Hold the Line
Author: Dean Henegar
Date: 2021-08-10 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction
Description: Earth is under siege. For decades, the governments of our world have been fighting a desperate and secret battle to keep hordes of alien invaders away from our planet. When the guardian of the United States falls, a new champion must be chosen. Sadly, the choice of a champion isn’t ours to make, and the Galactic Conflict Authority selects a human, seemingly at random, to lead the United States of America’s efforts at holding back the tide. Hugh Logan is in the middle of teaching a class when he is taken against his will and informed that he is now the newest member of Earth’s defense against a
Rights: All rights reserved

Copyright © 2021 by Dean Henegar

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Contents

Prelude

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Afterword

They’ve got us surrounded again, the poor bastards.

– Gen. Creighton Abrams

★

Prelude

Battle World, Krillax 93

“Zhukov, how are the shields holding on your mechs?” Valery Akalov asked the commander of his heavy mech unit. Currently, they were crouched just under the surface of a corrosive lake, ready to emerge when the enemy entered range.

“Good, sir. We are good. The shields are down, but our Soviet armor is strong. A little corrosive liquid will etch some character into the finish of our mechs,” Zhukov replied.

“Zhukov, how many times do I have to tell you? We are no longer Soviets. In fact, Russia is now a capitalist nation . . . sort of,” Akalov replied, trying but unable to keep from laughing a bit at his heavy mech commander’s antics. Zhukov was no relation to the general from the Great Patriotic War, but he told everyone he was. He also told everyone he had fought in the war, even though he was way too young to have done so. Still, his soldiers loved him and would follow the man into hell itself. Despite his strange demeanor at times, Zhukov had played the key part in several of their victories.

Sadly, Akalov knew that victories for Russia had been few and far between, fewer still for most of the other countries of Earth. The battle they were participating in today was case in point; Russia was expending virtually all her hard-fought advantages to give America another crack at a war core after the disastrous performance of their last one. America had better make the sacrifices of Russia count this time.

“Bah, General Akalov, we are still the Soviet Union, fighting against the fascist aliens to protect the workers of Earth,” Zhukov replied. Akalov moved his point of view under the lake, looking at the seven submerged heavy mechs of Zhukov’s force. Most of the resources gathered during this battle had gone into those mechs; they, along with another surprise he had prepared for their opponent, were going to be key to a victory here. The highly corrosive liquid that filled the lake, a substance none of them had seen before, fizzed and bubbled against the armor of the mechs. He had to hope the reinforced armor on which he had spent far too many resource points would prove up to the task.

“Colonel Akalov, the D’kahn mechs are nearing the minefield. My ambush will commence shortly,” messaged the no-nonsense infantry mech commander, Grishin. Akalov had reinforced Grishin with the surviving pair of battered level 3 T-60 scout mechs, giving his level 4 infantry a bit more punch. He was still surprised at the types of mechs the Galactic Conflict Authority (GCA) allowed them to build. Humanity had no idea how to build a mech on Earth, but here in a battle world, their automated factories pumped them out like cars on an assembly line.

“We’re looking at three—repeat, three—Hill Giant-class mechs. No infantry or support vehicles,” Grishin added. The Hill Giant class of D’kahn mechs was their ultra-heavy, level 8 mechs, the level cap for this conflict. Most of Akalov’s units, other than Zhukov’s heavies, were lower than the level cap. The D’kahn normally liked to go with a quality-over-quantity approach in their battles, but this was pushing it. Forgoing any other covering force and pumping all their resources into a few ultra-heavy mechs was a risk, a risk mitigated by the overall higher quality of the D’kahn gear. The long-running battle on Krillax 93 had seen two of the original five giant machines destroyed, but the kills had been very costly for Akalov’s forces.

“Roger that, Grishin. Wear them down but try to preserve at least part of your force. Once you’ve got your licks in, pull back to the main defensive line,” Akalov ordered. The location Akalov had selected for the final confrontation was near the Russian command post. He no longer feared losing the other resource points to the enemy since they had been completely drained during the long-running battle. The only resources left for either side consisted of the small trickle that flowed in from the command post each side possessed. This particular battle had gone on for days, Akalov throwing various forces at the D’kahn and compelling them to run around the map in an attempt to protect their outlying resource nodes. The Russians had been successful in many attempts, taking the valuable spots and draining some of their precious resources before the few ultra-heavies of the D’kahn could respond.

The cost had been high. Akalov had started with seven unit commanders. Most of them had been disconnected from the fight as the units under their command were destroyed in the battle. The majority would survive the experience and were, even now, stepping out from their combat pods back at the secret base underneath the Moscow subway system. Unfortunately, “majority” didn’t mean “all,” and surely some of his friends and comrades in arms would not survive this fight.

Shaking off the depressing thought, Akalov pulled up his build interface and order of battle, determined to use every last resource point to assist in the final battle.

Current Force Composition:

Heavy mech, model KV-2, level 8 (7)

Medium mech, model T-34, level 5 (3)

Light reconnaissance mech, model T-60, level 3 (2)

Field artillery support mech, 76mm, level 4 (4)

Infantry mechs, level 4 (73)

Mercenary assault group, level 8 (36)

Available resources: 67

There were just enough resources to field another ten infantry mechs, and since the barracks factory operated quickly, he should have them available for the final fight. Akalov queued up production and then watched the fight going on between the D’kahn mechs and Grishin’s forces. While most of the battle world comprised an open, desert-like environment, the bases for both factions were set inside a deep canyon. With no air support permitted for the battle, the canyon forced an attacker into a narrow opening if they wanted to engage their opponent’s main base, giving the defender a slight advantage.

The mines he had produced were standard low-level general-purpose mines. He didn’t see the point in wasting resources on anything too complex and had gone for a high-density field covering a large arc in front of the canyon in which his base was situated. The Hill Giant mechs stomped their way into the minefield, shrugging off the small explosions that detonated under their feet with each step. Akalov’s T-60 recon mechs then began to fire, their relatively weak 20mm guns sending round after round at their giant foes.

His T-60s were only the size of a passenger car and walked on two birdlike armored legs. A reinforced hull connected to the legs, and a small turret was mounted at the top, holding the main gun. Their strength lay in their ability to move quickly around the battlefield, keeping enemy units under observation and engaging in counter-skirmishing with an enemy force. As rounds chugged out of their main guns, the mechs side-stepped and tried to make themselves as difficult to target as possible. Small patches of armor were blasted off the enemy mechs with each hit, but their guns were unable to penetrate the protective layer of liquid armor that covered the Hill Giants. To the untrained eye, the Hill Giants looked like they had just walked off the factory floor when in fact they had been in a constant battle for days.

Akalov knew the pristine condition of the Hill Giant mechs was deceiving. Unlike Earth’s armies, which had their mech systems forced upon them by the GCA, the D’kahn were more highly advanced. This was reflected in the adaptive liquid armor scheme used on their heaviest mechs. The armor itself flowed like mercury, repairing any exterior damage and keeping the mech looking like new. In reality, each bit of damage chipped away at the mech’s total armor, eventually leaving the coating too thin to repel incoming fire. Once that happened, the armor would fail to redistribute and the mech would become vulnerable. So while his recon mechs and minefield were only scratching the surface of the Hill Giants, they were also slowly thinning out their protection for when the heavier units struck.

The Hill Giants were intimidating machines, standing nearly sixty feet tall. Walking on two heavily reinforced legs, the mechs could proceed at a pace that was just a bit faster than what an infantry mech could manage. Humanoid-shaped, they looked like a collection of shiny boxes on legs—a collection of boxes with weapons sticking out all over. Their main armament consisted of two truly massive plasma cannons in place of their arms. The cannons were the size of something you’d typically find on a battleship, not a land-based vehicle.

The thirty infantry mechs assigned to Grishin’s ambush force had dug a small trench line just behind the minefield, where they had hidden themselves from view as best as they could manage. Infantry mechs were man-sized units armed with light weapons, and these weapons were now in range of the trio of lumbering Hill Giants. The light weapons of the infantry were scaled-down versions of the Hill Giants’ massive guns. In fact, all their ranged weapons were based on the same mysterious technology the GCA granted the various combatants of the universe. Akalov was sure the scientists had all kinds of theories about them, but for him, it all boiled down to practicality. Essentially, a small kinetic object was pushed through the barrel of the weapon with tremendous velocity. In addition, a plasma charge around the core of the projectile would melt through anything it struck. Heavy armor could deflect some of this energy, but any weapon, even the small rifles of the infantry mechs, would eventually burn through if they hit repeatedly in the same spot.

Light flickered along the surface armor of the Hill Giants as the infantry mechs’ fire began to peck at it. In response, the massive guns glowed for a moment, then unleashed their fury on Grishin’s thin line of defenders. An entire squad of infantry was consumed in the fire from one of the Hill Giants, while the other giants targeted the T-60s. The recon mechs’ evasive maneuvers didn’t save them from the enemy’s accurate fire. When the blinding flash from the huge guns dissipated, one recon mech was completely gone, and all that survived of the other was a small portion of one of its legs, which now lay smoldering on the sand. The smaller guns on the Hill Giants joined in, spitting death at the small infantry mechs.

“Falling back. Requesting artillery support,” Grishin announced as the remaining score of infantry climbed from their trenches and made their way toward Akalov’s main line of defense. Their torsos twisted 180 degrees, allowing the weapons mounted in their arms to continue firing at the Hill Giants that were gaining on them with each step.

Back at Akalov’s main defensive line, the construction drones were nearly finished with the defensive works. The infantry mechs had secure trenches to fight from, and the few remaining T-34s were housed behind defensive berms. Just behind the main defensive line, a battery of four artillery mechs waited. Mounted on four legs, the artillery mechs were just metal platforms with automated guns mounted atop them. They were unarmored and vulnerable in direct combat. Their function was to rain indirect fire down on an enemy using a variety of ammunition, the first rounds of which were already leaving the barrels.

“Pre-planned fire mission five is on the way,” Akalov replied. The four cannons fired out one round every three seconds, the ammunition a mix of dual-purpose and smoke rounds. His “smoke” rounds had some unknown tech that messed with the sensors of the mechs as well as with the war core itself. Akalov’s view of any part of the battlefield under his control was normally something close to omniscient, but that enhanced ability could see nothing inside the growing cloud. His level 4 artillery was relatively weak, firing only a 76mm shell, but once again, any fire on the enemy Hill Giants would weaken them further. As the barrage continued, the artillery began to move away from the main line of defense, backing up a few steps after every volley. Corporal Lavrov handled the support weapons expertly, keeping up the volume of fire while moving his vulnerable yet valuable weapons further from the approaching enemy.

As they made their way deeper into the canyon, the Hill Giants would be forced to bunch up; the passage was only wide enough for two of the massive mechs to walk abreast. The sheer wall of the canyon on the attackers’ left and the caustic lake on their right would hem them in. Smoke clouds grew as the artillery walked their fire back. Eventually, once the cloud was in weapons range of the infantry, they switched out the smoke rounds for dual-purpose rounds. This would allow all of Akalov’s forces to engage at their most optimal range while preventing the enemy from using their longer-ranged weapons to their advantage.

Huge figures materialized in the dissipating smoke as the Hill Giants lumbered into view. The sharp bark of the T-34 mechs’ main guns sounded as they engaged the attacking behemoths. The sound of the alien-designed weapons was strange, even though Akalov had heard it for the last several years. The gunfire had the distinct crack of a normal tank’s main gun, but the sound also included a strange electronic whine that just didn’t sound right to the old soldier. His level 5 medium mechs were capable, fielding a modestly powerful 76mm main gun. The shells slammed into the rightmost Hill Giant, tearing large gouges in its shiny armor. A hail of infantry mech fire lashed out, desperately trying to cover the retreat of Grishin’s remaining force.

As the surviving infantry mechs approached, Akalov added them to the main defensive line and placed all the remaining infantry forces into Grishin’s direct command. The roar of the Hill Giants’ main guns was heard once again as the two lead mechs opened fire, targeting the T-34s. Despite reasonably thick armor and the protection of the earthen berm, the giants’ main guns swept a pair of the medium mechs away, leaving only smoking wrecks behind. The sole remaining T-34 fired back defiantly as the assortment of smaller guns on the Hill Giants added their fire. Secondary turrets and fixed mounts covered the exterior of the Hill Giants, carrying various smaller calibers of cannons as well as dozens of heavy machine-gun-sized weapons. Fire lashed the infantry trenches, inflicting casualties despite the dug-in position.

A second blast of the Hill Giants’ main guns silenced the remaining medium mech and tore another hole in the infantry line. Thankfully, only the two lead mechs could bring their weapons to bear; the trailing mech could only fire a few rounds from the smaller guns when an occasional opening showed itself. It was time to activate his first surprise for the D’kahn.

“Corporal Lavrov, switch to direct fire and advance. Buy me some time for the mercenaries to arrive,” Akalov ordered. His artillery mechs stopped their slow retreat and began to withdraw toward the main defensive line. The barrels of their guns lowered into direct fire mode as the first of their small supply of armor-piercing rounds were loaded. The artillery mechs paused their advance to fire, lacking the stabilization gyroscopes that allowed the other mechs to fire accurately on the move.

“Good shooting, Lavrov. All four hit. The armor on Hill Giant 1 is nearly exhausted,” Akalov replied. The four hits on the Hill Giant closest to the canyon wall depleted its armor enough that he was able to briefly see the dull metal beneath the mech’s liquid skin.

“Thaquix force, launch and engage. Zhukov, rise up and engage,” Akalov ordered. The government had negotiated away a small system on the fringe of Earth-held space to secure the services of the Thaquix mercenary band. A sizeable chunk of his resource supply had been pumped into producing the special units the Thaquix were adept at piloting. The sand behind the Hill Giants erupted as a swarm of small mechs leaped out. Looking like a cross between a flea and a piece of construction equipment, the Thaquix mechs jumped high in the air, their powerful rear legs assisted by the flare of a booster rocket. While the battle parameters forbade airborne units, the rules said nothing about jumping units.

The fleas, as Akalov like to call them, launched themselves high overhead and then began to descend toward the Hill Giants, a dozen machines targeting each. The jump mechs were met by little in the way of defensive fire on their descent; the D’kahn had neglected air-defense weapons and instead spent their resources on the Hill Giants themselves. It was a logical decision, one that Akalov believed they were about to regret.

Only a single pair of fleas fell to defensive fire before they landed on top of the Hill Giants. The fleas had three pairs of hooked legs, all of which slammed into the liquid armor of the Hill Giants, seeking purchase. Most dug their way through the now much-reduced armored layer and found enough grip to hold on. The ones that failed to adhere dropped to the ground, where the Hill Giants’ secondary weapons tore them apart.

The heads of the fleas swiveled down and began to emit a powerful cutting beam, burning through the armored skin as they sought out the more vulnerable components underneath. Changing up their tactics, the Hill Giants ignored the Russian defensive line and turned toward each other, using their lighter secondary weapons to sweep the fleas from their hulls. Many of the shots missed, and friendly fire stripped away more of their dwindling armor.

The numerous secondaries on the Hill Giants burned down the fleas of the Thaquix in moments. While they didn’t last long, the fleas were able to achieve their goal. A combination of the fleas’ cutting torches, friendly fire from near misses, and the continued hammering by the artillery and infantry mechs wore down the last of the Hill Giants’ liquid armor. Rising from the lake, the heavy KV-2 mechs emerged. Atop six legs, the massive armored hull of the machine mounted an almost ridiculously sized rectangular turret housing the mech’s devastating main gun. The armor of the KV-2s had taken a beating from being submerged in the corrosive fluid; parts had been nearly completely eaten through. Akalov could only hope the main guns with their higher-quality alloys were still functional.

With a roar, the big 152mm main guns of the KV-2s unleased their first shots at the Hill Giants. They continued to close with the enemy as the long reloading process began. All seven of the heavy mechs engaged the rearmost and least damaged Hill Giant. The rounds tore into the back of their target, the last of the armor was ripped away, and the delicate machinery beneath was pounded to scrap. With a final effort to get back into the fight, the battered Hill Giant twisted its torso toward the KV-2s as it lost its balance and crashed to the sand.

“Ha! Die, alien fascist scum!” Zhukov shouted into the main comms channel as his mechs closed on the enemy. The remaining pair of Hill Giants swiveled their torsos toward the KV-2s, which would be out of action until the reloads were completed. Normally, Zhukov’s mechs would have engaged the enemy with fire from the pair of small hull-mounted machine guns each of them carried. Unfortunately, the weapons had melted to slag while the mechs were submerged.

The Hill Giant nearest to the canyon wall lurched as a volley of direct fire from the artillery mechs landed, breaching the armor in several places. The small weapons of the infantry exploited the gaps in its protection, and their light rounds sought out the Hill Giants’ delicate internals. With a stumble, the mech seemed undecided on who to target: the approaching heavy mechs or the artillery that had hurt it so badly.

The other giant mech completed its turn and opened fire on the slowly approaching KV-2s. With their armor weakened from their swim, the shots obliterated a pair of mechs. Smaller secondary weapons were also having an effect, perforating the melted-down armor and dropping a third and then a fourth of Zhukov’s heavy mechs. The Hill Giant targeted by the artillery fell to the ground after another volley, leaving only a lone surviving opponent.

“It’s going to be close, sir, but I think we’ll beat that monster on the reload,” Zhukov said. The main guns on the Hill Giant and the three remaining KV-2s fired at nearly the same time. Two more of Zhukov’s heavy mechs were destroyed as they pummeled the Hill Giant in return. With mounting damage and no armor remaining, the following volley from the artillery smashed something vital. The final opponent wavered for a bit, weapons quiet, before falling to the desert floor. Akalov saw the concession notification display as his counterpart war core acknowledged its inevitable defeat.

