecha with whatever munitions they had available. That meant that the only ones leaving fully equipped are using energy weapons, since the damaged Lander still has a functioning fuel charger for the Line Mecha. Both lander and Mecha use the same type of fuel for their power generation, extending the utility of the light mecha without requiring much more expensive long life power plants or a second form of fuel storage.
They can go nearly two weeks to a charge in a light usage scenario, but topping them off now gets them back to full power, should they be in a constant fire fight.
The Crusaders got some ammunition each, but there was nothing for the Gatling Battery, or the Anti aircraft guns, just lots of battle Cannon rounds and some missiles that were compatible with what they were using.
"Captain Max, I am Colonel Ahman of Fleet Intelligence, Third Command Group. We will be setting up a forward command post and artillery battery at this location. Excellent work on the take and hold, the offensive appreciates it." A thin faced man in the black trench coat of an intelligence officer announces over the intercom as the vehicles draw close.
Max orders the Line Mecha that are still on location to remove a portion of barrier for the vehicles to enter the compound, letting the command group proceed.
"A pleasure to meet you Colonel. We have made a list of suitable points, should you wish to use an existing structure as a bunker."
"Very good, very good. Underground is always better than reinforcing an above ground structure I say. The Rebels have reinforced the capital for their final stand on the planet. Fleet data shows that there are too many civilians for an orbital bombardment, which means we level it from the ground. Once the siege starts, the civilians should flee, and anyone who is left will be declared part of the rebel force."
That's a bit concerning to Max, and doesn't fit at all with the sense of upright morality he's carried all his life. Of course civilians will try to hide where they are instead of fleeing during an artillery bombardment. But at the moment, there's not much he can do about it.
Colonel Ahman continues. "Official orders are a few minutes away, but I've got it on good word that your unit will be diverted from the second wave of mecha to attempt to break the rebel hold on the city tonight, in favor of taking a secondary high value target believed to have valuable intelligence. High Command wants the Rebels removed from the planet in the next 24 hours, but do try to gather that data, it could have implications that spread much wider than just this one battle."
Max sighs at their impatience. Rushing the process won't help anything, it just makes the High Commanders look good for their politically connected friends if they put down the uprising within a set time frame. But as Max recalls from the returning memories of battle in his past life, the final stages of a rebellion are always going to be messy and cruel, the best you can hope for is minimizing casualties.
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Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
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As expected, the next wave of deployment orders came within the hour. Most of the Mecha on location were instructed to say in place and guard the Command Group, while Max and his unit were to advance towards the capital and capture a technology research facility.
Their orders said that any documentation, especially about high-level officers and researchers, was to be recovered and reported back to the Command Group.
The distance was only 12km, but in the middle of a war zone, that's a long way. Enough to make Max extra grateful that they managed to obtain enough vehicles for the entirety of Bravo Company to travel inside.
If the Colonel or anyone else from Command Group Three was startled at the upgrades that they were leaving with, they managed not to show it, and casually watched the mixed unit disappear from sight.
Max has a simple strategy for their advance. The tanks will lead, then the light mecha, followed by him and Nico, then the Armored Personnel carriers and anti-aircraft platforms. It will keep most of their more vulnerable infantry behind the primary fight, but by leading with local tanks, they might be able to confuse a few defenders into thinking that they were getting reinforced.
[Satellite feeds show approximately twenty light mechs and no heavy support at the research facility, but there is a possibility of hidden units.] Max informs the team as he gets the updates.
They move as quickly as possible down the battle scarred road towards their target, looking very much like retreating rebel units. Max hopes that the infantry vehicles that they pilfered still have valid rebel encryption codes to interact with the defenders at the research station. Although, if the enemy were clever, they would have planned to change it at least once a day after the battle started.
The target is a six story, glass walled office building with four large warehouses, all set into a deep valley. While that prevents them from being seen at a distance, it also prevents them from seeing incoming units without the aid of cameras.
This area has clear signs of multiple battles, so there is a chance the cameras are down, but Max isn't counting on it.
[Infantry, identify on Rebel channels as Masks One Six if anyone contacts you. That was the call sign for the unit at our landing zone.] Nico informs everyone, and Max realizes that she's likely using her Innate Talent in combination with her Mecha's communications array to attempt to break the encryption.
They have made good progress, but luck can't carry them forever, and only two Kilometers out from the target, they stumble across a rebel light mecha patrol, hidden in the trees while attempting to make repairs.
Stalwart and Tarith's Rage are clearly not rebel mecha, which are all painted variations based on dark gray, so they waste no time engaging. Max takes half a second to get a target lock, then unleashes the fury of both guns at the same time. Nico charges strictly at the Line Mecha, sword in hand, and drops a wide-area blast from her Ion Destroyer on them, incinerating anyone caught outside their mecha.
Max pans his Gatling Battery across the group and takes out a second target with his Battle Cannon while Nico reaches melee range.
To say her combat style is unorthodox is an understatement. When she gets close enough, her sword finds a home in a rebel Line Mecha's power plant, but she doesn't wait to bring it back to the ready. Instead, she lifts one giant mechanical foot high in the air, kicking over a rebel mecha and repeatedly stomping on it.
The infantryman have joined in to assist Lieutenant Becki with their heavy weapons teams, sending a barrage of firepower into the remaining rebel light Mecha, but that's not stopping the rampaging Tarith's Rage. Chaos and terror reign Supreme among the Rebels as she deliberately kicks them to the ground, leaving them helpless against being crushed or blown apart by heavy weapons fire.
[You might kill more mecha, Stalwart, but I can guarantee the enemy is more afraid of the Tarith's Rage.] Lieutenant Becki laughs over the intercom as the one sided battle comes to a close.
[Life is all about balance, young Becki. Yin and Yang, softness and strength, terror and destruction. It is as valid for battle as for women.] Nico opines in a fake sagely accent, making all the Mecha pilots laugh.
Max wonders how terror and destruction became complementary aspects in her mind but then decides that combat Nico and training Nico are two entirely different aspects of her personality. In battle, she is genuinely frightening.
[Sir, we have rebel contact, asking for reinforcement to the Technology Research Facility] Captain Catan of Bravo Company informs them.
[Tell them you are diverting to their location, remember your call sign, and try to bluff your way through. There has been enough chaos that they might believe it.]
That appears to be the scenario with the best chance that they can get into the facility unhindered. Bravo Company is very good at their work, and against other infantry or rebel militia inside the facility, they won't have any troubles.
[I think they bought it. What's the plan?] Captain Catan asks.
[Stalwart and Tarith's Rage will break off, Catan, lead everyone else in. Call the moment you sense trouble, and we will provide the distraction.] Max decides.
The Light Mecha are a generic enough color scheme to be mistaken for local, so Lieutenant Becki stays with the infantry to provide fire support.
What they find when they enter the valley is not what they expected, though. The upper facia is a disguise. The facility is a Mecha development complex, and at least a half dozen rebel Crusaders are in hangers disguised as factory buildings to the Satellite Scans.
Becki relays what they have found to Stalwart and waits for Max to decide. If those mecha have pilots, walking in there and getting caught would be suicide.