The forces of Earth have pushed back the invading force of the D’kahn. Galactic system a148ik4 has been defended and is ineligible for assault for 30 days. Previously selected rewards will be distributed momentarily. Congratulations, and may your victories continue.

“Well done, men. Well done. Punch out of your capsules and celebrate,” Akalov said as his team cheered. He didn’t feel like celebrating, dreading the final report that would tell him the butcher’s bill for the fight. How many of his friends and comrades wouldn’t emerge from their capsules this time?

“We’ve paid the toll to give you another chance, America. Make it count this time,” Akalov whispered.

★

Chapter 1

“Okay, everyone, the practice exam is starting . . . now. You have thirty minutes to complete it, and then we’ll review any problem sections,” Hugh Logan told the class. It was 7:45 p.m., which meant he had just over an hour to go. Teaching part-time night classes at Opportunity Tech was not where Hugh had planned for his career to be at the age of forty. Still, at least he had a part-time job, even if it was low-paying and didn’t offer much other than some free education benefits. There were fourteen students in his Intro to Information Technology course. Most were older folks, either looking to update their tech certifications in an effort to enhance their chances at promotion or people looking for a way out of dead-end jobs.

Sadly, even though the technical school did a good job of training them to pass the various certification exams, it didn’t do a good job of weeding out the people who had no business even looking at a server room. Being a private training center meant tuition dollars were king, and if folks were willing to shell out the cost of the class, they were more than welcome to attend. Still, it was a job, and Hugh desperately needed even a part-time one right now.

His previous employer had decided to fire most of the IT department, including him, and outsource the work to whatever random country would do it the cheapest. Hugh needed some advanced certs if he wanted to avoid the same thing with his next employer. In this global economy, you had to make yourself stand out from the normal tech drones. Thankfully, Opportunity Tech allowed even its part-time instructors to take any certification class they wished, waiving the tuition and allowing Hugh to get some high-demand specialized certs for free while earning a few bucks.

“Mr. Logan, I’m sorry to interrupt your class, but there are some government people here to see you,” Elizabeth, the night admin, told him as she poked her head in the classroom. She was a nice older lady who genuinely seemed to like working with the students and instructors, always bringing in homemade snacks to share with everyone. Hugh was a bit taken aback, not sure why someone from the government would want to see him.

“I’ll be back in a moment, everyone. No cheating while I’m gone. It’s a practice exam, and I can’t help you pass the real test if I don’t know where you need help,” Hugh told the class before following Elizabeth to the lobby. Their training center was in a small office building complex, and the place was usually dead after 6:00 p.m., when most of the businesses closed for the night. Not sure what to expect, Hugh began to worry he had done something wrong. Had he botched his taxes that bad or was his old employer trying to pin something shady on him?

“Mr. Hugh Logan?” a local sheriff’s deputy asked. The man was serious and all business in his demeanor, causing Hugh to begin worrying in earnest.

“Yes, sir. What can I do for you, gentlemen?” Hugh finally noticed the other two people who had been waiting for him. One wore an expensive but rumpled suit, the look of someone who had been traveling all day. The final person was an honest-to-goodness colonel in the United States Army.

“We’re going to need to see some ID, sir,” the deputy said.

“Sure, here’s my driver’s license. Do I have an unpaid parking ticket I forgot to take care of when I was discharged twenty years ago?” Hugh joked as he handed over his license to the deputy, who proceeded to scrutinize it.

“I’m going to need to take a DNA sample, sir. A strand of hair will be sufficient,” the colonel said. His name tape read GOLDMIRE.

“Is that really necessary? Just what is going on here?” Hugh asked, more confused than ever yet realizing that taking a DNA sample was beyond reasonable without a warrant. Not that he could recall committing anything resembling a crime, let alone one that involved the police and the military.

“I’m not sure I want to do that, Colonel Goldmire,” Hugh continued, “and unless you have a warrant, I think I’ll need to speak with my attorney.” He didn’t have an attorney, but it was what you were supposed to say in these types of situations, wasn’t it?

“Mr. Logan, we’re here under the highest of authorities. Here is a copy of your orders reactivating you into the service. Before we can go further, we need definitive proof of your identity,” the colonel ordered.

“Woah, hold on here. I was discharged from the Army back in 1999. There is no way I’m still in the IRR. I’m also not exactly in shape for duty. Surely there are younger and more fit people you can take.” Hugh had served a six-year stint in the Army to help pay for his degree. His time in-service had been fine, but he realized it wasn’t going to be a long-term career. Besides, he wasn’t exactly in the best physical shape anymore. Too many years in the tech field had found him working long hours behind a desk and eating far too much junk food.

“Mr. Logan, we can do this with your cooperation or things can get nasty really quick. You can comply or I’ll have the deputy here cuff you and drag you out of the building. Your call,” the colonel said in his no-nonsense voice. Hugh wasn’t one to buck with authority, and the document they provided seemed legit. He supposed a DNA sample wouldn’t kill him.

“Fine, take a hair sample if that makes you happy and it keeps me out of jail. Elizabeth, are you getting all of this?” Hugh asked, noticing that the admin had begun to record the encounter on her phone. He figured some video evidence would be good if he had to sue these clowns for overstepping their authority.

“No recording is allowed, ma’am. I’ll need that,” the deputy said, snatching Elizabeth’s phone from her hand. “This will be returned to you tomorrow with any sensitive information removed.” Elizabeth continued to grumble in protest, and Hugh felt a pinch on his scalp as the man in the suit, who hadn’t bothered to introduce himself, pulled out a strand of Hugh’s hair with some tweezers and deposited it in a strange device. Somehow the man had put on surgical gloves and produced a tablet-looking device without Hugh even noticing. This was getting weirder and weirder by the second.

“We’re good. He’s the one,” the guy in the suit told the others.

“Fine. Come with us, Mr. Logan. Welcome back to the United States Army,” the colonel said with a devious grin on his face.

“I don’t—” Hugh started to protest before being cut off.

“Before you start with that nonsense, we’re on a strict timeline and lives are at stake. Come with us or spend your indefinite reenlistment in Leavenworth,” the colonel threatened.

Hugh had no desire to be thrown into some federal military prison for no reason, so he decided it was best to go along for now. “Fine, but there are witnesses here if something happens to me.” He pointed to Elizabeth and the handful of students from other classes who had drifted into the lobby to see what the commotion was all about.

“Everything will be fine, Mr. Logan. I promise this will make sense once we get to our destination and have a chance to debrief you,” the mysterious man in the suit announced as they led him out of the lobby and toward the building’s main exit. Waiting for them right outside the exit were a pair of police cruisers and a nondescript sedan with blacked-out windows.

Hugh was placed in the back seat of the sedan, not sure if he should be glad he wasn’t stuffed in the back of the police cruiser or if he should be concerned the government was going to make him disappear. He wanted to call someone, anyone, but his phone was back on his desk in the classroom, along with his backpack.

“Can I at least get my things from inside the classroom?” he asked.

“Negative. Anything you’ll need will be provided for you,” the colonel replied.

“What about my apartment and family? Will they be notified about what’s happening to me?”

“Mr. Logan, we know all about your background. You don’t have any living family and any valuables at your apartment will be packed up and stored for you,” the unnamed official replied. Sadly, he was right. Aside from having a few acquaintances at work, he was a bit of a loner, not unlike many who were drawn to the tech field. Still, the thought he could be called back up for service and nobody would know, or care, was disturbing.

The police cruisers ran their lights and sirens, clearing traffic as they made their way through town. Despite the police escort, traffic was a mess, as it usually was in southern California. The school Hugh taught at was in the town of Garden Grove, and he could see they were heading north. Another nondescript government employee in a suit was driving the car, and the colonel, along with the unnamed guy, didn’t look like they were in the mood for chitchat. Trying to figure out where they were heading gave Hugh something to think about instead of worrying about what was happening to him.

He figured they were taking him to a military facility of some kind; otherwise, they would have headed south toward the nearest airport. The way they were going could mean either the Naval Weapons Station at Seal Beach or the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. Deciding to poke the bear a bit, he asked his traveling companions, “So we going to Seal Beach or Los Al?”

“You’ll see when we get there,” the colonel replied flatly.

“You’ve got me back in the Army. The least you could do is tell me where I’ll be stationed,” Hugh whined.

“This isn’t your first rodeo, soldier. You know the routine.”

“Yeah, I get it. Hurry up and wait,” Hugh replied to the colonel. They weren’t going to give anything up. A turn toward the coast let him know it was going to be Seal Beach. He watched the familiar landmarks pass by the car window, wondering if and when he might see them again. As they neared the base, the police escort turned off its lights and sirens, leaving the black sedan on its own to pull up to the gate. The guard there opened the gate and made an obvious effort not to look at their vehicle. Strange. They were usually very thorough about security, to the point of annoying the people posted there.

They drove past some of the maintenance facilities and toward a Navy-gray Blackhawk helicopter sitting in an open area between some buildings. The rotors turned slowly, like the machine was ready to go at a moment’s notice. Hugh was hustled out of the car by the mystery man and walked toward the waiting helicopter. The colonel remained by the vehicle; it looked like he was staying behind for whatever reason.

“Give ’em hell, soldier,” the colonel said as he saluted. Hugh belatedly returned his salute, confused why this senior officer was saluting him, a junior officer who wasn’t even back in uniform yet. Colonel Goldmire got back into the sedan and pulled away as Hugh and the mystery man climbed into the Blackhawk. As soon as Hugh was strapped in, the rotors began to speed up, and the helicopter clawed its way into the air.

It was too loud inside the helicopter to ask any questions, and Hugh instead tried to figure out where they were headed as their ride turned to the west and took them out over the ocean. Blinking lights in the distance led him to believe they were heading toward a ship, but that idea was quashed when the outline of a landing pad atop one of the many oil rigs in the area lit up. Once the helicopter was on the deck, the doors slid open and he jumped out onto the landing pad, nearly losing his balance. The mystery guy guided him to a nearby hatchway, cranking open the rusty thing after typing some code into an adjacent keypad. The lights on the landing pad blinked out as the hatch squealed open.

The oil rig was quiet and dark, looking abandoned to any who might pass by now that the lights had been extinguished. After stumbling a bit on the hatch coaming, Hugh made his way into the compartment. The hatch squealed shut and the man dogged it down. As soon as the hatch was secured, lights came on to reveal they were in a short passageway that ended at what looked like a set of elevator doors.

“Come this way, Mr. Logan. Look directly ahead, please.”

Hugh looked ahead, noticing there were no buttons to summon the elevator. A red light flashed once into his eyes, and then the elevator doors opened. The elevator was brightly lit and much larger than he initially suspected. Once he was inside, the doors closed with a heavy thump, and he could feel they were dropping. From the way he suddenly felt lighter, he guessed they were dropping much faster than a normal elevator would travel.

Hugh wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it wasn’t the sight that greeted him. The elevator opened into an enormous underground cavern. He stepped out with the mystery man, awestruck that something so huge could be built this far under the ocean. He was standing on a walkway that ran around the entire complex. Along the walkway, doors led to various offices and meeting rooms. Near the elevator, a large staircase led down to the floor, where row upon row of strange pod-shaped containers were arranged. As he watched, one of those containers opened and a technician stepped out. Others worked outside the containers, monitoring them with strange devices.

“Impressive, isn’t it? Follow me to supply and we’ll get you a set of uniforms, Major Logan.”

“Major? I’m only a captain. At least I was when I was discharged,” Hugh replied. He had done his stint out of college as an O1 second lieutenant, eventually being promoted to captain shortly before his discharge. The promotion to O3 was pretty much automatic, as long as you didn’t screw up too much.

“You’ve been promoted, Major Logan. Now follow me to supply so we can get you squared away and off to medical. We need to get you on the job as soon as humanly possible. Too much depends on what you will have to do,” the guy in the suit said. Hugh didn’t like the dour look on the man’s face.

★

Chapter 2

His uniform didn’t fit all that well, and the supply section in the underground base didn’t appear to keep a large stock of gear that was the right size for an out-of-shape older soldier. Hugh learned from the supply clerk that he was only the second one to come here for a full kit; all the others transferred from their active-duty units with full gear, only needing an item or two that had worn out. They also pushed him through administration, going over his pay, setting up direct deposits, and filling out the mountains of paperwork the military required its soldiers to complete. Once finished and toting around a pair of duffel bags that were nearly too heavy to carry, Hugh was shoved into medical.

Unlike supply, medical was much larger and better equipped than Hugh would have thought. There were no patients other than him, which was kind of eerie considering the place could handle nearly a hundred. What were they preparing for? The doctors and nurses ran test after test and drew what he thought might be a gallon of blood. Once again, nobody would talk to him other than when they were asking medical-related questions. The mystery guy was waiting for him in the lobby of medical once he was finished.

“Now that you’ve been put through the wringer, it’s time to hold your briefing. I apologize for how much you’ve been kept in the dark, but I think you’ll understand once we’re done,” he said as Hugh was led downstairs among all the empty pods. After seeing the tech emerge from one earlier, he figured people were supposed to go inside them, but for what purpose? He was led past the rows of machines and into a small meeting room with a video screen and an old DVD player.

“Have a seat, Major. According to the wishes of the Galactic Conflict Authority—GCA for short—we are required to have you view this before we can proceed. It’s fairly short, and once it’s over, we can talk,” the guy in the suit said as he pressed play.

The thing on the screen nearly made Hugh jump out of his seat. An insect-like face began to chirp as its sounds were translated into English.

“Greetings, honored member of humanity. You have been selected based on the approved sequence of variables to become a war core for the human government known as the United States of America. Perform well in your tasks to improve your war core’s chances for success. Analysis of your abilities and talents shows an average baseline chance for successful integration into the war core unit. There is only a modest three percent chance of total mental collapse when you are joined to the core.

“The hive world of the Krixnas has laid claim to the section of human space controlled by the Earth nation known as the United States of America. The Krixnas are a relative newcomer to the galaxy, as is your own race. The initial calibration tutorial has been completed and passed by the Krixnas war core, and they have gained an advantage against you. They have selected a restricted training program for the newest human war core. When this transmission ends, a countdown timer will begin. Once thirty of your minutes have passed, you must be prepared as a war core to begin your truncated training session. Failure to begin training before the allotted time has expired will result in the forfeit of all systems claimed by the Krixnas. The countdown begins now.”

“Okay, that really wasn’t very informative. What is going on? And what is your name anyway?” Hugh said in a panic. Had he seen an alien just now? What was this whole war core thing it was talking about? Was this all some kind of hoax or a psych experiment?

“As you just heard, time is very limited. I apologize for not giving my name earlier. The GCA can monitor all that we do, and if I had tried to begin debriefing you earlier, the timer would have started, and the results would have been disastrous for Earth. As far as my name goes, I’m Mr. Smith, a CIA analyst that has been assigned to you.”

“Sure, you’re Mr. Smith, like in a bad spy movie. Let me guess, your first name is John?” Hugh said with sarcasm, beginning to believe his this is all a hoax theory.

“No, it’s Norman, if you must know, and yes, my last name is really Smith. Now, Major Logan, we have only a short time to get you into the war, so now would be a good time to ask any questions,” Smith said.

“Okay, let’s start with what a war core is and why am I the guy who has to be one, whatever it is?” Hugh asked, curious but convinced this was all some psych experiment for the military.

“I should start with a brief history, I suppose. Back after the end of World War II, the U.S. and the Soviets went on a nuke-testing spree. The energy signature of those tests combined with our fledgling space programs caught the attention of others in the galaxy. It seems that when a world attains a level of technology the GCA deems high enough, it is brought into the fold. Not only are we brought into the fold, but we’re given our share of the universe to do with as we see fit. Take a look.” Smith pulled up what looked like a star map on the tablet he had brought with him. Hugh could see Earth as a blue dot, with green representing the portion of space that had been allocated to humanity. There had to be thousands of solar systems and who knew how many worlds represented there.

“Not a bad haul, enough room for humanity to expand for the next ten thousand years,” Smith added. “Up until we were added to the galactic fold, Earth and its portion of space had been off-limits to the rest of the interstellar civilizations. This GCA organization runs the show and has tech far exceeding what any of the other known civilizations can create. Once we joined the big kids’ table of the galaxy, all bets were off. Any and all comers could lay claim to a sector of Earth space and take it for their own.

“It may or may not surprise you to find out that the other species that inhabit the universe are, for the most part, xenophobic jerks and would like nothing better than to wipe us off the map and take all we have for their own. Before the GCA stepped in to normalize things, countless worlds were destroyed by war. Habitable planets and resource-rich systems are few and far between. Too many were being destroyed, so the GCA set up a system where the various spacefaring races could still fight over control but also limit the destruction of productive planets. That’s what a war core is, an interface for a human to fight battles on other worlds to save our territory. We were new to this type of warfare and failed miserably at first. Here is what we still hold onto today.” Smith pulled up the green sphere of Earth’s control once again. As Hugh watched, red swaths were taken out of it, places he assumed humanity had lost in prior battles.

“So this has been going on for how long?” Hugh asked, beginning to believe this just might be real. That or Mr. Smith was one hell of an actor.

“We had first contact with the GCA in 1953. Every nation on Earth was contacted at the same time. Supply containers housing the war cores and other tech we needed to participate in the galactic conflict were passed out and 112 people were selected by the GCA to become the first war cores. Nearly every advanced nation, and a few that weren’t so advanced, were ordered to participate. It was strange. First contact pretty much ended major wars among the nations but caused a nonstop conflict with other worlds instead.”

“What are you trying to pull? We’ve had plenty of wars since then, from Vietnam to the Middle East,” Hugh replied, his skepticism returning.