[Someone get me an exact location on that hanger. When you get closer, I will put a Battle Cannon round inside and try to blow the doors off their tracks so they can't lock the facility.]
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Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
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[Location is CF55m minus 27 meters elevation] Lieutenant Becki informs Max once they get in full sight of the facility.
[Continue on course. Artillery incoming in 10 seconds] Max advised his unit as they rolled towards the compound.
The Rebels were expecting them, and the convoy was allowed to move freely right into the valley before anyone noticed the markings on the light mecha.
The very first calls of alarm were drowned out by a series of explosions, four shots over the course of two seconds, ending in a spectacular chain explosion rolling through the heavy mecha warehouse as the battle Cannon ignited the building's munitions storage, which spread to the underground plasma power generator, gutting the discretely Armored building.
[Everyone out. Get into the labs before they realize what is going on and lock them down.] Captain Catan tells his men, who pile out of their vehicles to storm the compound.
Lieutenant Becki and his wing of Line Mecha lay into the remaining defenders with a hail of Ion fire, the explosions of Light Mecha mostly lost in the continuing roar of the warehouse imploding.
The overall effect is nearly perfect. There are so many competing voices over the radio that it is incomprehensible and most of them are drowned out by the sound of explosions.
Then, everything inside the buildings goes dark. The Power Grid on the planet has been down since the invasion, and the Plasma Generator that was operating the facility has been destroyed. Every common area door in the building swings open, the magnetic locks disabled, letting Bravo Company charge through unimpeded.
Most of what they find are unarmed scientists, so Captain Catan gives the order that they are all rounded up into the auditorium on the main floor. Any who resist or show signs of being armed are eliminated and the soldiers move on.
There are no physical filing cabinets that they can find, but the soldiers grab hard drives from the computers they pass and a number of data tablets as they go, collecting as much data as possible for their mission.
Outside, Max and Nico have made their way into the compound, where Lieutenant Becki has already finished with the Line Mecha defenders. Nico uses the combination of the clawed hand and a giant foot of Tarith's Rage to open the bay doors to the remaining buildings, finding nothing but storage and a few forklift operators.
Faced with the might of a Crusaders Rail Guns pointed into their workplace, the staff members are more than willing to accommodate any request that is made of them, turning over their computers without issue and gathering by the doors of the darkened building, where only scattered emergency lights prevent them from being left in total darkness.
Fifteen minutes later, the entire facility is deemed secure, and the surviving staff is escorted into the open courtyard so the buildings can be double-checked for signs of life.
[Stalwart to Command Group 3. Facility Secure. Multiple Prisoners were taken, including high-ranked scientists. Please Advise.]
[Hold tight Stalwart. Air Evacuation unit incoming for the prisoners.]
"Good news everyone. They aren't going to kill you. Or have us do it. However, Command is intensely interested in the activities of your senior management." Captain Catan advises the prisoners, bringing the anticipated expressions of hope to their faces.
The Kepler Empire isn't known for leniency towards traitors. But if they can throw their bosses under the bus to save their own hides? That's a much different story. Most of these people were just government employees a few days ago, doing menial work in a seemingly normal mecha research facility.
Max might not know everything there is to understand about human nature, but he is pretty certain that there isn't a forklift driver on this planet willing to be executed to protect his boss from charges of treason.
In fact, the more menial the job, the more helpful they have been. The warehouse staff even showed Bravo Company how their inventory system works so the soldiers could find whatever they were looking for in the warehouses.
[Nico, hack that tablet if you can. I want to know what is in those buildings that might be useful to us.] Max orders his partner.
[Already on it. Most of it is just repair parts, which will be useful, but I found some parts that should be for Shield Generators, and some experimental ammunition.] Nico sends the locations through to Stalwart's computer for Max to look over.
[Bravo Company, find us a transport vehicle. I've found us some good stuff this time.]
Max sends out the warehouse locations, then notices a listing called [Man Portable Plasma Cannon v7]. There should be ten whole crates of the experimental weapons, so he adds them as a high-priority acquisition. He doesn't know if they work, but if they do, the amount of anti-armor firepower his unit will gain will be incredible.
A Plasma Cannon has a minimum output level to maintain stability. Getting it into a platform that humans can carry would give some of his infantry the firepower of Line Mecha.
The transport helicopter that comes a few minutes later for the scientists is clearly in a hurry to get them back, opening the doors before they are even near the ground. Or maybe they simply didn't trust that Max actually had the area under control and are expecting to have to do an emergency evacuation from a hot landing zone.
Either way, they get everyone loaded and gone in a matter of minutes, along with most of the electronics that Bravo Company gathered. Captain Catan ordered his men to keep some good stuff for themselves, the tablets from the Mecha research labs, especially the ones that are known to have warehouse contents listings, basically anything that might lead Command to order them relieved from the position in favor of a larger search team.
They found the Plasma Cannons already, and with those in hand, they are hopeful for more new toys. Maybe they can find some of that high-tech full-body armor that the politicos get. It might be the most basic form of powered armor, on par with the transport ship's pressure suits, but they are heavily Armored to protect high-value targets.
'Wouldn't the other companies be jealous, seeing me all kitted out in that?' Captain Catan wondered, searching through the warehouse.
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[Command Group 3 to Stalwart. Prepare for incoming. Rebel Forces from the capital region have been mobilized to attempt to regain control of the facility.]
Max expected that to happen. You don't get to take something this interesting and then just hold it without a fight, even if you managed to blow up a good portion of the most valuable technology that was stored on site.
[Incoming Enemy forces, strength unknown. Bravo Company, we need eyes on the target. Either get a patch in to the cameras or send out scouts. Becki, deploy your men for an attack from the capital city side.]
[Sir, we recovered land mines as well as the Plasma Cannons.] Captain Catan suggests.
[Excellent. Get some deployed on the road and surrounding areas. Anything that will slow or weaken them is a blessing. We are not expecting to be relieved from this position until the battle for the capital is finished.]
By that Max means they expect to be here until the Battle for Belmont is finished, which with a little luck will be less than a week away. The Rebels are down to one last stronghold, according to intelligence reports, and they are surrounded on all sides.
[I've got the satellite feed. Sending you the updated target numbers now.] Nico informs him and Max sees a column of vehicles and Mecha come up on his screen.
6 Crusaders, 10 infantry transports, 30 light mecha, and 5 artillery pieces. Not the best odds they have ever faced, but not the worst.
The most important thing at the start will be to stop the infantry transports and destroy the artillery. With those gone, the Mecha will have to advance the final distance without covering fire, making them easier targets.
The Rebels don't have access to the satellite feed anymore, so they don't know much about his force or positioning and will have to guess at their targeting until they can get a direct line of sight. They are also likely under orders not to destroy the facility, which will be of great benefit to Max and his allies.
[Enemy Force is 10 Kilometers out. Finish setting those mines and get back into shelter asap Bravo Company.] Max calls, watching his feed.
There is a marshy area that will stop the infantry transports from leaving the road just ahead of their current location, so he plans to take out the lead vehicle to block the convoy, and then shell the rest.