“True, but the one thing we haven’t seen is a conflict between the major powers. Look at the dates. The contact with the GCA occurred during the Korean War—in July of 1953, to be exact. That contact prompted the armistice to be signed. Every war since then has been on a smaller scale. I’m ashamed to admit we sometimes used these fights to provide cover for the losses our forces are taking in the galactic conflicts. The GCA wanted to prevent further destruction of useful worlds with their intervention. They never mentioned anything about trying to prevent the loss of life. They want a war to have consequences, and those consequences are, in part, the loss of good men and women serving in the various militaries on Earth.”

“No way. There’s news footage and all kinds of videos documenting these conflicts. While I never deployed myself, I know dozens of people who fought overseas. While you can doctor video, you can’t doctor memories,” Hugh argued.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Smith replied. “We, with the help of GCA tech, can and do alter people’s memories when we must. Soldiers who participate in this program have their memories adjusted to fit a reasonable explanation for why they were deployed. It’s a horrible thing to do, but it saves the world from tearing itself apart if they find out aliens are real and we’re fighting against the rest of the galaxy.”

“And you want me to believe that nobody ever spilled the beans about this? Not likely,” Hugh said with confidence, folding his arms in disgust.

“Oh, I’m not saying people haven’t tried, and extreme measures are taken to keep that information from getting out. The Earth faces annihilation. It’s enough of an incentive to keep a lid on things—barely. Ask yourself, if someone told you this story or posted it online, even with some video evidence, would you believe it?” Smith asked. He was right; there were so many kooks out there that Hugh would have just figured it was yet another crackpot Internet conspiracy.

“Why not just make the news public? That way, you could have everyone working toward the same goal,” Hugh asked.

“That would be ideal, but every indicator we have is that release of this knowledge would cause chaos across most of the world. Can you imagine the response people would have when they found out that there are aliens and that we’re at war with them? While they may accept that, perhaps even rally together to fight a common threat, what do you think happens when they find out we’re losing this war? We need to turn this fight around. We need to retake what we’ve lost or at least show that we have a good chance of success before we reveal this secret to the world.”

It was a shock to realize that, based on the map, humanity was losing. Humans were good at war, weren’t they? You would think that humanity would be kicking the aliens back and even taking their territory. Were humans that far behind the curve compared to the rest of the galaxy? It wasn’t hard to imagine the world tearing itself apart when it found out it was on the losing side of a war of extinction. Maybe it was best to keep a lid on things until the tides of war turned in humanity’s favor.

“Tick tock, Major Logan. Time’s running out. Anything else I can try to answer for you?”

“I suppose I need to ask, why me?”

“Easy enough. The GCA has information on everyone. They plugged in the parameters of what they want for a war core, and poof, your name comes out. I hate to tell you that you’re not something super special or the chosen one of humanity. The people selected usually have the bare minimum of a skill set to figure out how to fight. Sometimes the choice works out great, like the guy they have in Russia and the Japanese participant. Sometimes it turns out poorly, like the last American candidate.”

“Okay, what am I actually going to do?” Hugh asked.

“First, you’ll be placed inside the war core, which is essentially a bigger and more powerful version of the pods you saw the techs working on in the main room. Once part of the war core, you can be sent to any battlefield in the galaxy that needs our attention. During a conflict, your consciousness will merge with a command post the GCA has set up for you. From the command post, you can view the battlefield as well as build structures and fighting units. The restrictions put on us by the GCA prevent me from telling you more. It’s part of the penalty the enemy has placed against us. Truly, Major Logan, I’m not trying to be vague. If I tell you any more than I’m allowed, there would be dire consequences, and the GCA sees and hears everything.”

Hugh was still not convinced, but the possibility this whole thing was real seemed more likely by the minute. The sheer number of resources and the effort it would have taken to build a huge complex under the Pacific Ocean meant that whatever was going on was serious. The timer kept counting down, showing only eighteen minutes remaining. Once he was placed in the war core thingy, he would find out if it was real. Hugh tried to think of any other questions that could be answered, given the GCA’s restrictions.

“What gives with all the pods out there? Are they some kind of discount war cores?” Hugh asked.

“Not quite. Give me a moment to check,” Smith said, typing away on his tablet. The silence was uncomfortable as the CIA man waited for a reply. “Good, okay, I’ve got permission to give you a limited rundown of the combat pods, which is what we call the other pods in the main room. During the battles, you will command units created by your automated factories. When you have a high enough level—and this whole business about levels will make sense once you get started—you will have the option to place portions of your forces under the command of others. You’ll always be in overall command and can override any units you produce, but others can direct them tactically in combat. To that end, we have various combat veterans skilled in the different types of units, ready to assist you,” Smith tried to explain. Hugh could tell the man was weaving around some restriction he was desperately scared of violating.

“Got it, I think. What do we do now? I’m out of questions, at least ones that you can answer. Will the restrictions be gone once I go through this mysterious training session?” Hugh asked.

“Yes, restrictions will be lifted after your first training session, which I hear is a fairly basic familiarization mission. It won’t teach you much, but when you complete it, I should have more flexibility in what I can reveal. Please understand, I wish I could give you all the information and let you choose whether or not you want to accept this responsibility. With the GCA in control, I just . . .” Smith got quiet, and the man looked like he was fighting back tears as he looked at Hugh.

“Are you okay?” Hugh asked.

“I’m so sorry. I just wish I could tell you everything, but so much would be at risk if I did.” Smith looked ashamed. It was enough to bring Hugh’s anxiety level back up again.

“Now, follow me and we’ll get you set up in the war core,” Smith said as he stood and opened the door to their small meeting room. Back out in the main room, they walked past the rows of combat pods and toward the corner, where a true behemoth of a pod waited. This must be the so-called war core; it was twenty feet tall and resembled a giant refrigerator with wires and tubes sticking out.

“Why is this thing so huge compared to the other combat pods?” Hugh asked.

“This thing has to connect instantaneously to the GCA battlefields strewn across the galaxy. It and the others in Earth’s possession were delivered to us by the aliens, while the combat pods are made here on Earth. The combat pods are much less complex and use the war core for their connection to the battlefield. For this mission, you’ll be on your own. No combat pods will be used,” Smith replied as a nurse walked over to them and several techs made some last-minute adjustments to the war core.

“Major Logan, I’ll need a final DNA sample before you enter,” the nurse said, a forced-looking smile plastered on her face. She held a device over Hugh’s arm, and he felt a pinprick as the machine drew a blood sample. “Everything’s good here. I’ll need you to remove any metal objects or jewelry in your possession.” Hugh saw she had a Navy uniform, the nametape showing HILLMAN. In fact, he didn’t realize this before, but the place was full of military from all the branches, not just the Army. Whatever this war core experience turned out to be, it was most definitely a joint-forces venture.

“Follow me, Major. I’m sorry, but it will be a tight fit. Your records didn’t show anything about you being claustrophobic, but that won’t matter once the war core is activated. Thank you for your sacrifice, sir,” Nurse Hillman said, a sad look on her face. He didn’t know what to make of that comment.

The war core was a tight fit; his out-of-shape gut made getting inside a bit awkward and embarrassing. In addition to the tight fit, the interior was dark. The only light inside was coming in from the small hatch he had just scrambled through. He wasn’t sure what he expected the interior to look like, but the polished metal slab he was lying on was going to hurt his back like crazy after a few minutes. Why didn’t something that was supposedly as important and advanced as a war core have comfortable seating or at least a pillow for his head?

“I’m going to close the hatch now.” The nurse flipped a switch, and the machine began to close around him.

“Woah, hold on a second. How long is this training thing going to take? It’s not exactly the most comfortable place inside here,” Hugh protested as the hatch continued to close. He could just make out the voices of Smith and Hillman as the hatch slid shut.

“You didn’t tell him? How could you do that to the poor man?” Hillman said.

“I had no choice. The GCA had some hard restrictions on this one. If I told him, he was about to—” The hatch sealed with a hiss, cutting off the conversation. A dim light came on inside the machine as it sealed, the source of which he couldn’t see. The entire interior was a slick steel cylinder and there was nothing to interact with.

“Okay, what happens now?” Hugh whispered to himself. He heard a whine reminiscent of a jet turbine spooling as the war core did whatever it was supposed to do. Straps shot out from the interior walls and slid around his body, tightening to a painful degree. Hugh tried to call for help, but the strap over his chest compressed his rib cage, refusing to allow air into his lungs. An excruciating pain erupted from his head as several things started drilling into him. He felt blood flow into his eyes, and the world went dark.

War core integration complete. Earth subject, Major Hugh Logan, has been accepted as the sole operator of this unit.

The download of the operator’s mind is 100% complete.

Disposal of biological refuse is commencing.

Interfacing with GCA hub . . .

Connection established. Loading first-time user protocols.

Restrictions detected. Truncated training subroutine will initiate. Loading into an acceptable training world. Connecting war core to planet Kuros 18b.

War core, prepare for battle.

The pain left Hugh as he saw system prompts in his head. This didn’t look good. What had happened to him inside the war core? His vision went dark again, and he had the sensation of movement, watching as he flew through the stars. His approach slowed and centered on a single sickly-looking red star. Hugh was moved past the star, narrowly avoiding a planet baking in the sun’s heat. He headed toward a new planet, one further back from the sun, one that should have been smack in the middle of the Goldilocks zone for supporting life but was now a pockmarked ruin. Something bad had happened here in the past. His thoughts triggered a response from, well, somewhere.

Query accepted. Planet Kuros 18b was destroyed in the first wave of intergalactic conflict before the ascension of the GCA. It is used as a training site for new war cores and is a reminder of the dangers of unrestricted and uncontrolled warfare. Two trillion lives were lost on Kuros 18b, and an advanced spacefaring race was wiped from the galaxy forever.

Hugh could see the image of a green and pink world, great structures rising from its surface. The inhabitants were a strange race that looked like a mix of a butterfly and a lizard. Whatever the people that lived here were once called, their name had been lost to the past. Only these few images remained of what this world had once been. The image changed to the pockmarked and dead world he had seen earlier. He flew toward the planet, his pace slowing as he approached a small factory structure set in the middle of a rock-strewn field. When he touched the factory building, his view changed, and a new message from wherever these were coming from appeared.

Integration into your command post is established. Familiarization training will now commence.

The building level cap for this scenario is level 0. Restricted construction options are in effect.

★

Chapter 3

Hugh’s view zoomed into the building he had been told was his command post. The building’s interior looked like it was filled on one side with an automated factory. Robotic construction arms were sticking out from various places, and the machinery idled with a low rumble. On the other side of the command post was a wall of communications gear. Hugh could see some large antenna- and radar-like devices extending through the building to the outside. Inside the factory half of the building, the machinery roared to life. The robotic arms began pulling up blocks of material from a storage area beneath them, placing them on a conveyor system. As the material made its way through the assembly line, it began to take shape. By the time it reached the end, the drone-like device was complete and moving about on spiderlike legs.

Your command post has been activated for the first time in this scenario. Typically, the queue for initial buildout includes 5 construction drones and whatever initial defensive forces you have unlocked for your command post. Your command post is level 0. As such, it will produce a defensive force of 5 infantry mechs. These units will upgrade automatically as the command post upgrades and will move randomly about your main base to defend it from any threats. Defensive forces cannot be commanded directly and will follow automated programming to defend your structures. They do not take away from your control limit and are replenished automatically over time without the consumption of resources. Their effectiveness will increase as your command post improves during the battle.

It was bizarre. Hugh could feel the drones in his mind and knew he had some control over them. The machines were the size of a dishwasher and could be used to build almost anything as long as he had the resources to do so. Wait, what were these resources and how did he know about that?

Query accepted. Resources are the raw material provided by the GCA on a battle world. They are used to build the structures and units that a war core researches. In most battles, each command post will be fed a trickle of resources that will never run out. Other resource nodes and caches you may find on the battlefield contain a finite amount of resource material.

Query response. You are integrated into the war core. Innate basic knowledge has been loaded into your core to hasten the familiarization process. Note that only limited responses are allowed during your training scenario and not all questions will be answered.

It was true; Hugh could feel several things banging around in his head, knowledge about the battles he would have to fight and the types of units and buildings he could construct. The process was similar to several video games he had played in the past, not to mention that in the Army he was a 57A, Army Simulations Operations Officer. It was his job to help run field exercises and prepare troops and their leaders for deployment. When he thought about it, that might be one of the reasons he was on this GCA group’s radar. This whole war core thing was like a war game, only he felt like he was actually on this world and the things he was making were real machines and buildings. Could this all be some advanced simulation in virtual reality?

Query response. This is not a virtual reality scenario. Your war core is here in the conflict world and you are building actual structures and mechs with the resources you have gathered. The simulation will now continue. Hold questions for a later time. Please take a moment to adjust your point of view and familiarize yourself with its function.

Hugh found he was now in control and could move his view around with a thought. It took some time to find the right balance between zoom levels he felt comfortable with. As he zoomed out, the land around his command post lit up, showing him the area he controlled. He would have room for several more structures inside his zone of control. A menu flashed into view, showing tabs for personal information and current battle information. Hugh selected personal information first.

Major Hugh Logan, War Core, Level 0

Reward points: 0/100

Perks: none

Impairments: truncated training regimen

Okay, that was his war core. Not very impressive, but he was just getting started. Part of the automatically downloaded information let him know that reward points were earned in battle and could be used to improve his core. As his war core improved, he would unlock new abilities and advantages he could use during the various battles he would fight. Once he finished looking at his personal information, Hugh pulled up the current battle tab.

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 75

Structures:

Command post, level 0 (unit points: 5/100)

Units:

Construction drones: 5/5

Combat units: none

Defensive garrison: 0/5

Once he finished with his review, another set of menu options appeared in front of him. Thankfully, he found that once he had explored a new option, it faded away a bit and did not take up too much of his field of vision. The new tabs pertained to structures and unit construction. He perused the structures tab first.

Available Structures:

Barracks, Level 0: The barracks requires 100 resources to construct. The construction of a barracks allows for the production of infantry mechs. As the structure levels, the units produced will be improved. At level 1, the armory addon can be constructed. The armory will allow you to expend resources for further upgrades as well as unlock several options to specialize your infantry mechs.

Signal Tower: Requires 50 resources to construct. The signal tower increases the number of unit points you have by 50. Unit points are required to command your various forces, and once you reach your cap, no further units may be produced. The initial limit for signal towers is one. An additional signal tower can be constructed each time your command post increases in level.

He selected the unit construction tab next.

Units Available for Construction:

Construction Drones: These drones build structures, repair damage, and install upgrades. A construction drone consumes 5 resources to build and requires 1 unit point.

He needed to build a barracks if he wanted to have some combat units, instinctively feeling this was what the tutorial wanted him to do. His available resources were at seventy-five and he figured it was originally at a hundred until the command post built his first batch of construction drones. Thankfully, the infantry mech defenders that were just now coming off the assembly line didn’t cost him resources or unit points. They were tied into the structure itself, and their improvements would be included in the resource cost of further command post upgrades.

Additional resources have been allocated to your war core in order to speed up the tutorial.

His resource total jumped to 150. It had trickled up by a couple of points while he was going through his menus, but the baseline resource gain from his command post would be a pittance. With the abundance of resources, he queued up a barracks for construction right next to his command post. The five drones scurried out after grabbing blocks of resource material. Once at the site he had designated, they began to build. The various tools mounted to their bodies went to work at an astounding pace. In less than a minute, the foundation had been laid and the exterior walls started to go up. While the exterior was being constructed, a pair of drones inside the barracks began to build more machinery that looked like a smaller version of the assembly line in his command post. A notification was triggered in his mind when the building was done and ready to begin production.

Barracks, level 0, has been constructed. The level of the barracks cannot exceed that of the command post.

New units are available.

Infantry Mech: These standard fighting units consume 5 resources to build and require 5 unit points each.

Hugh queued up ten infantry mechs, nearly cleaning him out of resources and using up half his available unit points. His command post defenders had already finished construction, and looking at them, he had an idea of what he was working with. The mechs were the size and shape of a human. Made from an alloy frame, they could move at the pace of a fast walk. Simple AIs would control them in a fight since there were no combat pods involved in this scenario. The mechs were armed with a rifle that was integrated into the unit’s right arm. The left arm was a simple metallic arm that ended in a hand with five fingers. Perhaps further upgrades would improve his infantry, but for now, they had a basic, no-frills look.

You have produced your first combat units. To complete this scenario, you must destroy the command post of your opponent. A resource cache is situated midway between your bases. Control it to gain an advantage in the battle.

Off in the distance, perhaps a mile away, Hugh could see another command post that was the mirror image of his. Five infantry mechs walked about the perimeter, but there were no structures other than the main command post. By the time his last infantry mech was built, the enemy had begun construction of a barracks. He needed to get moving to exploit his advantage.

Directly between the two bases, a small area had been cleared, and a pile of barrels and crates were stacked under a tarp. Protecting the cache were two armored turrets mounted in towers, one of which was oriented toward his command post, while the other was aimed at his opponent’s. Hugh didn’t know what kind of weapons the turrets had, but they were much larger than the rifles his mechs carried. Still, he needed those resources, and it was best to try and grab them now while his enemy was still working on building up their base. He found he had limited control over his forces. He could order them to attack, fall back, or defend a specific point. He would need the soldiers in the combat pods to make them more effective. With a thought, he set his ten infantry mechs to attack mode and ordered them to attack as far as the resource cache. After they took the objective, they would revert to defensive mode and protect the immediate area.

His mechs stomped their way toward the resource cache in a clump, no formation or bounding overwatch using the available cover, just a blind advance toward the objective. Overlays in his view could be filtered with different information; one of the settings included the weapons range of his units. He left the overlay active, though in a larger battle it might become distracting. His mechs were nearly inside rifle range when the turret closest to his units opened fire. Hugh wasn’t sure what kind of weapon it was, but it left a burning streak that almost resembled a laser. The rate of fire wasn’t very high, and the first rounds were off-target. The automated defenses soon corrected their aim, and the first hits landed on his lead mech.