The marsh won't stop Mecha, but it will slow them down, making them easier targets, and Max hopes to take advantage of that to buy his men a bit more time to prepare. Assuming that they do scatter and don't just charge down the road when the attack starts.
Once all the vehicles are within the marsh, Max fires off two shells, using the live streaming data that Nico is feeding him from the satellite. He picked the wrong targeting box for the first round and ended up striking a Crusader squarely in the cockpit door, an absolute fluke of a shot against a well-shielded weak point.
The giant Mecha burst into flames, falling across the road as the second round hit home on the rear Artillery platform. The convoy had no idea where they were being shelled from, and could only stop and circle in a defensive formation as the surviving Crusaders dragged their fallen wingman from the road so the vehicles could move again.
Max kept up the pressure, as they still didn't know where they were being attacked from, destroying a troop transport to keep the road blocked and then firing the remainder of his shells at the Crusaders and their light mecha escorts.
With the hang time, Max could have three in the air at once, and with the Satellite feed in real time, his Multiple Targeting skill has no problems guessing where his targets would be.
Two more Crusaders take fatal damage before the enemy breaks and spreads out into the swamp where the canopy hides then from Satellite tracking.
That leaves the trapped and wounded infantry vehicles on the road alone, helpless to avoid annihilation.
[Armory, reload me with those experimental High Explosive rounds. Tarith's Rage, take Lieutenant Becki and go hunt down those Rebels. Most of their units have taken damage, they won't be going anywhere in a hurry.]
[Copy that Stalwart. Becki, fall in behind me and keep up, I have a good idea where they are headed.]
Keeping up with Nico is no easy feat, that Ancient Mecha has no business being as fast as it is. Modern Mecha might be mass-produced, but in her hands, Tarith's Rage makes it feel like technology hasn't evolved in centuries.
[Reload Complete, Stalwart.] The infantry members assigned to be his ground crew announce and Max cycles the first round into his Cannon and locates the infantry near the road.
They have wisely abandoned their vehicles, but they haven't made it far before the bombardment starts again, this time with ten-meter fireballs throwing infantry shredding fragments of metal much further.
"Damn those politicians, they said the Empire would understand, that it would never come to violence. What a load of crap, half the planet is dead and the allies they promised never showed up." The last surviving rebel Crusader Pilot from the convoy vents to the cockpit of his mecha as he runs.
Craig flees for the abandoned bunker on the far side of the swamp as fast as his damaged Crusader will take him. If he can make it that far he will be able to hide from surveillance and escape through the tunnels, leaving his beloved 'Corpus' in the hangers.
He turns to enter a valley, avoiding having to cross a clearing where he would certainly be spotted, now certain that the bombardment of his unit had been guided from space. Why they would care about him was a mystery, so the reason must have been his target, another secret to curse his Commanders for keeping.
He has nearly made the safety of the bunker complex when something slams into the side of his Crusader, throwing it to the ground before a sonic boom that overloads all his audio sensors echoes through the swamp.
He can't believe he actually took a Rail Gun hit through cover but spins his mecha to its feet to face his opponent.
His Ion Destroyer flashes, sending a full power charge towards the relic of a stalker pattern Crusader charging him. The accursed mecha sways like the pilot is drunk, avoiding a direct hit and shrugging off the rest with a flare of the Mecha's shielding. The counter shot hits his top carapace armor at the left shoulder joint and damage warnings light up his heads-up display.
Craig desperately tries to punch the rapidly approaching mecha, but the Corpus's left arm isn't responding and then with a flash of overloaded power cells everything goes dark.
[Captain Nico, this pilot is still alive. What is your call?] Lieutenant Becki asks after pulling the emergency hatch open on the destroyed Crusader.
[Leave him for the swamp. He's no longer a threat. Spread out and hunt down the Light Mecha, they must have heard the battle. Stay in sight of each other we don't need anyone getting ambushed like Corpus here was.]
Becki thinks for a moment that the menacing red mecha was showing uncharacteristic kindness towards the fallen pilot, but then he sees all the large heat signatures of the swamp creatures.
"Good luck Pilot. You will need it." Becki whispers as he turns and leads his men on the offensive.
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Lieutenant Becki and his wing follow Tarith's Rage back into the swamp, looking for mecha that might have been drawn by the battle.
If the Rebels are smart, finding them will be difficult, Tarith's Rage is a huge heat signature and can be seen from quite a distance. The only correct call for a depleted Light Mecha force when they see her is to turn tail and run, hoping that she hasn't seen them yet.
Not that a handful of light mecha couldn't take out a Crusader under normal circumstances, but her close combat style is far from standard, and the water is up to the waist of the Line Mecha in some spots with a muddy bottom. They simply won't have the mobility to outmaneuver Tarith's Rage so they can target her weak points and survive.
[Light Mecha turn north. Satellite feed shows targets in that direction.] Max instructs them as he watches a pair of Rebel Line Mecha moving through a clearing.
Lieutenant Becki leads the group North while Nico circles wide to get in front of the Line Mecha and herd them towards the attackers. Becki decides they either don't have their thermal scanners on, or they are damaged since the Rebels continue straight at Tarith's Rage.
Nico had other ideas about their motivation though and updates the orders.
[They must be a diversion. Do not come to me, find the group they are covering for.]
Lieutenant Becki orders all his mecha to spread out and submerge themselves in the swamp water, and then they wait. The moment the leading wing of light mecha engages with Tarith's Rage a group of three Corvette Class Mecha emerge from the water and make a run for the relative safety on the other side of the swamp.
That takes them past Becki and his unit though, and the trap is spring when the Rebels are twenty meters away.
The combined firepower of his wing disables them in seconds and they finally get a good look at these Rebels. The units are all elaborately decorated, not combat units but Command units.
"Exit your Mecha and throw down your weapons if you wish to live." Lieutenant Becki demands through his speaker.
All three open their hatches and step out onto the carcass of their mecha.
"We surrender." The one to Becki's left in the most ornate uniform declares with dignity.
Becki recognizes that uniform, this man is a planetary governor. There is no higher authority on this planet than him. Or at least there wasn't until the invasion started.
The direction that they fled was towards the research base, unlike the Crusader that ran for a destroyed bunker complex. Heading this way only makes sense if they didn't know the facility had fallen.
[Becki to Stalwart, three high-value targets have been captured, including the suspected Planetary Governor. Please Advise.]
[Get them back to the base on the double. Tarith's Rage, ensure they are not interrupted.] Max orders, seeing that Nico is almost finished with the group that attacked her.
The light mecha surround the units carrying the prisoners and begin rushing through the trees. Nico is just behind them right now, but it is moving fast and will soon overtake them.
She isn't trying to be subtle and is simply kicking over trees that get in the way. Her passage makes an easy route for Lieutenant Becki and his men to follow and opens up the canopy to make them visible to satellite tracking. Once they leave the swamp, the leaders start to get visibly nervous. They know where they are headed now, and it isn't a place they expected to be under enemy control.