The blast hit the lead mech in the hip, tearing off a chunk of its right leg and rendering it immobile. The following shots were missed as the mech landed prone. Once it realized the mech was down, the turret switched to another target. His second mech went down to a headshot, the heavy blast from the turret burning completely through. As the turret swiveled toward its next victim, his mechs finally entered firing range. Eight cracks sounded out, and red streaks of fire lanced out toward the turret. Two of the shots hit and the rest were nowhere close. His infantry mechs would need an upgrade to accuracy if he wanted to win against a live opponent. The shots from his mechs that did hit melted into the armor protecting the turret but didn’t penetrate.

A third mech went down, followed by a fourth as the second turret joined in. His return fire was thinned by the losses, but it was getting more accurate as the range decreased. The first turret stopped firing as the rifles of his infantry mechs burned through the armor, hitting something vital inside the weapon. Hugh watched with gathering concern as his force was whittled down to three, then two mechs. He was down to a single mech when the second turret was finally silenced. The weapon’s barrel had been hit, bending it at a slight angle and preventing it from firing.

You have gained control of the resource cache.

Hugh watched and waited for his resource count to increase, but nothing was happening. He started to worry, as the enemy barracks was nearly done and he only had enough resources on hand to build two replacement infantry units, which he had already started. I’m an idiot, Hugh thought as he realized he needed to go get the resources and the GCA wasn’t going to use its technology voodoo to simply teleport them to his command post. Selecting his different buildings didn’t do anything, but once he selected his drones, new menu options appeared.

Drone Commands:

1. Repair damage to structures

2. Build a structure

3. Gather resources

4. Repair units

5. Gather salvage

He selected gather resources on all five of his drones and the machines began to move toward the supply cache. The infantry mech that had been Hugh’s first casualty was still functional—it was currently dragging itself toward the supply cache—so he switched one drone over to the repair setting. Selecting repair units allowed him to choose where the drone should perform its duties. Hugh picked the area between his base and the supply cache. The drone made a beeline toward his damaged mech, and once it arrived, the infantry mech stopped its slow crawl toward the supply cache and allowed the drone to effect repairs. Two resources had trickled in by the time this happened, and one of those points was used to make repairs on his damaged mech.

The four drones tasked with gathering resources each grabbed a crate or barrel and headed back to the command post. They would have to bring the resources to an opening on the side of the command post, where they would be processed for use. Hugh didn’t know how much time he had to plunder; the enemy already had four infantry mechs, and more were being built by the minute. On a whim, he selected the idle drone and picked repair damage to structures, selecting the turrets that had defended the supply cache. It looked like both were now under his control since the location was his, and they could be repaired. Picking the one closest to the enemy base, he started the drone on it. It dutifully scrambled to the defensive turret and began to work, only to stop after twenty seconds. It was just standing there, doing nothing.

His resources had bottomed out to zero, preventing the drone from doing its thing. Hugh would have to wait until the other drones dropped off the gathered resources before he could complete repairs. Wishing his drones would move faster, Hugh watched as the eighth and ninth infantry mechs from the enemy were completed. His two replacement mechs had joined up with the two survivors, one of which was the recently repaired mech. Another point of resource trickled in from the command post and his repair drone got back to work. It worked for another twenty seconds before stopping again.

The drones hauling the salvage were almost back to the command post, but his time was up, and the enemy mechs were on the move. Ten strong, their number matched that of his first force, leading Hugh to believe the enemy base had the same starting resources he had begun with. The first drone returned to the command post as the enemy reached the halfway point to the supply cache. His resource count jumped, eventually leveling off at fifty, the sum of what had been inside the crate the drone had been carrying. The repair drone went back to work and was able to finish up the first turret just as the enemy entered range. After tasking the drone to begin repairs on the second turret, Hugh queued up enough infantry mechs in the barracks to max out his unit points.

His newly repaired defensive turret went into action, blasting away at the approaching enemy. It was able to take down one mech before the enemy closed into rifle range. Return fire streaked in even as his own infantry mechs joined the fight. The enemy was down to six mechs when their combined fire silenced the turret. His four mechs were outnumbered and began to fall one by one. Before the last mech fell, the repairs on the second turret were completed and it went into action. His dutiful construction drone was already marching back toward the recently damaged one. The supporting turret fire turned the tide, and Hugh was able to finish off the last enemy attacker.

Hugh had the advantage. He held the resource cache, which his drones were still harvesting, and he had a pair of defensive turrets to assist his mechs. The enemy produced a pair of mechs it held at the base for defense. Without any of the supplies in the cache, the enemy only had the trickle of resources coming in from their command post. By the time Hugh had gathered nineteen infantry mechs—reaching his unit point limit—the enemy had only nine, including the five defenders that spawned with the command post.

His mechs marched forward, brushing aside the defenders with superior numbers before directing their fire on the barracks. The building took a while to destroy, but the mechs never seemed to run out of ammo and their weapons could damage structures if they fired repeatedly in the same spot. Larger and with a heavily reinforced construction, the command post took longer to knock down than the barracks, but it also eventually fell, triggering a notification.

Congratulations! You have completed your familiarization training. The first training mission will now activate. Fight well. You will not have an advantage over the AI-controlled enemy in this fight.

Without even a debrief, Hugh was pulled from this world and sent hurtling toward the next battle, a battle that sounded like it wouldn’t be quite as easy as this one had been.

★

Chapter 4

Connecting war core to planet x345z2. The scenario building level cap is level 1. Combat cores are disabled for this scenario.

War core, prepare for battle.

Hugh was once again hurtled through space toward another barren world. This time, he was approaching a planet full of deep canyons. The approach gave him little time to calculate a strategy, but it did appear the GCA was using the terrain to limit attack options and channel forces into specific areas. Whether this was to simplify things for a new training mission or if it would be a permanent feature in other battles, Hugh wasn’t sure. The fact that this was real, and he was doing something to help his country and the entire planet, was beginning to sink in.

He was heading toward a dead-end canyon where a small factory waited for him. Trying to get an idea of the terrain as he flew toward the factory, he could see two paths leading from his base toward where he assumed the enemy base was located. His point of view landed at the same type of level 0 command post he had occupied in the familiarization training. His control was installed in the factory and he could feel the machinery around him. Five drones were already queued up and building on the assembly line. After the construction drones were complete, the factory would start pumping out automated defenders. While he waited for his drones to finish building, Hugh pulled up his resource information to see what he had to work with.

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 125

Structures:

Command post, level 0 (unit points: 5/100): Upgrade to level 1 requires 250 resources.

Units:

Construction drones: 5/5

Combat units: none

Defensive garrison: 0/5

He now had an upgrade path for his main building, which would hopefully unlock more options. Since he began with more resources this time, Hugh wasted no time in ordering his drones to start on the barracks. The little guys got right to work with the same level of efficiency they had used in the previous training mission. While he waited for the building to complete, Hugh moved his point of view around, trying to get a feel for what the battlefield looked like and the progress of his opponent.

His command post was set at the end of a small canyon, protected on three sides by sheer cliffs, and it only had a single way for an enemy to approach. Several hundred yards from his command post, the canyon split into two paths. Hugh started moving down the path to the left, finding he hit a wall about a half mile from his command post and couldn’t push his view any further. The canyon made a slight turn to the right at this point, and he couldn’t see what was beyond the curve.

Moving back to the command post, Hugh found the barracks building was nearing completion. He had twenty-seven resources available after building the barracks and queued up five infantry mechs for construction once the building was ready. He had to find some more resources before his opponent did, but five mechs weren’t going to cut it if the resources were defended by turrets again. With the trickle of resources coming in, it would take some time to build up to ten mechs, a number that had barely defeated the resource cache’s defenses. For this battle, he didn’t think the GCA would be granting him any bonus material like in the familiarization scenario.

While he waited for his infantry mechs to finish being constructed, Hugh pushed his view to the right, hoping to find something of interest in that direction. Once again, he passed a half mile from his command post, which seemed to be the limit of his point of view. Somehow, he had been able to move it further when he fought his last battle. The training wheels must have been on for the last mission, and now he would have to do some good old-fashioned reconnaissance if he wanted information on the enemy. He should be able to investigate the battlefield further now that his first infantry mechs were beginning to move down the assembly line.

He took some time to zoom in on the construction process, noting that the entire build from start to finish for a mech was only a few minutes. Unlike a normal assembly line, only one mech was worked on at a time. Once it was finished, the next would begin construction. Perhaps upgrades would improve the process or even add a second line, as there was more than enough room inside the reinforced building to house two or maybe even three assembly lines.

Taking control of his first mech, he directed it toward the left, intending to see if he could follow it past the curve in the canyon. The infantry mech began to move its way across the canyon floor at the pace of a fast walk. It was another thing he hoped would be improved by upgrading; the pace seemed especially slow since Hugh could move his view around the battlefield with amazing speed. While the unit plodded along its path, his available resources ticked up to five, allowing him to add another mech to his queue. After thinking about it, he went ahead and queued up a total of ten mechs to be built as the resources became available. As the second infantry mech finished construction, he ordered it to go along the path on the right side to get some recon around that bend in the canyon.

His command options for the infantry mechs were still the simple attack, retreat, and defend. When he toggled attack, they moved forward and attacked anything in range. If they ran into something too difficult, he would just order a retreat. When toggling retreat to test it out, he noted that their default was to retreat to the nearest controlled location, but he could designate any spot for them to make their stand. That might prove useful if there was some terrain advantage like natural cover for them to fight behind. For now, the GCA looked like it wanted to keep things simple. Perhaps later missions would have more terrain that could be utilized; he wanted to get some practice in for all the potential variables before he faced the Krixnas, whatever they were.

The mech on his left was rounding the curve in the canyon. Thankfully, Hugh was able to follow it around the bend. Once they turned the corner, he ordered the mech to stop and defend in place. In the distance sat a small base. At first, he thought it was the enemy command post, but this place was different. A low fence surrounded a single structure that resembled an oil well. When he scanned the location, an information prompt appeared.

Resource Gathering Station 1: Resource gathering stations provide an additional stream of resources for your war core to utilize. Resource stations like the one you are viewing have a limited pool of resources to draw upon. Until a faction engaged in the conflict captures them, the resources will be gathered and stored on-site. A defensive force typically protects these sites, and the more resources the station has gathered, the stronger the defending force will be.

Around the resource-pumping device were a half dozen mechs as well as a single turret like the previous ones he had faced. The turret was mounted in a tower right next to the resource gathering machine. A simple wire fence, a kind of futuristic version of a cheap chain-link one, surrounded the area. With six infantry mechs and a turret, this might be too tough for his forces to crack unless he found some new resources. Hugh kept the mech there in the canyon, well out of range of the turret and the defending mechs. It would stay there, for the time being, keeping watch and making sure he had some warning if the enemy’s forces tried to take the valuable location.

Shifting his attention back to the mech on the right, he saw it was just coming around the bend in the canyon. Something new met Hugh’s gaze as he saw the remains of an old battlefield. A score of destroyed mechs littered the ground, as well as the broken debris from a larger machine. The new machine had walked on four legs and had an armored hull with a turret atop it. Much of the machine was melted or blasted away from whatever fate befell it and the infantry mechs. Whether this was decoration created by the GCA or the remnants of a real war, Hugh couldn’t tell. Rummaging through the debris were a dozen strange creatures.

These new creatures weren’t mechs and looked like the mutant rejects from a bad post-apocalyptic movie. The hunched-over humanoids were dressed in ragged smocks with various bits of metal attached haphazardly in what looked like an attempt to provide some armor protection. Grunting and hissing at each other, the creatures rooted around the battlefield, scavenging various bits that caught their eye. These creatures weren’t the friendliest of folks; one swung the corroded leg of an infantry mech at another that got too close to its prize. With a meaty smack, the leg hit the offender, leaving a smear of glowing pink blood where the makeshift weapon had burst the skin. The bulbous heads and misshapen limbs made it impossible to guess what these creatures had originally been. Information popped up as Hugh scanned the scene.

Debris Field 1: You have discovered a debris field from a prior battle. The mutated remnants of the inhabitants of this world sometimes descend into the canyon to pick among the fallen mechs, searching for something useful. The mutants are hostile and will engage any units that approach.

There were a dozen of the things, but they looked much less dangerous than the turret and infantry mechs of the resource gathering station. This would be his first target, the defenders of which he had a chance to defeat with the mechs he’d already produced. Taking a risk and leaving the one mech standing watch over the resource gathering station, Hugh ordered the others to advance and join up with the one observing the mutants. While he had been doing recon, enough resources trickled in to produce the seventh mech, leaving him six for the attack on the mutants.

His force pushed its way along the right-side path, moving to join the lone observer of the mutants. For some reason, the mutants ignored the infantry mech that was standing still just outside of rifle range. They showed no fear or concern, but Hugh was worried they would decide the shiny new machine deserved their attention before too long. Believing he had a range advantage, he ordered the mechs to move just inside rifle range before switching them to defensive mode.

Once in range, the infantry mechs began to fire at the mutants automatically. The first volley of shots slammed into the closest mutants, easily punching through their makeshift armor while tearing and burning into their flesh. With a squeal of pain, the injured mutants charged Hugh’s mechs, eating another volley of fire that dropped four of their number. With roars, hisses, and strange clicking noises, the entire mass of creatures attacked, brandishing their makeshift weapons in their attempt to intimidate their attackers as they closed into melee range.

Hugh wanted no part of trading blows with the strong creatures and ordered his mechs to fall back. With a whirr, they turned and began to retreat, their torsos rotating to keep the mutants under fire. Another volley lashed out, striking the fastest mutants. The creatures were remarkably resilient, pushing on with their charge despite the grievous wounds inflicted by the futuristic weapons his mechs wielded. With their greater speed, the mutants were able to overtake the fleeing mechs, but by the time they caught up, only a pair of them remained on their feet. Losing so many of their number didn’t cool their anger one bit, and the final pair of mutant survivors made it into melee range, swinging their weapons at his trailing mechs.

With a heavy clang, the makeshift clubs hit the rear pair of infantry mechs. The simple weapons did a surprising amount of damage. One mech was out completely, its head smashed open by the force of the blow, while the other collapsed into a heap when the blow caved in the side of its torso, limbs twitching feebly as the machine tried to right itself. The other mechs fired again, focusing their attention on a single mutant. All the rounds hit, as even his mechs’ simple targeting systems were unable to miss at point-blank range. Riddled by fire, the targeted mutant crumpled as the last one standing continued its attack. Another mech was crushed by the mutant before it was taken down. With a sigh of relief, Hugh ordered his mechs to occupy the debris field and go into defensive mode.

Knowing a bit better about how things worked, Hugh ordered his construction drones to gather the salvage in the area. Moving at the same slow pace as his infantry mechs, the drones made their way to the site, gathering the nearest salvage, which turned out to be his own destroyed mechs as well as the body of one of the mutants. Curious, Hugh watched their progress back to the command post. Each drone dropped off its load and headed out to gather more. They would keep working until the field was stripped clean of usable resources.

The resource total ticked up by two for each destroyed mech and one for the mutant’s corpse. He didn’t know if it was the bits of armor on the corpse or if his command post was somehow able to process resources out of biological material. The amount per unit was low, but it was a positive increase in resources and there was quite a bit to be harvested out in the old battlefield. He would have a chance to rebuild his forces and see about either assaulting the resource point or working on some upgrades. Time was ticking away, though, and five drones weren’t getting things done very quickly, considering the long trek they had to make back and forth with their cargo.

Using up the incoming resources, Hugh queued up five additional construction drones, placing their priority over the infantry mechs. It was a bit of a risk since it took up valuable resources, time, and unit points. Still, he had a feeling that speed would be important in this mission, and doubling his gathering rate for salvage was certainly going to help him in the long run. By the time the mutants were cleared away and salvage work began on the debris field itself, Hugh had a total of nine drones working.

It took the drones a while to harvest the debris field, but it did have more resources in it than he had originally thought. As the drones cleared away the nearest destroyed mechs, they began to dig into the rocky soil of the canyon floor. The remains of more mechs were found only a few inches beneath the surface. The buried debris consisted of only smaller parts, but it gave him hope he might find enough in total to enable him to take on the resource gathering station before his foe.

Hugh queued up a total of eighteen infantry mechs, maxing out his unit points. With a steady supply of resources coming in from the debris field, he should have them built before too long. Eighteen should give him enough firepower to take out the gathering station and hopefully have enough of a force left over to impede the enemy, should they try to take it out from under him. As he waited for his forces to gather, he sent the pair of infantry mechs guarding the debris field to see where the right-side passage of his canyon ended.

As he suspected, the passage came out at the opposite side of the resource gathering station. A third passage led off from the station; he was sure it led toward the enemy command post. The setup of these initial training sessions was following a simple pattern, one he was sure would become more complicated as they progressed. Hugh wasn’t sure how many practice sessions he would have before his battle with the Krixnas, so he needed to make the most of each one.

Movement at the resource gathering station grabbed his attention. A pair of construction drones emerged from the station, scuttling over to the far side of the fenced-in area. As he watched, the drones began to build a second turret, increasing the firepower he would have to overcome. Also, the first enemy mechs were making their appearance; a dozen now stood just out of turret range and waited. Hugh had only four mechs in total, far fewer than his foe. With neither side having enough troops to capture the resource point and defend against their opponent’s inevitable counterattack, they were in a stalemate.

It looked like Hugh was going to have to pour resources into upgrading his base once the infantry mechs were built. This battle was going to take longer than the first one, and it was up to him to come up with a strategy to break the deadlock.

★

Chapter 5

Hugh divided up his forces, assigning half the infantry mechs to each side of the resource gathering point. His barracks was able to crank out a few as each load of debris was gathered and processed. Normally, you never wanted to divide your forces, but the enemy couldn’t get at him without going through the resource station first, and if the enemy attempted to take over the place, he would be in a good position to crush their depleted army.