[Stalwart to Central Command. Point Raven Clear. Returning to Station.] Max calls, using the mission's code for a high-value political prisoner.
[Understood Stalwart, stand by on station.]
A convoy from Command Group 3 arrived at the research complex just before the Mecha escorting the prisoners, bringing a pair of officers from the intelligence department, along with twenty political security forces in Armored pressure suits.
[Stalwart, this is Central Command. Hold tight to those officers, we will send a recovery copter in 15 minutes.] Comes General Tennant's voice over the secured Mecha Channels.
[Central Command, this is Stalwart. Intelligence Officers with verified clearance from Command Group 3 are already on site.]
[Understood Stalwart, delay as long as possible.]
[Nico, I know you're listening in. What can you do for me?] Max asks on the short-range intercom.
[I am on it Stalwart. Watch for results.] Nico replied with a hint of mischief in her voice.
Lieutenant Becki and his men delayed as much as possible for the last stretch, employing land mine security protocol the entire remaining distance, while Tarith's Rage went back behind them to provide covering fire.
[Captain Catan, please see our guests into a waiting room for refreshments and put on some hot coffee.] Max instructs, and the infantry leader heads to the convoy to escort the intelligence Officers inside the building.
"Please follow me, sir. Protocol says we must verify the prisoners' identities before they can be passed into your custody. The process should not take long if they are who they claim to be." The infantry officer informs the Intelligence Department force.
Once they are inside the building, their casual demeanor changes in an instant.
"Tell me, Captain, how is the analysis of the data going?" The Major leading the Intelligence Department group asks.
"Unfortunately, we have no tech specialists in the group, so all of the hard drives as well as the few paper records we recovered were all sent in the first evacuation flight to Central Command." Captain Catan sighs as if depressed that his unit couldn't get credit for any discoveries that might occur.
That answer doesn't make the officer happy at all though he thinks he is hiding his emotions.
"Surely there is something left for your unit's glory?" He asks, leading towards the answer he wants.
"If we can recover anything from the destroyed hanger we might be in luck. The boys are searching now, but a Battle Cannon round touched off the munitions storage, so the building is a disaster." That much is the complete truth. It will be a shock if they recover more than bits and pieces of anything from that rubble.
"A shift just ended. I can bring the platoon leaders in if you would like to speak to them?" Captain Catan suggests.
"That would be acceptable. Please organize us a secure room." The Major Commands, and Captain Catan nods his agreement before leaving the room with a hidden smile.
Oh, the room will be secure alright.
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While Captain Catan brings in his soldiers from Bravo Company to speak with the Intelligence Department officer, the transport helicopter sent by General Tennant has arrived, carrying the General himself.
The interrogation room is completely soundproof, bulletproof and mechanically locks from the outside. Watching the Intelligence Officers sweat as they realize they are trapped is worth every day he has spent on this traitorous hunk of rock called Belmont.
The three prisoners were who they claimed to be, the highest authorities of the Planetary Government, so the Central Command needed a few vital answers out of them before they were taken away. Unfortunately, as senior politicians, they had been immunized against the standard system based interrogation techniques.
[Do you recall that thing from the Sabbath World Massacre?] Nico asks, moving Tarith's Rage beside Stalwart, so Max can use his System Ability to read her mind.
Horrific visions full his mind before they clarify to something more human rights convention friendly. In fact, if they used something non flammable, or didn't light the prisoner on fire at the end, the technique might be called humane.
[I hate you a little for making me see that. But yes, that could work.] Max answers her, sending General Tennant a written instruction list for the enhanced interrogation technique, minus the burning, along with a request to check Nico's mental health after the battle.
The cruel laughter of the General when he sees the technique Max named the water board, after changing the liquid from fuel oil, is enough to make one of the politicians begin crying and confessing before anyone has even touched or spoken to him.
The others don't last much longer and within five minutes Central Command has the security codes for the remaining planetary defenses, including the shield around the capital.
[Intelligence can have them now.] General Tennant instructs Max, who orders infantry Captain Catan to lead them out to recover the prisoners at their earliest convenience.
The look on his face when the lead Intelligence Officer sees General Tennant is pure shock. The General on the other hand seems to have expected him.
"You were supposed to be on some frontier planet dodging Inquisitors looking to have your declared incompetent." The Intelligence Officer stammers.
"You didn't think I would just sit around while you all played power games did you? I'm going to have to ask you to come with me. You can leave the armor and the sidearm here, you won't be needing either of them." General Tennant announces and all the guards raise their weapons.
Before anyone can do anything drastic, the previously silent second Officer makes a quick motion and the Major falls to the ground.
"Stand down. I will be taking over from this point forward." The fully armored Officer declares, and the guards comply without any hesitation.
Max isn't sure what sort of politics are at play, but it seems that the Intelligence Department didn't come here for the traitors, they just happened to arrive at the same time. He hasn't had time to consult Captain Catan on what they asked the infantrymen about, but it might have to do with the facility.
Like infantry getting monetary rewards, Intelligence Department officers earn promotions through job performance, and a haul of classified new technology would be a big accomplishment.
[Isn't life easier when you can just shoot your problems.] The message from Nico pops up as text in his Heads Up Display making Max laugh.
She's not wrong though.
"I will take the Major with me. Central Command has a number of questions about his activities and associations." General Tennant decides, and two soldiers exit the helicopter to relieve him of his armor and weapons before cuffing him and carrying his limp body in to the helicopter.
The second Intelligence Officer, who still hasn't identified himself beyond his security clearance, leads the guards to their transport vehicles and leaves even before the helicopter is ready to lift off.
[Care to watch the fireworks Stalwart? They should begin about two minutes before the official surrender, now that the video of the captured planetary officials has been sent all around the world.] General Tennant asks Max, with a hint of pride in his voice.
There isn't really an option, as mere seconds later, a series of orbital strikes crash down on the remaining rebel targets and the capital city, who discover that their Command Codes are no longer working and that the city's shielding is down.
A second volley hits even more targets, and the sky crackles with lightning from the immense amount of ionized energy that has passed through the atmosphere. Purple and green flickering waves of light fill the sky, the Aurora Borealis on a planetary scale.
It really is a beautiful sight, and Max can't take his eyes away for even a second. The effect was described in the training materials, but none of the scenarios in the VR simulator portrayed it. Now that he has seen it, the lightning storms and the glowing sky of an orbital bombardment are something he will never forget.
The tactic isn't used often, at least not on habitable worlds, for fear of causing too much disruption to their climate and reducing potential crop outputs to below population sustainability. Belmont is being made an example of though, and Max realizes that killing the politicians without question would have been a kindness to the Rebels, even if it did cost his men the merits for having captured them alive.
[This is a Planet Wide Announcement on all Open Frequencies. The Belmont Parliament hereby surrenders themselves to the mercy of the Kepler Military and begs leniency for the people of Belmont. All forces lay down your arms and surrender to the nearest Kepler controlled outpost.]
After the initial announcement, the message begins to replay every 30 seconds on every open frequency.