He split his attention between the enemy army and the salvage operation. His drones were now working on the remains of the large mech. Being too heavy for the drones to carry, the large mech was cut down into several manageable chunks. When they dropped off the pieces, Hugh could see that the mech had been made of higher-quality alloys than the lighter infantry mechs, giving him a nice bump in resources.

After his last mech was built and the unit point cap was reached, Hugh pulled five of his drones off salvage duty and assigned them to build a signal tower. It was delaying his command post upgrade a bit, but he felt more comfortable being able to field a larger army, as the enemy now had fifteen mechs gathered at the resource station. Being a simple device, the signal tower went up even faster than the barracks. Placed just behind his command post, the completed signal tower made Hugh feel a bit strange. He could feel his mind improve and expand as he gained the ability to command more units.

Sending his drones back on salvage duty, Hugh queued up another ten infantry mechs, maxing out his unit point limit once more. The stalemate continued even as his reinforcements began to build. By the time his final unit was built, Hugh had fourteen infantry mechs stationed on either side of the resource station. His opponent had twenty. The resource station had also improved a bit, adding another defensive drone during that time, giving it a total of seven defenders in addition to the two turrets. He was left with no choice now but to wait for enough resources to be brought in so he could upgrade his command post. Sadly, the debris field was shrinking rapidly, and he guessed it would be nearly depleted by the time he had gathered enough to complete the upgrade.

The number of enemy units remained the same as Hugh pulled half of the drones off salvage duty to begin construction of the upgraded command post. The drones started by tearing out one of the walls and expanding the building out another twenty feet. Also, reinforcing beams were added to the walls, improving the overall durability of the place. Once the exterior and the internal reinforcements were complete, the drones started building and upgrading the machinery inside; both the communications half of the building and the factory portion got some attention.

It took longer to upgrade the command post than it had to build the barracks from scratch. When the final touches were complete and the building was reactivated, Hugh felt the surge in power as his abilities improved. With the upgrade came an additional one hundred unit points. To his surprise, the command post factory started up again as five more defenders began construction. That was good news; the defenders didn’t consume any of his precious resources or contribute to his unit point cap.

The debris field was now depleted. A couple of drones were scouring the place and picking up a few scraps, but he would be surprised if more than a half dozen resource points remained in the place. He was down once again to his normal slow trickle of resources. Hugh pulled up his construction options now that he had upgraded the command post to level 1.

Structures:

Command post, level 1 (unit points: 150/250)

Signal towers: 1

Barracks, level 0: Upgrade this structure for 200 resources.

Available Structures:

Light Mech Factory: The light mech factory allows for the production of vehicle-based mechs. The types and abilities of the mechs produced by this building depend on the war core’s faction, the level of the building, and any victory perks chosen by the war core. It requires 250 salvage to build a light mech factory.

Signal Tower: You have gained the ability to build a second signal tower. The cost of a signal tower is 50 resources.

“This is getting more and more interesting,” Hugh whispered to himself while drooling over the ability to make mechs like the one he had just chopped up for salvage. His dreams of an unstoppable army of giant mechs were quashed when he looked at the paltry 217 resources he had available. In addition to building the factory, he would also have to construct mechs that were likely much more expensive than an infantry unit.

He had a choice to make: build up another signal tower and flood the battlefield with level 0 infantry mechs or take a risk and upgrade the barracks to see what new goodies it yielded. After upgrading the barracks, he would be left with seventeen resources. Perhaps a few more would come in during the building process, giving him enough to build more mechs in addition to the upgrade. Somehow, Hugh didn’t think he could win with just the level 0 infantry mechs. His opponent had only shown a force of twenty mechs so far, which implied they had gone with some improvement program if he assumed they were gathering a similar number of resources as he was.

Crossing his fingers, though he couldn’t really feel them inside the giant metal box he was trapped inside, Hugh activated the upgrade for his barracks. The five drones that had just finished the command post upgrade got to work. Like with his command post, the drones started by expanding the walls out a few feet in every direction. Once that was done, they upgraded the assembly line. It would still have only one production line, but the tech now looked more advanced and the construction process more streamlined. When the building was completed, a new message prompt appeared.

New unit unlocked: infantry mech, level 1. The level 1 infantry mech has improved reactions and accuracy over the standard level 0 unit. Further upgrades can be constructed at the armory. It will take 1 additional resource per unit to bring your existing infantry mechs up to level 1 performance. New infantry mech construction will require 6 resources per unit.

New building addon unlocked: armory. The armory upgrade to your barracks unlocks new options for your infantry. The armory requires 100 resources to construct.

First off, Hugh wanted to upgrade his existing infantry mechs, making them more effective. With only twenty resources currently available, it would take some time for him to finish all of them, but the improvement just might be what he needed to gain an advantage over his foe. Selecting five of his drones, he assigned them to upgrade duty. They would start with the mechs on the right side of the resource point, then work on the left-side units. Hopefully, enough resources would come in by the time they were done to kit out the entire force. Once all his mechs were upgraded, he would have to decide whether to go with further upgrades or to just increase his numbers.

The right-side mechs completed their upgrade and the drones were headed to start on the left when something new approached from the enemy side. A large mech stomped into view, walking on a pair of birdlike legs. The legs were attached to an armored hull, and atop the hull was a weapons turret. While the weapon didn’t look all that impressive, it was much larger than the rifles his infantry were using. Strangely, the shape of the weapon and even the vehicle itself were familiar somehow. New information was displayed as he scrutinized the upgraded foe.

T-7 Light Mech: A simple, lightly armored mech, the T-7 features a heavy infantry weapon of .50 caliber. The weapon can penetrate light armor and does well against all soft targets. Reasonably fast, the T-7 can outpace other infantry of its level, letting it exploit gaps in defensive lines and run amok in rear areas. Unable to stand much punishment, the T-7 is best kept well away from hostile medium and heavy mechs.

So that was where his opponent had been spending all their resources. The machine was larger and more imposing than the infantry mechs, but was it good enough to beat his superior numbers? It looked like Hugh was about to find out; the light mech was joined by a second vehicle as well as another half dozen infantry. The odds weren’t looking quite as good now, and half his infantry mechs were still not upgraded. The drones were on their way to upgrade his force on the left, but even when they got there, he would only have enough resources on hand to upgrade ten or so of the fourteen infantry mechs stationed on that flank.

In an aggressive move, the enemy force began to close on the resource gathering station. The light mechs led the attack, with the infantry following close behind. At nearly the same time, the turrets and the T-7 mechs began to exchange fire. The turrets scored first blood with a hit on the newly arrived mech. Staggering from the blow to its hull, the mech steadied itself as it returned fire. The round from the turret had penetrated the armored hull, but it must not have damaged anything vital. Still, the fact that the armor wasn’t impervious to fire gave him hope. With a slightly higher rate of fire, both advancing mechs focused on the left-side turret. Hits were scored, and after the fourth volley, the turret fell silent.

The battle closed into rifle range and the infantry defenders poured their fire into the T-7s, ignoring the attacking infantry for the time being. Hits mounted on one of the mechs even as the enemy infantry joined the attack. Watching closely, Hugh could see the infantry weapons were damaging the lightly armored mech. While many hits were shrugged off, a few were getting through, especially at points on the armor that had already been weakened by previous hits. A second hit by the defense turret punched through the armor of the more heavily damaged mech. The T-7 staggered once more, only this time, flames began to pour from the cracked armor. Toppling over on its side, the T-7 landed on and took out an attacking infantry mech.

Facing the entire focus of the enemy force, the second turret fell, the gun barrel shearing off from the hail of fire hitting it. Having taken out the heavier opposition, the attackers started in on the defending infantry mechs, which weren’t going to last long. Hugh had a decision to make, and sitting and waiting wasn’t a viable option; it looked like the enemy would take the valuable resource station with minimal losses. All he could do at this point was press an attack and hope his improved infantry mechs were up to the task.

Hugh ordered his forces in, switching them all to attack mode. The last of the defenders had fallen just as his mechs entered the fight. Since the enemy attackers had been focused on the defenders, they didn’t react all that quickly to Hugh’s two approaching forces, which closed into rifle range. Most of the enemy infantry cut toward his upgraded force on the right, while the light mech, along with seven infantry, turned to engage the others. The light mech began to pick off Hugh’s nonupgraded infantry mechs one by one, the inaccurate return fire doing little to stop the more powerful machine. Fortunately, the enemy’s supporting infantry was just as handicapped with their accuracy, leading Hugh to believe they were still level 0 units.

On the right, the story was different. The enemy had sixteen infantry mechs heading toward his upgraded forces. Hugh ordered his infantry to stop; defending from a stationary position improved their accuracy even further as the initial volleys began to slam home. Three enemy mechs fell in the first volley, and the return fire from the advancing foes resulted in only one glancing blow that did minor damage. As more shots rang out, it became apparent that his upgraded infantry had a slightly higher rate of fire as well as more accuracy.

The fight didn’t go all his way. Five upgraded mechs fell by the time he had wiped out the opposing infantry. Ordering the upgraded mechs back on the attack, Hugh saw that his other troops were in trouble. The range had closed and the light mech continued to blast infantry mechs to scrap. His units seemed focused on the opposing infantry, eventually stripping away all but two by the time the last of his forces on that side fell. Hugh’s upgraded units had now closed into range, their fire lancing out to destroy his opponent’s final infantry mechs. A battered T-7 mech turned to engage, its pockmarked hull and turret showing signs of many hits as incoming rounds added to the damage.

Once again, fire spewed forth when a shot from an infantry mech punched through a weakened section of armor. The T-7 got off a final round before the mech exploded, blowing the turret off the unit. Hugh had only four infantry mechs remaining when he took control of the resource gathering station. With a flash of light, the valuable location changed to his control. He immediately ordered his drones to start gathering the resource containers that were stored there. The station had filled three of the resource containers, with a fourth partially full, when the location changed hands.

The station was pulling resources up at the same rate as his command post—which was to say, not very quickly. Still, there were over 150 resources on-site, not to mention mounds of salvage waiting to be collected if he could hold onto the station. The four survivors took defensive positions facing the direction from which the enemy had approached. He assigned a drone to repair any damage to his surviving infantry and a second drone to work on repairing the defensive turrets. Hugh wasn’t given any defending troops when he took over the resource station, but the turrets would prove a strong deterrent against a quick counterattack if he could get them into action.

He stared nervously at the canyon the enemy had emerged from, waiting for another wave of light mechs to come stomping out. Nothing approached as the first of his drones returned to the command post with resources and salvage. As his resource points ticked up, the drones then got to work with repairs, and Hugh queued up more infantry. He had a unit point total of 250 and would max it out with infantry before making a push on the enemy, assuming nothing showed up to attack him before then.

Enemy AI concedes the match. Congratulations! You have won this training match.

You will now face the Krixnas in a battle for control of system es1422. Good luck with your coming fight. The human war core known as Major Hugh Logan will be returned to his home location. You have 30 minutes to prepare.

“Woah, I guess they weren’t kidding when they said I would have a shorter-than-normal training experience,” Hugh whispered to himself. It was time for the real deal, but he first wanted to stretch his legs and get something to eat. Thirty minutes wasn’t long, and he hoped Mr. Smith and the military folks would be able to share more information and help him prepare this time.

★

Chapter 6

Hugh’s vision receded from planet x345z2, and he watched the stars fly past as he waited to complete the journey back home. The beautiful blue-green sphere that was Earth began to draw near, and he plunged into the atmosphere off the west coast of California. His view went dark, and he waited for the hatch to pop open on the war core. His vision returned, but not to his body; Hugh found himself hovering over the top of the war core pod.

“Major Logan, if you can hear me, please proceed to the briefing room you were in previously. Once there, you should have access to the speaker interface and can communicate with your team,” a technician shouted up at him from beside the war core. This was weird; it sounded like there was a problem with getting him out. A technical glitch of some kind would explain the swarm of techs going over the pod. He moved his view over to the briefing room he had used before. This time the room was larger, with modular wall panels having been removed to expand the space.

A large conference table had been brought into the room, and around it sat Mr. Smith, Nurse Hillman, some teenaged girl tapping away at her phone, two Army captains, an Air Force captain, and an honest-to-goodness Navy admiral. Hugh tried to interface with a speaker box placed on the center of the desk, testing it out.

“Can everyone hear me?” Hugh asked.

“We can hear you, Major. Our time is limited, and we have a lot to go over. Are you able to see and hear everyone in the room?” Smith asked.

“Yeah, I can see everything just like I can on the battlefield. I think there’s something wrong with the war core thingy. It’s not opening. How long until the techs can get me out?” Hugh asked.

“No way. You guys didn’t tell him? Wow, that’s some next-level cruel right there, especially after what happened with Derek,” the teenaged girl said before returning her attention to her phone.

“Lock it up, Maddison. There was a very good reason . . .” one of the Army guys tried to say before being cut off by Smith.

“Hold up, Captain Tran. Let me give the news to Major Logan.” Smith held up his hand for everyone to stop, and Hugh held his questions, knowing he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear. “First off, Major Logan, I am truly sorry for not telling you this before. The GCA prevented us from giving you a complete explanation before integration. We’re not sure why they don’t allow disclosure ahead of time. This was truly a cruelty you didn’t deserve. Understand that I would change things if I could. I would even go against the GCA’s rules if it wouldn’t potentially doom the entire Earth to destruction.”

Smith paused, a look of pain on his face as he prepared to deliver some news that Hugh was sure would be bad. “Major Logan, when you were placed inside the war core, you were uploaded entirely into the machine. I don’t mean just an interface—I mean your entire being. You are still you, but instead of inhabiting your flesh-and-blood body, you’re inhabiting the war core. Sadly, we don’t know if there’s any way to bring you back to how you were before. I’m sure it’s possible, but it hasn’t happened for anyone yet.”

Hugh didn’t know what to say; they’d just told him he was now a . . . machine. How was this possible? How could they do this to him without his knowledge? How was he going to fix it? The room was quiet as they waited for him to absorb the enormity of what he had just been told. Fury over the situation and how his transformation had occurred filled Hugh, and it took him some time to regain control over his emotions and think clearly. He began to consider what this all meant for him. Sure, he was a bit of a loner and was going nowhere in life, but that didn’t give the government leave to shove him into a machine. The thought prompted a horrifying question.

“Where is my body?” Hugh asked flatly.

“Major Logan . . . Hugh, your body is gone. The war core dissolved it when your transfer was complete,” Nurse Hillman replied. He could see tears in the corners of her eyes, and all the others except for the teenager looked ashamed. His anger flared again, especially at Mr. Smith, who was the one that pulled him from teaching his class and dragged him all the way here.

“How . . . dare . . . you. Is this no longer a free country? What gives you the right to steal a citizen away from his job and kill him so he can play your silly game?” Hugh shouted. The speaker on the table squealed out his voice at max volume, causing everyone to cover their ears in pain.

“Belay that nonsense, soldier!” the admiral shouted back. Unlike the others, he didn’t look remorseful; he looked like any other senior officer chewing out a subordinate. “You just got handed a bad deal, I’ll give you that, but don’t forget that at one point you did raise your right hand and swear to protect this nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. You were a soldier once, if only briefly, and being a soldier means you might just have to give up the most important thing . . . your life. We’re fighting a war against half the damn universe, a war we’re losing. If that means we must sacrifice a soldier to save the entire planet from extinction, so be it,” the admiral finished, his face turning red.

“I didn’t volunteer for this, and I did my time in service and was legally discharged. There’s nothing in my contract that said you can call me up again decades later to kill me,” Hugh replied.

“There most definitely is a way to call you back up, soldier,” the admiral said. “You were an officer. An officer retains their commission unless they resign it, which you never did. An officer can be called up by Congress or the president at their discretion. Take a look at the last page of your orders, soldier. It was signed by the president of the United States himself. You, young man, are most definitely in the Army now. Get it together.”

Hugh didn’t know what to say at this point. He was furious that the government could do this to him, but what were his options? What was he going to do now? Should he sit out in protest, refuse to fight, and try for the conscientious objector angle?

“Now, I know you’re going through a lot, Major. The reason I’m being hard on you is because I’m pissed as well. You see, the last moron the GCA assigned to the United States as a war core was a complete disaster. In their infinite alien wisdom, the GCA assigned us a civilian. He was a top-ranked gamer in some type of game that was supposed to resemble these battles—”

“Real-time strategy. We’ve talked about this before,” the teenage girl, Maddison, blurted out, interrupting the admiral’s statement. The admiral gave her his best military senior officer your life is about to become a living nightmare stare, but the kid just shrugged it off.

“As I was saying,” the admiral continued, “we had high hopes for this whiz kid. Now, for that clown, you can say we were on some shaky legal ground in forcing him into the war core. But the choice then was the same one we faced with you. Do we put the rights of one man above the lives of every human on the planet? You need to understand that our choice was to follow the GCA’s rules or possibly forfeit the entire Earth. So yeah, we violated that kid’s rights to save the world. Instead of ripping the aliens a new one with his game skills, the kid melted down and went psycho, spent an entire week doing nothing but screaming. Eventually, the GCA pulled the plug on him after we forfeited a dozen systems to various races. We were also given a warning: should we get another war core who refused to participate, we would forfeit a quarter of Earth’s systems, which is a loss we wouldn’t come back from. It would open a path directly to our home system. Powerful foes we have no chance of defeating would have an open door to challenge us for control of Earth itself.”

“That wasn’t Derek’s fault. You forced him into something he wasn’t ready for,” Maddison replied angrily.

“Fine, it wasn’t his fault that he was a weak-minded fool. Don’t forget the cost of his actions,” the admiral said. The girl deflated when the admiral mentioned the cost, turning her attention back to her phone. “You see, Major Logan, you did sign up for this, in a way. Sure, it wasn’t what you might have chosen, but if you quit on us now, there is a price to pay. There will be a price to pay even if we fight, but at least by fighting, we can try to mitigate the loss and have a chance to eventually defeat our enemies. The GCA changed war, changed it to protect the rare and valuable planets that were being destroyed by conflict. They didn’t change it to save lives, but to save valuable resources.”

For a moment, the admiral looked to Mr. Smith, who gave him a small nod.

“I should inform you that the Russians sacrificed several hard-fought gains to give us a chance at another war core. They sacrificed lives to have you as a war core. In fact, take a look at what was paid for you to become what you are,” the admiral said, pulling up a video on the display screen.

The image was of rows and rows of combat pods, like the ones here, but Hugh could notice subtle differences. As the camera zoomed in on a combat pod, he saw the Russian flag displayed on the side of it. Pods began to open, and soldiers staggered out. Some were cheering and others just plodded along like zombies, assisted by the nearby techs. Once the soldiers had left and the floor quieted down, several teams of medics carrying stretchers arrived. It was then that Hugh noticed that not all the pods had opened; nearly a dozen remained closed. The techs punched in codes and forced the pods open one by one. Once a pod was open, the medics unhooked the soldier inside, placing him gently on the stretcher. It was obvious to Hugh that the soldiers were dead.

As they were being carried out, several officers stepped into view. The Russian officers had the haggard look of men who had just been through the wringer, and Hugh could see in their eyes that these men had just been in the same fight as the troops who had died. As one, they raised their hands in salute, holding their position until the last soldier was taken away. The lights dimmed as the few remaining techs left, their gruesome task done for the night. In the darkness, a voice sounded softly in Russian. A translation appeared at the bottom of the screen, but somehow Hugh could understand the words, could feel the pain and loss in them. He was hearing the voice of a fellow war core.

“Goodbye, my comrades. Goodbye until we meet again in a better place. The world may never know your sacrifice, but I will remember. I will remember you always, my brothers.”

“That was Valery Akalov you just heard, the Russian war core. That video was after the days-long battle they won to grant America another chance at a war core. Every time we fight, there is a random chance that a soldier commanding one of our mechs will be killed in real life if their unit is destroyed. The GCA doesn’t reveal its methods for determining how and when it happens, but we do know that the casualties are worse when we lose. Much worse.

“That’s why I snapped at you, soldier. That’s why I want you in this fight. You did well in training and have what it takes to lead our efforts. I want you to fight because when you don’t, good men die. When a war core spends a week screaming insanely instead of leading his forces, even more men die. And if our new war core quits before he starts, the Earth dies,” the admiral concluded.

How was Hugh supposed to respond to that? He was still angry over what happened to him, but he knew it wasn’t Mr. Smith or the others behind it all; it was this mysterious GCA. He was a victim. His body had been killed and now his mind was locked into this war core murder box. It wasn’t the fault of Mr. Smith or any of the officers in the room. The others didn’t want to do this to him; they were forced to do it. If he was honest with himself, Hugh realized he would have made the same decision if he were Mr. Smith.

Right now, being angry about his predicament wouldn’t change anything; it could only hurt him as the time before the next battle ticked down, the first of his battles that would really count. As far as he could tell, he had two options: he could try to quit, which would likely result in the GCA killing him for good and possibly dooming Earth in the process, or he could fight. If he quit, that would just mean another person would have to go through the same things that had just happened to him. Between those two options, quitting and fighting, Hugh would fight. Perhaps when they won enough battles, he would discover a way to rebuild his body. If alien tech could allow him to participate in fights across the galaxy, surely they could rebuild his body and plug him back in, couldn’t they?

He wanted the soldiers he fought with to survive the ordeal, and the better he performed, the more he could save. Hugh had been screwed over by the whole galactic system, but he would do what he could to make things right. He didn’t ask for this fight, but he would win it. He would win it to save his fellow soldiers, to honor the sacrifice of the Russians that had given him this chance, and he would win it for even the small chance at a new body. The aliens had foolishly brought this fight to him, and he was determined to make them pay for that mistake.

★

Chapter 7

“Very well, Admiral. Even if it was done against my will, I’m in this fight. We need to get moving. The time is counting down,” Hugh said, noticing they had only twenty minutes remaining before the battle began.

“Good call, soldier. Now, let’s get to work and make these crunchy aliens regret invading,” the admiral said.

“Really? Crunchy? They’re called Krixnas,” Maddison chimed in.

“Hey, if you two are done arguing, maybe somebody can tell me who everyone is and what you’re going to do to help me win?” Hugh asked.

“Good call, Major Logan,” Smith replied. “I’ll do a quick introduction since time is limited. Admiral Nix is the senior military commander for our group. He’ll also join in when a mission requires a naval, space, or marine component. Captain Tran and Captain Cartwright are our infantry and armor commanders. Captain Tremaine is here to help with any missions requiring air power. Maddison was brought on board as a technical advisor. She’ll provide some strategy-related suggestions, given the battles you fight in have some resemblance to various games.”

“Good to meet you all. Now, what’s going to be different in a real battle versus the training missions I just completed?” Hugh asked.

“They will develop pretty much the same as you experienced, save for typically lasting longer and having more units involved. Since both you and the Krixnas core are new, we shouldn’t see anything too crazy for a while,” Smith replied.

“Define ‘crazy.’ What does that entail?” Hugh asked.

Maddison peeked up from the game she was playing on her phone to answer. “How about a multistage battle including air, sea, land, and space elements? Or how about a battle where you work with other war cores from Earth or a free-for-all with several aliens looking to control the same system?”

“I suppose I’ll have some time before we have to deal with that. What about the Krixnas? What kind of creatures are they and how do they fight?” Hugh asked.

“They’re an unknown and we haven’t fought them before,” Smith replied. “Choosing a restricted training program for you as their perk was a bold move on their part and shows some forward thinking. Most cores would grab something that gave them an immediate advantage, such as a starting force of mechs or more resources. This enemy is looking to put a roadblock in front of you and get some early wins. If they win enough battles early on, their new core will have substantial upgrades to make things difficult for us.”

“Don’t forget to mention that we’ll have a better idea of what they look like once you face their infantry mechs. The infantry mechs for a race tend to generally reflect their overall physical appearance,” Captain Tran said.

“That brings up another question. What determines the types of mechs I can build? In my training sessions, I was up against the same types of mechs I was fielding. Who determined the names and abilities of my units?” Hugh asked.

“The GCA pulled that from our world when we were first contacted,” Captain Cartwright said. “It looks like they perused our historical records, and you’ll find that our mechs usually resemble something from around the time of World War II. The explanation we were given was that the equipment from that era had the widest variety of designs that lent themselves well to mech conversion. Somehow, the T-7 was chosen for our level 1 light mech. It resembles the real-world prototype light tank that was developed before the war.”

“Well, that is odd, but it just might make things a little easier for me. If a mech resembles a particular old vehicle, we can deduce where it should fall in our order of battle.” Hugh found that discussing units and vehicles was a good distraction from the emotions he was going through. “What happens if—make that when—we win a battle?”

Maddison looked up from her phone, surprising Hugh as she answered his question. “When that happens, you’ll be given reward points. Once you acquire enough reward points, your core will increase in power. You’re a level 0 now, but at higher levels, you’ll start with more units, more resources, and prebuilt structures. When you win a fight, you’ll also have a chance to receive perks, which you’ll choose from a limited selection of at the end of the fight. In special circumstances, you can sacrifice advantages to get a larger reward. The more complex and dangerous the battle, the greater the reward we can win.” Hugh supposed a gamer would be the perfect person to dig into the details of leveling and loot.

“What happens if we lose?” he asked.

“We take a higher percentage of casualties. Also, we lose control of more space. When everything else is taken, Earth would be up for grabs. Should we lose there, humanity will be erased from the universe and the victors will take our planet. That’s why it’s so important we hold the enemy back. We’ve lost too much already,” Admiral Nix answered.

“Enough questions,” Maddison interjected. “You need to get ready for the battle. You guys even skipped an important part. You skipped the battle parameter negotiations.”

“What negotiations?” Hugh asked.

“Okay, I’ll give you the rundown,” Maddison said. “Before a fight, the two sides offer their preferences for the battle. We don’t know the world that you’ll fight on, but we can negotiate things like max command post level, restrictions on units, or even the availability of resources to an extent. The attacker makes the first bid. Then the defender makes a counter. Sometimes, if things are way off, the GCA will start a second round of bidding, but usually, they end up picking a mix of what the two sides want. The GCA is the one making the final decisions, like they seem to do with everything.” As the clock ticked down, she had put away her phone and was focused on the task at hand.

“Don’t forget to tell him that the war core is the only one allowed in on the negotiations. We can see what you’re doing but can’t advise you once the negotiations start,” Smith added.

“Then what should I ask for in the first battle?” Hugh asked. Strangely, they seemed to defer to Maddison on this question. The gamer kid was more important than Hugh had initially assumed.

“My thoughts are that the Krixnas will try to go big,” she said. “They know from the restricted training that you only have experience with small numbers of low-level troops. Because of that, they’ll try to pull you into a bigger fight with a wider variety of units to confuse you. For our bid, just go as low level on everything as you can, though I would suggest you don’t opt for the no combat pod support option. Our soldier guys are really good at that stuff and will help you out immensely in handling the fighting units.”

“We’ll handle assigning troops and commanders to the combat pods for you,” Admiral Nix added. “Eventually, you’ll get a feel for your subordinates and might want to request specific people for a particular fight, but for now, we’ll match who we think is best.”

The battle timer was down to the last couple of minutes; it was almost time.

“How long will I typically have between battles?” Hugh asked. “So far, it’s been one right after another.”

“It varies, but usually at least a couple of days, sometimes weeks. Once you’re done with this fight, we’ll get a chance to dig more into strategies and what’s worked and failed for Earth’s war cores so far,” Smith said before the countdown reached zero and Hugh found himself pulled somewhere else.

He was in a dimly lit room across a long table from a blurry figure. Somehow, he knew this was a representation generated by the GCA for the “negotiation” before the battle. Text flowed in front of him as the Krixnas first offer came in.

The Krixnas invasion of system es1422 is initiated. The attacker is making the following demands.

Krixnas Demands:

1. A maximum command post level of 10

2. No unit type restrictions

3. No combat pod support

4. A command post starting level of 3

5. Enhanced resource flow

6. Additional starting structures

7. No pre-fight battlefield recon

It was about what Maddison had suggested. Hugh went with her advice to lowball everything in his counteroffer.

Human Demands:

1. A maximum command post level of 0

2. No flying units

3. Combat pod support

4. A command post starting level of 0

5. Limited resource flow

6. No additional starting structures

7. Pre-fight battlefield recon

Hugh wasn’t sure what enhanced resource flow was and guessed it was the amount that normally trickled in for the command post. If that was the case, slowing down the pace of resource accumulation would slow down the battle, giving him time to get up to speed if he was forced to fight against unfamiliar units. Having the chance to look over the battlefield before the fight would be amazing, so he had, of course, chosen the recon option. Knowing the terrain restrictions, dangerous areas, and hopefully even the resources available before the fight began would give him some confidence in his overall strategy for the battle.

The GCA seemed to think about his offer before rendering a decision.

A battle parameter decision has been made. The following restrictions and advantages are implemented for this fight:

1. A maximum command post level of 3

2. No flying units

3. Combat pod support is granted

4. A command post starting level of 1

5. Normal resource flow

6. A level 1 barracks granted to each combatant

7. Pre-fight recon allowed for a restricted time frame of 5 minutes

Battle world selected. You will be fighting on the planet Ryxilin 444. This is a land battle with varied terrain. Your pre-fight reconnaissance will begin when you arrive.

Hugh began to fly through space once more. The experience would have been almost enjoyable if he wasn’t doing it to get to a real battle. After a short time, a world came into view. They were approaching what looked like another destroyed planet, only as he zoomed closer, he saw it wasn’t all destroyed. The selected continent was a wasteland, save for a small patch of green. This green place was to be their battlefield. Arriving at the battlefield, Hugh found he could move about, and the five-minute countdown timer for recon had begun.

Their battlefield was of modest size. If he had to guess, Hugh would say the place was ten miles long and four or five miles wide. With an overall rectangular shape, the battlefield comprised two mirror images of itself. The lush greenery led him to believe it was the work of the GCA, not a naturally occurring phenomenon on the dead world.

The ruins of a small town dominated the center of the map. The buildings were of odd shapes and seemed to be constructed of concrete-like material. Lots of hiding places made this the perfect ground for an infantry fight and a nightmare for unsupported armor. There were no obvious resource gathering stations or caches in view, but Hugh did spot a few crates in the ruins that looked suspiciously like the storage crates used for resources in his prior battle. Making a note of their locations, Hugh found he now had access to an internal battle map where he could jot down descriptions and notes.

The main road ran through the town and had been cleared of debris, but the side streets were mostly blocked with rubble. While he didn’t know the full capabilities of his larger mechs, he assumed they would have trouble traversing the rough ground of the side streets. A forest encircled the city, growing all the way up to the rubble. The forest was only a mile or two thick, and a single narrow road carved through it, ending at the edges. The main road through the city continued from one end of the battlefield to the other.

Toward the edges of the battlefield, the forest thinned and gave way to green rolling hills. Plants resembling weeds and small shrubs dotted the place, and a large flat area at the extreme edge was where the command posts would sit. At this time, there was only a marker on each; the GCA must not have wanted to give anything away about the other race by showing their opponent the shapes of their buildings. Each side had a resource gathering station placed midway between the command post and the start of the forest. Hugh was sure there would be some kind of defensive force to protect it, but for now, it wasn’t revealed.

He almost missed it, but two more indicator flags were placed on each side of the town. Hugh wasn’t sure if this was a resource location or something else, but it was something he would need to investigate as soon as he was able to produce some infantry.

Time was almost up, and Hugh made a final pass over the city, noting any additional resource crates he could find.

War core, prepare for battle.

Time was up, and Hugh was pulled toward one end of the battlefield. He could see that his command post, as well as a barracks, had been pre-built. Interfacing with the command post was beginning to feel natural. The first batch of drones was under construction, and his defensive force was queued to be built after they were done. He was starting with only one hundred resources, a sum he assumed his opponent had to work with as well. Resources dropped to seventy-five as the command post reserved the amount needed for his initial drone fleet.

Knowing they would be important, Hugh queued up another five drones to be built ahead of the defensive force. He didn’t think the enemy would get any combat units over here to attack him that quickly, so delaying his defenders was only a small risk. Having the ability to gather resources faster would be important, given the longer distances his drones would have to walk when returning them to his command post. With the initial buildout started, Hugh reviewed his status.

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 50

Structures:

Command post, level 1 (unit points: 10/200): Upgrade to level 2 requires 500 resources.

Units:

Construction drones: 10/10

Combat units: none

Defensive garrison: 0/10

Other Structures:

Barracks, level 1: The armory addon may be constructed for 100 resources.

Available Structures:

Light mech factory, level 1: This building requires 250 resources to construct.

Signal tower (0/2): A signal tower requires 50 resources to construct.

Hugh had enough resources to build eight infantry mechs; the level 1 versions for this battle required six resources for each. He queued them up, intending to use them for a little recon. It was time to see who these Krixnas were and just what their war core was up to.

★

Chapter 8

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

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

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

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

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

“Negative contact. We started with a level 1 command post and barracks. The level cap for the battle is level 3. There are no air units, and we have normal resources. I did get a quick peek at the battlefield before starting. From our command post area, the main road you see leads through the forest and into a ruined town. The other side of the town is a mirror image of our side. I’ve got you heading toward the nearby resource gathering station to see what kind of defenders it has. Also, there is another unknown point just outside the city that was flagged as critical,” Hugh said, giving the captain a rundown.

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

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

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

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

Combat Pod Settings:

Select a level of autonomy for your combat pod operators:

1. No Control: Operators are observers only in their mechs.

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

3. Full Operator Control: The operator can handle the mech as they like so long as they follow the overall orders given by the war core.

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

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

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

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

The resource station was held by only a trio of infantry mechs. The type of mech once again mirrored his own, save for the fact that the defenders were only level 0. That matched with his last fight, when the point they were fighting over slowly improved its defenses over time, pumping out mechs and defensive turrets.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Uh, sir, you have to assign those orders to us. We’re still keyed to this location,” Tran said.

Oops, Hugh had forgotten that even with the full control option selected, he was still required to order his units where to go. He selected Tran’s main force, ordering it to assault and take whatever was outside the city. Two of the infantry mechs, including one just coming off the assembly line, were being sent to determine the location of the enemy base.

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

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

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

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

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

“Sir, I have eyes on the objective. It looks like a forward base,” Tran called out. Hugh moved his view over and could see what looked like a Vietnam-era firebase. A central concrete bunker held a plain gray flag, indicating the place was neutral, and a series of trenches wound around the base, marking out its roughly square shape. At each corner stood sandbagged bunkers, and Hugh could see movement within them. Defenders, most likely. Walking the trench line on patrol were another ten mechs, all level 1. A system prompt advised Hugh of what he was looking at.

Forward Operating Base, Level 1: The forward operating base provides a strong position for defense and is often found at strategic locations. A forward base has no natural defensive force, and the capturing faction must supply the troops to protect it. The base can be set as a destination for newly produced units, negating the need to manually select and move them into the battle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

★

Chapter 9

Hugh watched the pair of drones struggle a bit to get the oversized resource container into the command post. It was the third they had brought back, and it should give him enough to begin the construction of more buildings. He had ordered up enough infantry to bring the total up to twenty. Tran had his force spread out on Hugh’s side of the ruins. Following the infantry commander’s suggestion, Hugh had detailed off a pair of mechs to cover the forest on either side of the ruined city, just in case the enemy tried to push on the flanks. The other scout had also met an unfortunate end before making it to within sight of the enemy base. While they were setting up their defensive positions, Hugh’s infantry had found another two resource crates, but those were the last to be had on his side of the map. The enemy was likely gobbling up a similar number on their side, so he wasn’t confident enough to push forward into hostile territory just yet.