The rebellion is officially over, but now the tedious part begins. Surrenders must be accepted, rebel forces sorted from civilians, and investigations of all alleged war protocol violations will begin.
The Mecha will mostly leave for that part but for the next few days, they must hold their post, waiting for anyone in the vicinity who might want to surrender.
The first day brings twenty rebel light mecha and one Crusader in, all of which surrender their mecha peacefully. The second day brings one lone soldier, the seriously injured and exhausted pilot of the Corpus.
"Pilot Craig. I see luck was on your side today. welcome back. Please surrender your sidearm and I will escort you to the medical bay." Lieutenant Becki greets the man they left to his fate in the swamp.
"It's good to be alive. I don't suppose you have any food? I had to use my rations to distract the swamp monsters."
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The day after Pilot Craig arrived they were relieved by a full contingent of infantry, who would be staying in Belmont long term as a part of the security force, since the locals had proven they couldn't be trusted.
Max's orders were to leave with his men in the morning to regroup with the 42nd mechanized and the remainder of the Kepler 111th infantry to catch a ride back to the Abraham Kepler.
Even the experienced soldiers of Bravo Company weren't sure how much of this loot they would be allowed to keep. Normally what they bring back are trinkets and sidearms, things that fit in their personal lockers. While the Sergeants and officers could fit Plasma Cannons in their locker, that was unlikely to be permitted by the ship crew, on safety grounds.
If they were required to turn it over they would be compensated for anything determined to be legitimate spoils, and they were explicitly given the right to loot the technology facility.
[I need all tablets submitted to Tarith's Rage for inspection. We aren't giving up every bit of new technology we found here just because we can't physically carry it.] Max calls out over the intercom, and the platoon leaders head for Tarith's Rage, interested in meeting the ultra aggressive close combatant in the flesh.
Nico has moved the Mecha to take a position on one knee next to a patio on the office building. That places her cockpit even with the railing, and the top hatch of Tarith's Rage swings open.
While they climbs the stairs, Nico rolls out a length of chain mail as a walking pad, for safety on the slippery surface of her upper carapace. The blood infused wax they used is an incredible product. No dirt sticks to it, and even now it is as slick as ever.
"Welcome, one at a time, please bring me your loot. I have hacking related System Talents, so I will record any valuable information and return them so you can claim full credit." Nico informs them over the Crusader's intercom.
They had thought she would exit, or at least stand up to receive them and come in to sight, but neither happened, and instead they are going to her.
First up is Lieutenant Becki, who has already met her in person. He hands the tablets his unit collected down to her, and half a minute later, he can see scrolls of data filling her Mecha's screens. She really has hacked them and recorded everything she found interesting.
"Good find. There is a modified power cell in one of those that will let Line Mecha get 6 extra shots from an Ion Cannon between recharges." That is a pretty decent gain, they will be well rewarded once the Abraham Kepler has this technology for their constructor machines.
A young Sergeant named Morrison manages to get in line next, so excited that he almost falls off the walkway that Nico laid out.
"Welcome Sergeant. It is a pleasure to meet you." Nico greets him while he gapes in shock at the interior of her Crusader.
The outside is all red, black and bronze, with barbed wire and hanging chains, so he had assumed that the interior would be similarly brutalist in design, but what he found was a light gray and pink bedding set in a regulation tan interior and a petite, raven haired female pilot sitting on the bed with her boots off and the coveralls of her pilot uniform tied at her waist, revealing the regulation black tank top underneath.
If he hadn't seen her fight, that friendly smile might have tricked him into believing she was a kind and delicate girl fresh from training. But she is an Alpha Ranked Pilot, Morrison has no doubt that she could beat him senseless if he offended her.
"We have recovered these dozen hard drives and two data tablets, Captain." He says formally.
"Relax, I don't bite." Nico laughs, and Morrison watches as she holds them in her hands and the data begins scrolling across her Mecha's main screens.
"I think we have our winner early. Plans for both the new High Explosive Battle Cannon Rounds, and the Man Portable Plasma Cannons." Nico cheers and throws a small bottle of something up to Morrison.
He goes to pocket the mystery reward, but Nico stops him. "Drink it and pass the bottle back."
She probably wouldn't poison him in public, so Morrison downs the bottle, realizing it is a shot of the ship's home brewed Rum. He tosses the bottle back and she winks, handing him up the data drives and tablets.
Liquor isn't completely forbidden on mission, but it certainly isn't in the regulation load out for a drop, Pilot Nico must have hidden it in her personal effects for a special occasion.
One after another the patoon leaders come to get their finds analyzed, most containing research notes and base logistics information which is important to the intelligence teams, but aren't the big score that they were hoping for.
"If that's everyone, store that data for transport and get ready to move out."
When the details come through, they find that the gathering point for pickup is only fifty Kilometers away. Now that they have vehicles, that will be done before lunch, so they set out at first light, stopping every half hour or so to pick up more infantry, until their vehicles are overloaded inside and out with troops headed for the pickup location.
In total they have about three hundred soldiers by the time they arrive, but they had to pick up the survivors of seven companies to find that many. At full strength a Kepler Infantry Company is 1000 men, 10 platoons of 10 squads of 10 men.
When they started, Bravo Company was barely a tenth that strength, due to the heavy losses the Kepler 111th had taken over their tour, and it looks like things got much worse after this battle. It wouldn't surprise Max if the Regiment was retired early, or folded into another combat unit to bring their numbers back up.
If even eight companies don't have enough survivors for one full strength company, there isn't much hope for them to be deemed combat effective after this engagement.
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The Abraham Kepler salvaged as many landers as they possibly could to start bringing troops back on board. Most of the ones that dropped in the first wave are scrap even if they made it to the planet intact and will need to be recycled, but the second wave mostly made it down without taking fire.
[Stalwart, please lead your unit to lander AK90210 for orbital extraction.] Comes the announcement for their ride home among a long list of other mobilization orders.
The lander they are assigned to was a command unit during the drop, extra Armored and painted with adaptive camouflage instead of the standard black. They seem to be the last ones to load, with most of the lander's mecha restraints already occupied when they arrive.
Most of the Mecha look much worse than his own unit, pitted by small arms fire and cratered by mecha attacks. One even has a long, burnt streak almost through the top carapace armor and three deep marks from where it survived close combat with a Thermal Torch equipped claw.
Most of the Pilots have disembarked and are sharing a laugh and a drink from the small stock of non alcoholic beverages on board, but Max opts to relax in his mecha until they leave the atmosphere.
Despite the world being declared as fully subdued, leaving in the first wave of landers can be almost as dangerous as dropping with them. Any surviving Rebels will surely want one last bit of vengeance.
Max didn't have access to the landers computer systems, but there is no sign of hostile fire that he can hear or feel on their way up. Just a few minutes of extremely high gravity and shaking, then a smooth transition to artificial gravity a few seconds after the shaking ends.
[AK90210, Proceed to bay H23] Comes the docking announcement and Max smiles. Sector H of the launch bays is closest to their hangers, so his unit will be among the first that are squared away and ready for tomorrow's debriefing and the expected deployment changes.
Despite Max's enthusiasm for returning to his bunk, the mood aboard the Abraham Kepler is somber. They might be the first ones back, but the crew aboard the ship has access to the satellite footage of the battlefield, so they have been able to keep track of the battle's progress, as well as the estimated losses.
Most aren't watching it for entertainment, instead they need to keep updated on the situation so they can prepare supply and parts drops for the mecha that they are responsible for. Max dropped deep into enemy territory this time, so that wasn't an option for his unit, but for those on the front lines, regular supplies are both expected and absolutely vital to their success and continued combat capability.
The repair bays get to work on their units right away, wanting to get as much done as possible before the next wave arrives. Max didn't take much damage, but Nico did. Nothing that would risk disabling the mecha, but every single armor panel has some level of damage.
Max is watching them work when a tech called Fritz Comes to talk to him.
"Don't look so concerned. For a close combat Mecha, that level of damage is nothing. I mean it looks bad, but none of it made more than a fifteen percent reduction in armor efficiency, it is all surface damage. Not that it makes the repair crews any happier, but they will have it all sorted out by morning."
Compared to the Crusaders, the Light Mecha had it hard. Six units moderately or severely damaged with two or if them inoperable. But at least they still had all their pilots. Bravo Company lost six men in the initial assault to capture the vehicles, and twenty three more are injured.
Captain Catan has already led his men back to their quarters, or to medical bay for recovery, and Nico is assisting with the repairs to Tarith's Rage, so Max joins with Lieutenant Becki and the light mecha for an evening meal and a few drinks.
More units filter in over the course of the evening, with the all loaded call sounding just after midnight. The Abraham Kepler must have gotten advanced loading priorities, since they have everyone back on board at the end of the first day of the scheduled five day departure window, or perhaps their losses and already reduced numbers just combined to make retrieval that easy.
Max stops in at the Special Forces Cadets dorms, finding that they are empty, but occupied, so at least some of them made it back, but he will have to ask how their mission went later. Nico's bunk shows occupied, so she must be asleep already, which means her mecha must be fixed. She wouldn't go to bed if it wasn't, she would be asleep in the cockpit.
The full cost of the Battle of Belmont becomes clear the next morning, when max checks the ship's status.
704 Combat ready mecha, down from 1065 before the battle, and the 111th Infantry is down to just over thirty thousand combat ready men, a loss of ten thousand.
A thirty percent casualty rate in a single battle might not be unheard of, but if the overall numbers look like that, Imperial Doctrine would count it as a tactical loss, though it was technically a victory as the planet was brought back into compliance.
The overall numbers aren't something that he has access to though, and at this point, Max would rather not know. Their own personal slice of hell was enough for him.
The Special Forces Cadets are in mourning when max sees them at lunch, only four of the Light Mecha made it home from their deployment on the front lines, as well as both Russo and Ibanez, but Ibanez was seriously injured when his Mecha, Scimitar took two direct hits from a Battle Cannon.
The mecha is still on the inoperable list, but Ibanez is now up and mobile after a night of intensive treatment in the medical bays, following the days of treatment in the field. An Alpha Ranked Pilot can recover from almost anything if their body is intact, so he must have been in a very bad way to begin with.
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Abraham Kepler breaks orbit that evening, headed for a Penal Colony in a nearby system's asteroid belt. The Central Authority has decided that their numbers are simply too low for what comes next, so they are picking up reinforcement infantry.
Everyone in that sort of Orbital Prison is serving a life sentence of hard labor, there are no innocents and almost as many decent human beings. But with the proper application of advanced technology, they can still serve the Empire.
The prison numbers almost a million inmates, and Command has ordered a tenth of their numbers be reviewed for rehabilitation. No traitors or child abusers will be considered, but The Abraham Kepler is most likely about to get a hundred thousand murderers and cowards added to their ranks.
Cowardice in battle that leads to the death of allies is one of the things the Empire will sentence a soldier to life in prison for, on the rare occasions that it is obvious and severe enough to be punished. But they are prime candidates for rehabilitation after a few years of 18 hour days in a pressure suit, mining asteroids with a pickaxe.
The new arrivals are kept mostly segregated, but Max can see a number of them being led to the Line Mecha hangers. Those few were pilots before they were convicts, and now they will be sent out alongside the convict infantry on what is usually a suicide mission behind enemy lines.
If they prove themselves and survive, they will be fully pardoned, and reinstated into the military. If they flee, or if they turn against the Empire, the implanted prisoner identification will inject their heart with a lethal toxin.
Max disapproved of the policy, but grudgingly accepted that a quick death in battle might be better than a slow wasting one in prison.
Once the new recruits are loaded and situated, the Abraham Kepler's next destination is announced. Planet KSF129, an agricultural world with little of note about it, had been invaded by Rebels. Unlike Belmont, the locals are loyalists, and the battle is already ongoing.
[Prepare for Transition. Destination KSF129, ETA is 37 hours, 16 minutes. Stand by for deployment orders.]
This is expected by Command to be an extended campaign. Unlike the mining Colony Belmont, this is a fully populated world, with a population of over a billion, an invading force of millions, and as many ships of the Fleet coming to assist the resistance as the Military can spare.
For Max and the other mecha pilots, that means even more preparation than usual. They will be stocking the Mecha for 60 days of sustainability, including water and food.
But that extended duration concerns Max. The Battle Cannon can easily be upgraded with a much larger munitions storage, but the Gatling Battery burns through ammunition much too quickly for such a scenario.
He assumes they will be sent to a remote location again, so Max goes looking for Nico to discuss replacement weapon options before he turns to General Tennant to ask a favor and try to get one of his main weapons swapped.
Nico is predictably already in the Repair bays, checking and stocking Tarith's Rage, but surprisingly she is joined by two men from the infantry. Captain Catan isn't much of a shock, after fighting together so recently, but there is also a man in a Penal Regiment jumpsuit.
"Captain Max, welcome. You already know Captain Catan, and this is Colmar of the Penal Regiment. He heard that Tarith's Rage and Stalwart were on board and has to come visit. His unit is from Kepler 142." Nico explains.
"Welcome to The Abraham Kepler, Colmar. Are the Mecha everything you hoped for?"
"That and more Captain. We never thought we would see them out of stasis, but look at them now, all shined up and happy after a battle. What brings you by this early? Stocking Stalwart for battle?"
"Something like that. We are expecting an extended deployment, so I wanted to ask Pilot Nico a thing or two about weapon options. We earned a good bit of merit and claimed some high tech trophies last battle, so I am hoping to upgrade Stalwart's Gatling Battery." Max answers, smiling fondly at his mecha.
"I have just the thing. Recovered from the warehouses on Belmont. I know the Stalwart has a standard Rad Engine, but the Pulse Laser Battery is fairly easy on power usage.
Like the Gatling Battery, it is a high volume, low damage weapon, but it is an energy weapon, not a solid projectile." Nico suggests.
That would be amazing, and keep the basic functionality and layout of his Mecha, so he would just need to get authorization to use the new weapon, and not to change the role of Stalwart from fully ranged to mixed.