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 425

Structures:

Command post, level 1 (unit points: 110/200): Upgrade to level 2 requires 500 resources.

Units:

Construction drones: 10/10

Combat Units:

Infantry mechs, level 1: 20

Other Structures:

Barracks, level 1: Armory addon may be constructed for 100 resources.

Available Structures:

Light mech factory, level 1: This building requires 250 resources to construct.

Signal tower (0/2): A signal tower requires 50 resources to construct.

With two more resource crates on their way, Hugh felt confident in upgrading both the light mech factory and adding the armory, curious to see what they unlocked. All his drones, save for a pair recovering the last of the crates, began constructing the mech factory first. The building was double the size of the barracks but still a bit smaller than the level 1 command post.

“Sir, I’ve got movement. Tracking a single tango peeking out the window of a building across the street from us,” one of the soldiers stationed in the city announced. Tran had broken his men up into fire teams of two and spaced them at intervals across the city to prevent any enemy recon units from getting through to their side, which they were apparently now trying to do.

“Weapons free, soldier. We don’t want any looky-loos slipping through our lines,” Tran ordered. Hugh moved his view over to the fire team that had spotted the enemy. He couldn’t find the alien the sharp-eyed soldier had spotted. The city was destroyed, but many of the structures were still at least partially standing. Unusual hexagonal window openings were placed here and there on undamaged sections of buildings. A pair of blasts from his infantry mech’s rifles lashed into one of the openings, and in the brief flash of weapons fire, Hugh made out the swirling mass of tentacles that served as a head for the enemy mechs.

“Tango down. Displacing,” the soldier advised. The fire team moved back from the line of sight, shifting over to another section of the building and then lying prone in their new position, continuing to observe through a chunk of missing wall. By not staying in the same place, the teams made it harder for the enemy to lock down their position. Hugh wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to check out an enemy mech more closely, so he pulled one of his drones from construction duty to gather the wrecked Krixnas infantry mech. Every point of salvage was critical.

Twice more the enemy probed their defenses in the city before giving up on the effort. Each time they only used a single mech. The right side of the forest was also probed; the close-range fight in the woods cost both sides an infantry mech. Tran had given up on probing the enemy through the forest after their first surprise encounter and had convinced Hugh to stay on the defensive for now. Hugh queued up replacements for his losses; they wouldn’t dip too far into his resources yet, given the minimal casualties he had suffered so far.

His attention was drawn back from the skirmishing when his light mech factory was completed. He pulled up the information to see what he could build.

Light Mech Factory, Level 1:

Construction Options:

T-7 Light Reconnaissance Mech: A simple, lightly armored mech, the T-7 features a heavy infantry weapon of .50 caliber. The weapon can penetrate light armor and does well against all soft targets. Reasonably fast, the T-7 can outpace other infantry of its level, letting it exploit gaps in defensive lines and run amok in rear areas. Unable to stand excessive punishment, the T-7 is best kept away from heavier enemy mechs. The T-7 requires 25 resources to construct and uses 25 of your unit points.

With the infantry and drones, Hugh was using 110 of his available 200 points. He also only had eighty-one resources remaining until the next crate was delivered. Playing it safe, he ordered up two of the light mechs, giving him a small reserve of unit points and conserving resources in case the infantry upgrades from the armory required them. As for the armory building itself, the drones were already taking down one wall of the barracks and extending the foundation for the armory. It should go up a bit faster than the light mech factory.

Pushing his view into the factory, Hugh was hypnotized by the process of building a mech. Blocks of resources made their way down the line, passing through the robotic arms with their various tools. The shape of a hull came into being, with an empty turret ring on top, along with attachment points on either side for the legs. At the midpoint of the assembly line, the turret and weapon were crafted and installed. Hugh could see that the .50-caliber heavy machine gun resembled the venerable M2 Browning weapon. He almost laughed at the sight. Ma Deuce was being reborn in a space-age mech. At the end of the assembly line, the mech was raised on a platform as the pair of armored, birdlike legs were attached.

The power source on the mech fired up—he wasn’t sure how it was powered or exactly how the weapons functioned—and the machine stomped its way out of the factory. While he wasn’t expecting the light mech to be built as quickly as the infantry mechs, he was pleasantly surprised the entire process took only twice as long from start to finish.

“Major Logan, this is Captain Cartwright. I have control of the mech and am awaiting orders, sir,” Cartwright said. Hugh’s armor commander was finally able to join the fight. Hugh sent him over a copy of the map and their current disposition of forces.

“Welcome to the fight, Captain Cartwright,” Hugh said. “You can see we have a thin line of infantry just inside our half of the city and a couple of listening posts in the woods. Before we take the fight to the enemy, I would like to take control of the forward base I have marked on your map. What do you figure their garrison strength is, Captain Tran?”

“I’d say anywhere from fifteen to twenty infantry mechs, same level and type as our units. They have good cover, but without live soldiers controlling them from combat pods, they’ll only be marginally effective,” Tran replied.

“Can we take it with a pair of T-7s and most of the infantry?” Hugh asked.

“It’s not a sure thing, but I think we have a good chance, as long as they don’t have any heavy weapons hidden away in the bunkers that we can’t see. My only concern is that the enemy will hit us mid-battle and roll up our forces,” Cartwright advised.

“I think it’s a risk we have to take. We need that forward base to help hold back an enemy push. We’ll hit the base and then Captain Tran can send his surviving mechs back into the city to hold the line while I build replacements,” Hugh ordered, marking the objective for all the appropriate forces. He kept the pairs of mechs in the forest on watch; it would take a while for them to make their way into the city and he didn’t want to leave the flanks hanging in the wind if he could help it. Two light mechs and sixteen infantry would have to be enough.

By the time the planning was done and the infantry was in place, Cartwright’s second T-7 was built and ready to go. The light mechs held just out of range to the south of the forward base, while the infantry waited at the edge of the ruins to the north. There wasn’t a magnetic north here on the battle world, so Hugh had just arbitrarily assigned the side of the map with the enemy base as north and his side as south. Leading off the attack would be the light mechs, and once they held the defenders’ attention, the infantry would strike. Defenders that were not controlled by a combat pod tended to get fixated on a target and didn’t react well to surprises.

“Sir, we’re going in,” Cartwright said. “I’ll try to outrange them with the .50-cal, but in my experience, a fortified position like the forward base can increase the range of any defenders inside. Don’t ask me how it works or how that’s even possible, but it does happen.”

The two light mechs began to move in on the forward base. Defenders patrolling the trenches reacted to the attack, several lining up to fire while others moved in to reinforce the sandbagged bunkers. Earlier, he had noticed movement inside the bunkers, and now it appeared each was already manned by a pair of infantry mechs. It looked like the bunkers could hold around six infantry without them getting in each other’s way.

The T-7 mechs entered range and began to bang out rounds from their main guns. While categorized as a heavy machine gun, the weapon was anything but rapid-fire. Upgrades must be needed to make them full auto. For now, the single rounds were accurate and devastating to any infantry they hit. Return fire began to streak in at the mechs; the defenders did appear to have some kind of range enhancement for being inside the fortified position. The hope that his mechs could sit outside the enemy’s range and pick off the defenders one by one was dashed.

Hugh watched as the occasional round from the defending infantry pinged off the light mech armor. Each hit left a scorch mark and burned off some of the thin armor plating protecting the vehicles. Cartwright and his men handled the light mechs well, always moving and changing directions at random to throw off the enemy’s targeting. They would stop only briefly to fire; the mechs’ strange gait made firing at extreme range while moving almost impossible. Damage was mounting on his mechs when the infantry emerged to join the fight. With the majority of the defenders focused on the light mechs, only the pairs of infantry mechs in the two northernmost bunkers were firing on them.

Two of Captain Tran’s infantry were down by the time his forces entered range to return fire. Volleys of rifle fire were aimed at the two corner bunkers. Each hit would rip open a sandbag, but the defenders were too well dug in to be taken out by infantry fire alone. If they only had a few antitank rockets, they could take this place with little trouble. Four more infantry mechs were out of action by the time the survivors made it to the trench line. His infantry hopped over the low wall protecting the trench and began to clear their way toward the bunkers.

Without grenades, the only option was to charge in. The first infantry mech into each bunker was blasted apart by the two defenders, allowing the following troops to clean up the remainder while they waited uselessly for their weapons to recharge. Captain Tran was down to eight effectives, but so far, the other defenders hadn’t reacted to their presence. Sending four soldiers down each side of the trench, Tran approached the distracted defenders while the light mechs continued to soak up damage.

With a crash, one of the T-7s stumbled to the ground; a leg had been damaged too much to hold up its armored bulk any longer. The gun was still in play and continued to fire at the defenders, but it wouldn’t last long; it took the brunt of the remaining defenders’ fire. To their credit, the light mechs had not only held the enemy’s attention this whole time, but they had also taken out a half dozen of the defenders. The heavy .50-caliber rounds were pretty much a guaranteed one-shot kill on infantry when they hit.

A flurry of shots from the bunkers rang out as Tran’s men charged in, engaging the defenders inside. Cartwright pushed his light mech forward, and once it reached the trench line, the main gun depressed and took aim at any functioning enemy units still inside the trench. The T-7 didn’t have a line of sight into the bunkers, but Tran’s forces were clearing them out without too much difficulty.

You have captured a forward base. This location can now be designated as the rally point for all newly created mechs. Once a new mech is built, it will automatically move to this point, joining the defenders as it waits for further orders. Units positioned inside the fortified bunkers have their primary weapons range enhanced by 25%. The forward base provides 50 additional unit points.

They had done it, but the cost had been high. Only three of Tran’s infantry mechs survived the battle, and one of the T-7s was a mobility casualty. Thankfully, it was showing as repairable, which would use up fewer resources than having to build one again from scratch. The fortifications inside the forward base had also taken a beating, requiring more of his precious resources if he wanted the place to operate at its full potential.

In the plus column, the fortified position was his, and along with it were two large crates of resources hidden inside the central command bunker. Hugh had another five drones built, assigning them to the forward base. They would begin repairs on the T-7s first. Then some would bring back resources, including all the casualties. Once that was done, they would begin repairs on the base itself.

The last of the large crates that had been hidden inside the ruins arrived while the battle was underway, giving him something to work with. Resources continued to flow in from the command post and the resource gathering station, though the resource station would run dry at some point. His resources sat at 137 right now, enough to begin replacing the lost infantry mechs. After setting the forward base as the rally point for his army, Hugh took a look at the newly created armory.

Armory, Level 1:

Standard Infantry Mech Upgrades:

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

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

The following upgrades require an active light mech factory:

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

Hugh wanted everything, of course, but he only had enough remaining resources to select one upgrade. Of the three choices, he believed that a higher rate of fire would be the most beneficial in the short run. Even with enhanced armor, he didn’t think his units would be able to go toe to tentacle with the Krixnas in melee. Targeting on his units was already acceptable, but a bonus would be nice. Yes, improved heat sinks and their better rate of fire were the right choice.

Improved heat sink mechanism selected.

Hugh assigned one of the drones tasked with repairing the base to upgrade his existing infantry mechs. With only seven remaining functional, it shouldn’t take the drone long, except for the travel time to each unit. He looked at the new infantry mech that was just coming out of the factory and heading to the forward base. Its weapon looked the same as the others, so the differences were all internal. That was good; any visible cues would tip off an enemy to where he was placing his resources.

“Sir, we’ve got company. I’m detecting multiple enemy infantry mechs heading up the main road. Trying to get a count,” Captain Tran advised. Hugh moved his view over to the mech that was watching the approaching force. A half dozen of the disturbing-looking infantry were scuttling forward using the road. Additional movement in the nearby rubble let him know the enemy was also filtering in more troops by using the rubble to try and cover their movements.

“Get a load of that nightmare, sir,” Tran said with disgust as something new heaved into view. Behind the main infantry, a worm-shaped mech the size of a work van was approaching. Unlike the infantry, this thing was propelled by thousands of tiny metal protrusions undulating beneath it. The mech would occasionally lurch forward with a burst of speed but then slow down to allow the infantry to remain in front. The front of the worm mech was just like the infantry, a mass of glowing tentacle-like appendages, only these were more than double the length of those on its smaller kin. His troops were about to face the Krixnas version of a light mech.

★

Chapter 10

“Sergeant Mendez, your pod is a go. Button up, soldier,” Admiral Nix ordered over the commlink. Mendez was still not sure he liked this whole operation being under some Navy officer, but so far, Admiral Nix had left them alone when it came to ground engagements. The technician assisting him attached the last few connections on his immersion suit. Designed by the aliens and manufactured here on Earth, the suit was uncomfortable and tight in all the wrong places. Thankfully, once he was plugged into his combat pod, he felt his mech, not the suit.

“Give ’em hell, Sergeant,” the technician said as the lid on the pod slowly sealed him in. Before the pod closed completely, Mendez reached out and tapped the unit badge he had painted on the side of the pod for good luck. The blue, red, and yellow triangular badge of the First Armored Division stood out against the flat gray paint scheme of the pods. He had positioned the badge over the row of green activation lights on his pod so it shone on the words Old Ironsides, the name of his division.

Connection established with combat pod a179. The combat pod operator is identified as Sergeant Mendez. This operator maintains ratings for infantry mechs as well as for light, medium, and heavy mechs. Synching occupant to light mech, type T-7, unit designation 03.

Soldier, prepare for battle.

Mendez felt the transition into his mech. Whereas before there was only the uncomfortable immersion suit and darkness, now he could see through the vision ports of his mech. The T-7 was stomping its way down a road. He could see it had been following orders to move to a forward base that was out of view. Spinning the torso around, Mendez spotted the command post behind him. A solitary infantry mech left the barracks and began to move in the same direction. Off to his left, a resource gathering station was pumping away, a pair of drones waiting for the station to fill resource crates they would carry back to the command post.

The road he was on cut through a forested area, and in the distance, he could see the ruins of some alien city. A hundred yards ahead of him, another infantry mech marched its way toward the rally point. Mendez couldn’t tell if they were replacing losses or if the new war core was building up for a big push.

“Mech 03, proceed down the road but stop at the edge of the forest,” Captain Cartwright said. “I’m sending a map overlay to show you what’s going on, as well as a link to our Blue Force tracker. We just captured a forward base outside the city and the Krixnas are making a push to take it from us. We have a few infantry mechs in the city, delaying them until the replacement infantry can arrive. Our latest count pegs the enemy force at twelve to fifteen hostile infantry and a single light mech. When they deal with our screen and attack the base, I need you to hit them hard in the flank. Got it, Sergeant?”

“Roger that, sir. I’ll be ready to engage on your command,” Mendez replied.

He took some time to review the map, watching as the icons for the three infantry mechs that were delaying the enemy went dark one by one. The forward base was positioned between the forest and the city, with good fields of fire. Sadly, there wasn’t much to defend the base in the way of infantry. A single infantry mech was stationed in each of the bunkers facing the north, from where the enemy was approaching. Hunkered down in the center of the base was the captain’s T-7; a drone was just now finishing up repairs on it. In the open space to the south, another light mech was being repaired, and it looked like the work was almost complete.

The only reinforcements he could see consisted of a single mech just now entering the base from the south and the infantry mech in front of him. Whether the other infantry mechs behind him would make it on time was unknown. Pulling up his mech specs, he could see he was in a barebones version. The T-7 was armed with only a .50-caliber main gun and didn’t have the hull-mounted light machine gun upgrade this mech usually sported.

Mendez pulled up his favorite interface configuration for this type of mech, not that there was much to do with the basic version. His main modification to the standard T-7 interface was a green icon reading up, which he placed in the center of his view, letting him know when the main gun was ready to fire. Ammunition selection was grayed out; only one type was available: a standard shot. The damage-control icons were pushed to the side. From his previous experience, the mandatory pain feedback was a better indicator of damage than a flashing light.

The infantry mech in front of him cut through the forest to make its approach on the base. Mendez held his mech back a few yards from where the clearing around the city started, keeping out of the enemy’s line of sight until he was ordered into the fight. Behind him, infantry mechs were strung out along the road in intervals determined by how fast the factory could produce them. With the sound of a pair of T-7 main guns firing in the distance, Mendez realized the fight was on.

“Engage the enemy flank. Roll them up, Mendez,” the captain ordered. Mendez fed power to his mech’s legs, walking it into the clearing before turning right and heading toward the swarm of enemy mechs assaulting the base. It looked like the second T-7 was back in the fight, limping its way into the base on a partially repaired leg. Nothing was wrong with its main gun, though, as the next round it sent blasted apart one of the enemy infantry mechs.

“What are those things, sir? Are the Krixnas going for the ugliest aliens award?” Mendez asked, disgusted by the tentacle-faced foe. If this was their mech form, he didn’t want to meet a live one in a dark alley. Every few seconds, the enemy infantry would fire a small laser-like blast from a random tentacle, but the fire was ineffective against the fortified position.

The captain and the other light mech were picking off the enemy one by one as the three infantry mechs now protecting the base tried to fend off the attack. He was just entering main gun range when the enemy light mech made its appearance. The van-sized mech moved toward the forward base before turning to observe him. At least he thought it was observing him. The things didn’t really have a face to speak of.