Max checks the Armory inventory, which should allow him to see what he is cleared to load his mecha with, and finds that not only the Pulse Laser Battery, but the new Battle Cannon ammunition and a few other random upgrades he doesn't really need have already been processed by the war spoils team.
Getting their spoils of war processed and cleared that rapidly must have been General Tennant's doing. Normally the process takes weeks or months but it hasn't even been two days since they arrived back in the Abraham Kepler.
Max selected the change of main weapons, and requested the back mounted expanded dual feed munitions belts for his Battle Cannon, which will allow him to switch between armor piercing and high Explosive shells with every shot, as well as expanding his total capacity by more than double.
Then it is rations and essentials, which means it is time for Max to clean and double check his Mecha's storage tanks and cabinets.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Colmar, perhaps we will meet again." Max says with a polite smile and turns to leave.
"Did they not send the official deployment notice yet? You'll be seeing far too much of me, my men have been assigned to reinforce Bravo Company of the second Battalion under Captain Catan here, and we are all going to be going to battle with you and Tarith's Rage in just a few days."
General Tennant smiles as he watches Max's reaction to that news over the security feed. Colmar and his unit were all sentenced to life in prison for going awol and off mission, but they did it to save civilians from an unaligned planet they were deployed to. Before the planet declares allegiance, they are not friendlies under military law, so the punishment was harsh.
They managed to get out of charges of turning traitor with help from some politically connected friends, who then asked General Tennant to give them special consideration after seeing that they could be pardoned during this recruitment.
Of all the reinforcement options available these men were no doubt the best, and it brings Bravo Company back up to full strength.
The General's last task of the morning is to requisition some more light mecha to go with them. Lieutenant Becki and his single teen mecha wing aren't going to be enough for the battles that are coming. They are going to need more light mecha numbers, assuming General Tennant can find them among the mob that came from the Prison.
64 Chapter 64
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
+ - Turn on Reset
Max stopped off to grab a couple of cases of rations for Stalwart before climbing the gantry to tidy up his living space.
After spending so long inside the Mecha on Belmont, the cockpit needs a deep clean and deodorizing in the most desperate of ways. The first step is to remove absolutely everything from the cockpit that isn't bolted down. Once that is complete, the high-tech part starts.
The repair gantry has an automated cleaning machine that will sanitize and disinfect all surfaces inside the Mecha for you, but the pilot is required to remove anything loose or risk it being damaged.
Max tosses his used uniforms and bedding into to laundry cart that sits on the hazard stripe painted walkway, just waiting for a pilot like him to clean out their mecha for the automated sanitizing process. An attendant comes by to collect the laundry while Max stays by Stalwart and plans out how to organize the limited available space.
The laundry facilities automated sanitizer only takes a few minutes to clean everything, so his belongings will be back long before Max is finished with his organization chart.
By contrast, Nico manually cleans everything inside her cockpit instead of using the automatic functions. It might be that her cockpit had been customized, and the machine isn't sure what to make of it, or simply that she preferred the hands-on method to be sure everything was to her satisfaction.
It probably isn't because of decorations; the only personalized items that she has mentioned are the bedding she ordered when they first arrived, the same time that she called his watch and an extra pillow for the dorm aboard Abraham Kepler.
After his rations are delivered, and the water tank is sanitized and refilled, Max loads his handful of personal effects back into the Mecha. Looking around the spartan interior, Max decides the cockpit needs something to remind him of the past, but he didn't collect anything while they were on Belmont.
Max decides that from now on, he will have something collected for nostalgia's sake. But as he is sorting away the clean clothes, Max finds a gift ticked in amongst his items. A single photo of him charging out of the Lander behind Tarith's Rage. It must have come from Lieutenant Becki's feed since the vantage point is too high for an infantry helmet camera.
Max isn't sure who sent this to him, but he is thankful for the fond memory and tucks it into a clear pocket mounted beside his seat, more commonly used for written notes. Many pilots like to write things down to look at later, saying it helps their memory, but Max isn't one of those people.
"Captain, are you nearly finished up in there? We need to change out your armaments, so the Mecha will shake some while we work." One of the techs calls from outside, and Max sticks his head out to assure them he is good to go.
"Go ahead. I will go check on Tarith's Rage while you work." Max calls, climbing out.
He will need her help once they finish anyhow. Her [Mecha Modification] Skill is just too good when combined with his optimization. The Pulse Laser Battery fires twenty-four pulses a second, rotating barrels on six sets of lasers to help control heat collection.
Ignoring the projectile, it is functionally very similar to the Gatling Battery that it is replacing. It also serves the same purpose of clearing massed infantry and light mecha. If Nico can make it more efficient, his optimized multiple targeting will make a genuinely deadly combination without the ammunition limitations of its predecessor.
The actual swap won't take long; the lower arm sections on the Crusader Class Chassis are intended to be modular for easy repairs and weapon changes. An hour or two should be enough to do the installation and functionality checks.
"Hey Nico, how's it going down there?" Max calls as he gets close to her cockpit, not wanting to cross the catwalk to the open hatch.
Her armor is still marked as slippery when wet, so the custom red paint is still drying, or they applied another layer of that slick wax. It isn't something he would want to slip and land on, especially with that razor wire still in place at the edge of the carapace armor.
"Pretty good. I'm just finishing posting up my pictures. Did you get the gift from Becki? He had them made to commemorate our first deployment, but he got called away before he had a chance to chat. Something about getting reinforcements to his wing."
"I'll have to thank him later. But when you get a bit of free time, they are installing the Pulse Lasers on Stalwart, and I'll need you to modify them for efficiency and rate of fire if that's possible." Max calls back.
"No problem. I don't know how much we can increase the cycle rate, it is set that way to maintain operating temperature, but if we can get thermal efficiency up, I should be able to tweak it a little bit without any overheating issues."
That's all anyone could ask for. Not every mecha can do everything perfectly, after all. Pilots balance their mecha to their skills as well as they are able or allowed to.
Thinking of skills, Max can feel that his third skill is still hung up, waiting on something. It is early for it to manifest, even with the bump in stats that he got during battle, but the feeling makes him vaguely anxious, and Max hopes that it settles down before he has to go into combat again.
Nico doesn't even wait for the techs to finish their work before she climbs up the Mecha and borrows the test device from the repair bay technician that is completing the installation.
"We have this. I'll do the diagnostics, and Pilot Max can do the system checks." She declares, waving them away.
None of them are going to argue with that, they have too much other work to do. Spending an excessive amount of time on complex jobs just leaves more mecha waiting to be brought back up to operational status.
Nico is busy tweaking the system, so Max climbs into his cockpit and powers up in diagnostic mode.
[Stalwart Active: Diagnostic Mode Engaged]
[Welcome, Pilot Max]
[Change in Armament Detected]
The Mecha messages in his Heads Up Display end at the same time that the System Notices Begin.
[New System Skill Online]
[Split Fire] Active
Max isn't entirely sure what that does, so he looks through his System interface, noticing that he is still a single upgrade from 200 points of bonus, so the skill really is a little early.
Keres Max
[Compatibility Determined] Rank A
[Primary Attribute] STR 2.5x modifier
[Secondary Bonuses] DEX 2x, SPD 2x
[STR] 3+95%
[DEX] 3+52%
[SPD] 3+52%
[Innate Talent] Mind Reading
[Additional Function Unit Optimization]
[Additional Function Multi-Point Targeting]
[Additional Function Split Fire]
[Split Fire] Allows rapid adjustments of the Mecha's high rate of fire weapons to accurately target multiple points with a single burst.
That is insanely good with the Pulse Laser, but if Max had the quad barreled anti-aircraft guns on Stalwart instead of missiles, he would absolutely destroy incoming targets.
But then, with all these skills, and the extremely long range of the lasers, he might not need them. A bit of practice, and he could likely hit moving aircraft with a scattered burst from the Pulse Laser Battery.
The final tweaks don't take long, though Nico is ordering parts from the repair bay, replacing similar parts that Stalwart's diagnostics and Max's Optimization said were fine.
She cut heat retention by twenty percent and power cost by ten percent while maintaining the same output. The decision was made not to change the firing rate, though.
Instead, the Pulse Laser Battery has become capable of long duration sustained fire at maximum output instead of having to reduce power after five continuous seconds of fire to let the accumulated heat dissipate.
What sort of target he might need to shoot for more than five straight seconds is unclear, but with his luck, Max is about to find out.
65 Chapter 65
Name:Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System Author:Aoki_Aku
+ - Turn on Reset
The next morning Max gathers everyone who is going to be under his command to go over their drop plans for this mission.
The upper brass have sent a fine collection of soldiers here under his command. Bravo Company has been reinforced to 500 men, including the group from the prisoner recruitment led by Colmar.
Originally Bravo Company was going to be brought up to a full thousand men, but that was deemed too imbalanced, so half of the allotted recruits were moved to Charlie Company under Captain Tarsus.
They also gained two more 10 man wings of Light Mecha. One of them was a wing from the 42nd Armored, and a group of ten line Mecha were from the prisoners. According to Max's information these guys got life in prison for an attempt to hack the central banking net and make their families rich. It would have been an impressive feat, had they succeeded.
All the deployment orders are signed by General Tennant, so Max can see that their teacher is still looking out for them, even if he has much more important things to do in battle than babysit new pilots.
"Welcome everyone. I am Captain Max of Stalwart, your mission Commander. Tonight, as you all know, we will be dropping on to KSF129, a highly populated agricultural world. Most of us haven't worked together before but I don't believe that will be an issue.
Our objective is to take an hold a small village at the foot of a strategic bridge. Heavy Mecha Support aboard Abraham Kepler is seriously limited after the Battle of Belmont, with over a third of our Crusaders still waiting on repairs.
That means your heavy support will be myself and Tarith's Rage. However, the lack of heavy mecha left us some extra space in the landers, and we have been cleared to bring some vehicles for our infantry contingent.
All four of Bravo Company's anti aircraft platforms are coming with us. We will also be bringing two supply trailers and one trenching machine.
Trench warfare might be outdated, but it is still better than standing in the open waiting to get shot. Especially for the Light Mecha who make such wonderful targets.
Drop time is now in 10 hours and 17 minutes. When we load for deployment, Tarith's Rage will load closest to the doors with a heavy shield, in case of immediate hostile fire. Light Mecha will be immediately behind her with infantry on the flanks.
Spread out and take the village. I will be in Stalwart on rear guard and serving as long range artillery. Does anyone not understand their orders?"
The infantry all grunts their confirmation and the Pilots Salute with their fist to chest.
"Very good. See you all here in 8 hours and 15 minutes. Trust me when I say the two hour buffer is required, Abraham Kepler loves to arrive early. Dismissed."
Max heads to the supply trailer to see what they managed to get, given the limited supplies aboard, having come straight from another battle without a full resupply. Most of the items in the first trailer are rations, clothing and kit. But below that is a large amount of Battle Cannon ammunition. The second trailer seems to be full of light mecha weapons at first, Ion Cannons to be exact.
"Nico, what is up with this wagon?" Max calls, bringing her and Corporal Fritz of the repair bays over.
"Do you like it? During a long Battle, a lot of Mecha get damaged, so I brought spare weapons that can be recharged off of the Crusaders or the lander. These ones also have a double purpose feature, they can be tripod mounted and used as heavy weapons emplacements by the infantry. An extra twenty Ion Cannons, as well as the new pattern Plasma Cannons that Bravo Company obtained should really help us out." Nico explains.
"There are rations for 45 days, as well as two water purification machines. If the lander survived it can also filter some from the humidity in the air. That's the very best we could manage, so your unit should be as ready as they can be to spend a lot of time at that bridge." Corporal Fritz adds.
Max will admit, the extra heavy weapons are a blessing, and he is sure the infantry also grabbed everything they could.
At this point in the battle, there are no established lines, which is why they have been sent to control a bridge. Blocking enemy movement will help contain them in to regions where they can be eliminated. Plus, only after containment is established can command start truly pushing the enemy out of populated areas.
All of the Mecha and vehicles are being loaded now, so Max heads to his dorm to get a few more hours sleep before returning to the lander.
As expected, the Abraham Kepler is early. Right as Max's alarm goes off the two hour to drop warning rings through the ship. He instructed all his men to be at the lander in one hour, so they should still have been prepared and ready in time.
The Special Forces Cadets are all in the mess hall looking glum when Max arrives to grab a bite before departure, and Ibanez waves him over, attempting a cheerful face.
"I hear you've got a strategic deployment again, and Command of two companies, plus a light mecha escort?" The big pilot asks.
"Yeah, and mostly convicts as well. But they seem pretty decent, I don't think they are eager to go back." Max laughs.
"Lucky bugger. We are all stuck here with the reserves. Our units took too heavy of casualties, so we sit here waiting on repairs and healing here while everyone else heads to the planet."
"Plus, reserves always get sent to the worst, most overrun hellholes on the planet when they do get sent." Russo points out.
He is totally right, that is the point of reserves, to go where things are worst and reinforce the unit that was already there. If they weren't losing men and mecha they wouldn't need the reserves.
They all chat a bit while Max finishes eating, then it is time to load up. Most of the unit made it there before him, and with fifteen minutes to the scheduled time he set, which is now under an hour before launch, only thirty men are not in place.
They all turn up in a group, five minutes late and escorted by Captain Tarsus, who found them still playing cards in their barracks.
"That is everyone. Head count complete. All mecha check good. All supplies loaded and locked for drop." Corporal Fritz informs them before closing the doors.
"Private, hold out your hand for me." Nico demands of the closest soldier, who sneers and extends his arm.
Nico pulls a small stick from her pocket with a smile and snacks his hand with it. At first Max thinks it might be a taser, given her history of extreme behavior, but the other soldiers begin laughing when they see it.
When Nico releases his hand, Max can see what it was. A rubber stamp in the shape of a gold star.
"Since you needed motivation, there you go. One Gold star for attendance. Hands out boys, or I'll stamp it on your forehead."
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