“Looks like this one wants to dance, Captain. I’m engaging the enemy light mech,” Mendez advised as the enemy mech began to surge forward on its mess of little legs. Stopping his mech to get a stable firing platform, Mendez lined up his shot at the center of the swirling tentacles. The main gun thumped, and Mendez could feel the slight recoil as his first shot hit a bit off-center. His round blasted off a face tentacle and lodged itself somewhere in the enemy’s lightly armored body. Mendez got back in motion, closing with the approaching enemy mech until his main gun was ready to fire once again.

“Keep your distance and engage from range, Mendez. These Krixnas seem to like melee, and our mechs aren’t designed for that,” the captain ordered.

Mendez acknowledged the command and began to turn the mech around, keeping the turret facing his target. The enemy mech was faster than his, and he had inadvertently helped it close the distance between them.

As soon as the green up indicator lit, Mendez stopped his turn, taking aim and firing off another blast of the main gun. This time, he hit the enemy machine’s worm-like body. A few sparks and some smoke let him know the round had penetrated, but it didn’t destroy anything critical or hamper the monster’s movement in any way. Mendez completed his turn and began to retreat, trying to keep away from the glowing tentacles of the enemy light mech. To make things worse, a pair of enemy infantry mechs also peeled off from the main attack, heading in his direction.

The pair of infantry mechs fired, one shot going wide and hitting the enemy light mech while the second hit the hull of his T-7. Despite the hull being armored, the enemy infantry weapon nearly burned its way through. Their equivalent of an infantry rifle was powerful, if not very accurate. He had just completed his turn and began to move away when the enemy mech caught up to him. His mech lurched from the impact, the leg actuators squealing in protest as they tried to compensate for the weight of the enemy.

Glowing tentacles wrapped around the armored hull of his mech. Alloy melted and sizzled wherever the tentacles touched, slowly boring toward the critical machinery protected by the thin armored shell. Mendez screamed in pain as what his mech was experiencing was transferred to him. It felt as if his stomach was on fire and the enemy was melting away his flesh, not the armored skin of his mech. Trying to fight through the debilitating pain, Mendez focused on depressing the main gun so he could bring it to bear. He fired another round that punched its way into the enemy mech at point-blank range. He knew he wasn’t going to get another shot, as a stray tentacle melted off the end of his main gun, rendering it inoperable.

The frantic movements of the enemy mech began to die down as the last shot fired by Mendez finally did some serious damage to his foe. Pain still burned through his body, then intensified as one of the leg joints on his mech snapped under the pressure. The mech wavered and began to fall. This was his twelfth mission against various alien invaders and the first in a long time where he wasn’t under the command of a screaming lunatic. There was no way he was going to go out of the fight without a kill under his belt.

Using all the skill he had acquired by driving around giant metal monsters, Mendez maneuvered his fall so the front of his mech came down onto the worm-like body of the still functional enemy mech. Mendez aimed the half-melted main gun at the center of its body. The hardened alloy of the weapon barrel punched through the enemy mech’s armor, driving deep into the monster like a spear.

The enemy mech gave a shudder and finally stilled, taken out of the fight. Looking back toward the forward base, he could see the limping T-7 mech was down for good this time, but the enemy was pulling back, leaving behind ten destroyed infantry mechs in their wake. Despite limited infantry support, the captain’s pair of light mechs had torn the enemy apart. They had lost one of their own light mechs and all but one of their infantry mechs, but they had held the base. For some reason, the captain turned his weapon toward Mendez and began to fire, the first shot coming dangerously close.

“What are you doing, Captain Cartwright? Cease fire. The enemy mech is down and mine will be back in the fight after some repairs,” he called out.

“I’m not aiming at you. Keep still,” Cartwright said as he fired once more. The round passed within a foot of his mech and gave off a metallic clang as it hit something. Trying to turn his view around, Mendez could just make out the shape of an enemy infantry mech rolling off his T-7; a smoking hole had been blown through it by the heavy machine gun round the captain had fired. He had forgotten about the two infantry that had been taking potshots at him earlier. The burning pain started again in the back of his head as the second infantry mech tore off a damaged armor plate and began to burrow its way deep into his machine. His vision faded just as another main gun round shattered his attacker.

★

In the darkened floor of the undersea base, a low chatter was heard from the soldiers waiting for their call to join the fight. Technicians moved about, ensuring the combat pods were in working order, and guided the soldiers to their assigned units. It wouldn’t do to have a tanker jump into an infantry pod or vice versa. It was a carefully orchestrated event at this point, the participants well-trained in their tasks.

Each infantry soldier could, in a pinch, handle multiple infantry mechs at the same time. Fortunately, there were more than enough available pods, and the main floor was only one of several; the others were placed deeper underground. This base housed only one of the country’s pod farms. Two other locations around the country held pods reserved for larger engagements, and there was more capacity than they had ever needed in a battle so far. Other countries that didn’t have their own war cores often contributed infantry soldiers when larger actions occurred. While humans couldn’t build a war core on their own, they could build combat pods. They required a connection to the war core, but the satellite network that had been placed by the GCA allowed them to connect remotely from anywhere on the planet.

As the battle currently underway progressed, the pods would be disconnected when an operator’s mech was destroyed. Usually, the operator was placed in a queue to control the next mech of a similar type. Sometimes, the GCA determined that a soldier was a casualty in the conflict, and they would perish, alone inside their pod, their bodies awaiting removal at the end of the battle.

In the dim light of the combat pod bay, the green indicator lights on the side of pod a179 blinked once before turning red.

★

Chapter 11

“Looks like we’ve pushed them back. Good work, everyone. Let’s build up our forces again and see if we can take the initiative from the enemy,” Hugh said over comms to his soldiers. The fight for the forward base had been costly; only a single battered T-7 and one infantry mech had survived. His continuing stream of replacements making their way over from the command post would refill the ranks before too long. While they had suffered losses, the destroyed mechs from both sides of the conflict were his for the taking and would provide a nice boost to his resources.

Hugh took some time to reorganize his drones. After some experimentation, it seemed they worked best in squads of five. Any more than that assigned to a larger task, such as building a new structure, made the units get in each other’s way, causing them to work inefficiently. On gathering tasks, the drones would work fine independently, but tasking an entire squad of drones would ensure the area was harvested more efficiently.

With fifteen drones currently in operation, Hugh considered building another squad of them, but he had a feeling he would need all the unit points he could scrounge up for his combat mechs. Instead, he reorganized what he had, tasking a squad to stay at the resource gathering station, where they moved the supply containers back to the command post for processing. A squad would stay at the command post so he could build and upgrade structures without waiting for the drones to make their way over from some other task. His drones weren’t the fastest in long-distance travel, and that was a defect he hoped would improve with future upgrades.

A full squad of drones was assigned to the forward base. Initially, they would repair any damaged mechs and structures before salvaging the destroyed mechs strewn about after the battle. It was a long way back to the command post from the forward base, so he instead set the resource gathering station as a drop-off location. The drones at the forward base would drag the salvaged mechs to the resource station and then return to the forward base. His squad of drones at the resource station would haul the salvage back to the command post.

Resources were flowing in at a nice pace, so Hugh set his factories to automatically replace any losses. He settled in to wait as resources flowed in and mechs were rebuilt. Once he got to ten infantry mechs, Captain Tran asked to push out into their previous positions in the city, providing a line of defense that was strong enough to push back enemy recon teams but would fall back to the defenses of the forward base if things got too hot. Hugh would need to go on the offensive at some point, but to do that, he needed to know what the enemy was up to.

“Captain Tran, what are our chances of sending some infantry mechs through to get a peek at what the enemy is doing?” Hugh asked.

“Normally, I would advise we slip a team in, but without any recon-specialized units, I think we risk the chance of feeding our forces to the enemy piecemeal,” Tran replied. “I don’t want to give them any free kills and salvage. The best option would be to push through the city in force, one block at a time.”

“My T-7 mechs aren’t much use in the city but can help with any strongpoints the enemy has set up,” Captain Cartwright added. It was true that infantry was the king of city fighting, but having supporting armor would make a difference.

“Alright, I’m bumping up our total infantry force to thirty mechs and we’ll stay at three T-7s, which will nearly max out my unit points,” Hugh said. “I would like to save resources for upgrades but can delay it if you think we’ll need more troops than I’ve already assigned for the push.”

“I always want more, but those numbers will give us enough firepower to test the enemy defenses. Let’s leave five infantry in the forest on each flank. That will keep the enemy honest and slow down any large push, giving us time to react,” Tran offered. It made sense, so Hugh tasked the next infantry mechs coming off the line to reinforce the flanks, bringing each side up to a total of five. That left him with twenty for the fight in the city, along with his three light mechs.

Even though it would eat into his limited resource pool, Hugh went ahead and upgraded the infantry with the basic targeting package and the improved armor upgrade. Hopefully, the improvements would limit casualties in the coming fight. While he waited for the rest of the infantry to come off the assembly line, he had the drones stationed at the forward base upgrade his existing infantry. He prioritized the infantry that would participate in the assault. Once the assault team was upgraded, the drones would head into the forest and upgrade the forces there. Having a separate drone squad dedicated solely to upgrades would be a must-have in larger conflicts. The drones went about their tasks as, one by one, fresh infantry and replacement light mechs were turned out by his factories.

The enemy had stopped their random reconnaissance probes; the tactic had cost them more than it gained. Hugh wondered what the Krixnas were up to but wasn’t willing to sacrifice his infantry to find out. His opponent still hadn’t made any moves by the time his assault force was ready to move out. Hugh set their first objective as a line directly in the middle of the city, where a cross street cut the city in half east to west. His forces moved in a rough line, the pace slow as they cleared each building they passed, not wishing for one of the horrifying Krixnas mechs to pop out at them unexpectedly.

Just as the infantry stepped off in groups of five, the Krixnas made their appearance. It was only a couple of their infantry units. Fired from the rubble, the inaccurate beams from their tentacled faces did little damage. Hugh’s forces flushed them out from a distance; there was no reason or desire to close to melee range with the creatures. The light mechs proved they were still useful in the close confines of the city. When a Krixnas infantry mech began to fire, a light mech would respond and blast away the enemy cover. Their heavy .50-caliber rounds were able to punch through the concrete-like material the city was made from, killing or suppressing any infantry mechs hiding inside.

They reached their objective without any serious opposition, having killed off a half dozen Krixnas for a loss of only one of their own. The enemy light mechs hadn’t shown themselves, but having already faced one, Hugh knew that more were likely out there. It also appeared that his hasty recon before the fight hadn’t located all the available resources. His infantry that had been searching the rubble for holdout Krixnas discovered three more of the large crates. His drones from the forward base were ordered to stop what they were doing and gather the precious materials. It wouldn’t do to have an enemy counter-push take them.

“Sir, if I were the enemy, I’d make a counterattack to stop our advance. It might be best if we hold up here, where we have good cover and open lines of fire for our units,” Captain Cartwright suggested. Tran agreed, and that convinced Hugh to pause his advance. With the recent windfall of resources and the salvaged mechs, he was up to 547 resources. His command post and the resource station were still producing, while the last few salvaged mechs would also be brought in. Confident he would have at least a little left over after the upgrade, Hugh activated his drones and ordered them to begin construction of a level 2 command post.

This time, the building stayed the same size and instead the drones focused on the area around the command post. They also implemented some improvements to the machinery and comms gear inside. Around the perimeter of the command post, the drones began construction of a low wall. The wall comprised the same concrete material the city had been constructed of and would provide at least some cover from small arms fire. A single large metallic gate was placed in the middle of the north wall, providing access to the command post area. His new wall encompassed all the buildings he had constructed and allowed for some future expansion. Hugh pulled up the current battle status, glad to see he could now upgrade his other buildings.

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 86

Structures:

Command post, level 2 (unit points: 240/350): Upgrade to level 3 requires 750 resources.

Units:

Construction drones: 15/15

Defensive Units:

Infantry mechs: 15/15

Combat Units:

Infantry mechs, level 1: 30/30

Light mech, level 1: 3/3

Other Structures:

Barracks, level 1, with armory addon: The barracks may be upgraded to level 2 for a cost of 250 resources.

Light mech factory, level 1, with machine shop addon: The light mech factory may be upgraded to level 2 for a cost of 350 resources.

Available Structures:

Signal tower (0/3): A signal tower requires 50 resources to construct and provides an additional 50 unit points.

His upgrade to the level 2 command post had an unexpected benefit: his drones were working a bit faster than before. Drone movement speed was now on par with his infantry mechs, and if he wasn’t mistaken, there were even more strange tools attached to their bodies. Another five defensive mechs came off the line, thankfully not costing him any additional resources or unit points. Once built, the defenders spread out along the three sides of the wall that were open to enemy attack—the southern wall was up against the zone boundary and couldn’t be attacked. The defensive wall came up to chest height on the infantry drones, allowing them to fire over the top while maintaining some cover.

After the upgrade, he didn’t have enough resources to also improve the barracks, instead opting to bump up his total number of infantry mechs, which looked like they were going to do the heavy lifting in this fight. While they only required five unit points, his upgraded infantry mechs did take seven resources to build.

“Captain Tran, I’ve queued up another ten infantry for you,” Hugh advised. “That, as well as upgrading the command post to level 2, has pretty much wiped out our resources for now.”

“Roger that, sir. Assign them here to the city, if you could. That will thicken our line a bit if the enemy hits back. Maybe the next batch can be used to strengthen our forces in the forest. That will be our weak spot,” Tran replied. Hugh did as the captain asked, assigning the ten new infantry mechs to the force holding the center of town.

“Contact, sir. Enemy probing the eastern forest,” one of the soldiers holding that area reported. Hugh shifted his viewpoint and could see the unmistakable shapes of Krixnas infantry scuttling toward his infantry in the thick forest. His forces opened up on the enemy, scoring hits and taking down a pair before they were forced to pull back as more and more of the enemy infantry emerged.

“We’re getting overrun!” the soldier called out in panic as the enemy swarmed around the defenders’ flanks. The Krixnas were faster and better at navigating the forest than Hugh’s units. The enemy war core had leveled up its infantry forces, and their newfound speed and maneuverability made Hugh wonder what the Krixnas homeworld was like. Had they evolved to live in a forested area?

“Contact in the western forest. Enemy infantry in strength. Falling back,” a soldier to the west advised. While the infantry mechs had some flexibility in movement, they couldn’t leave the area they were assigned to. Hugh ordered them back to the forward base. It was no use letting them get overrun.

“Sir, we’ll need to fall back as well unless we want our main forces cut off,” Tran said. Though Hugh hated to do so since they had finally started to advance, he ordered them back to the forward base as well. They would make their stand there, using the newly repaired fortifications to their advantage.

The main force made it back to the forward base without incident. Hugh had been worried the Krixnas would try to strike the flank of the main army as it retreated, but at least for now, they seemed content to stay in the forest and pursue the fleeing infantry stationed there. He lost all five mechs on the eastern flank and three of the five on the west. Enemy numbers were unknown—it was hard to count them in the thick trees—but if he had to guess, there were thirty or more on either side.

Infantry mechs moved into the trench line of the forward base. Captain Tran stationed four in each of the corner bunkers, and the rest were placed evenly around the base. His three T-7 mechs stood in the center of the base, their turrets slowly spinning while the operators looked for targets.

“We’ve got a strong defensive position, and with our accuracy advantage, we should be able to stop an infantry assault cold,” Captain Tran announced as the last of his infantry settled in. Movement was seen in the tree line, and a couple of enemy infantry mechs broke from the cover of the forest, heading toward the city. It looked like they were going to try and surround his forces.

With a crack, the main gun on one of the T-7s fired, the round blowing apart the body of an enemy infantry mech as it tried to hide in the rubble of the city. Hugh detected more movement to the south as the enemy closed the circle around the forward base. Was there some kind of siege mechanic to these battles he wasn’t aware of?

“What are they up to?” Captain Cartwright asked. They were all confused, as they could detect enemy movement all around them, but there was enough cover that they couldn’t tell where the Krixnas might be massing for an attack.

“I’m not sure, but they’re taking their time with attacking us,” Tran replied. Movement at the edge of the forest caught Hugh’s attention. Streaming out of the southern edge were dozens of Krixnas infantry. They hadn’t been taking time to set up an attack on the forward base; they had bypassed it and used the forest for cover while they set up an attack on his command post.

Nearly sixty Krixnas infantry mechs clattered their way toward him, and the only thing standing in their way was a short wall protected by fifteen AI-controlled defensive mechs.

★

Chapter 12

“Fall back and defend the command post!” Hugh shouted as he changed unit orders, sending the faster T-7 mechs as well as the majority of the infantry back to defend the command post against the horde of Krixnas. Trying not to panic, he resisted sending everything back and left a force of ten infantry mechs behind to hold the forward base. The light mechs moved out on their birdlike legs as fast as they could go. The infantry was slower, but they also began to head in the right direction.

“I don’t know if we’ll make it in time, sir. Maybe the light mechs will, but it’ll be over one way or another by the time the infantry arrives,” Captain Cartwright said, frustration evident in his voice. Hugh didn’t reply, embarrassed and angry at himself for being outmaneuvered by the foe. He had assumed the enemy would fight a set-piece battle, capturing every strong point along the way. The Krixnas were alien and looked like some Lovecraftian insect creatures, but their strange appearance didn’t mean they were mindless. He had underestimated the enemy, but would he survive to make amends?

A half dozen enemy infantry scuttled over to capture the resource gathering station as they passed by, adding insult to injury. His defensive infantry mechs at the command post were controlled by whatever AI the GCA had allocated to them. The AI wasn’t very good, but it didn’t take a tactical genius to stand behind a wall and shoot. Thankfully, the defenders all reported to the northern wall, the direction from which the enemy was approaching. Hugh had been worried they would stay spread around the perimeter, weakening his defense.

His light mechs moved down the road at their top speed, but the battle would be well underway before they arrived. Victory or defeat would depend on how long the defenders could hold back the tide. He waited impatiently as the enemy infantry closed in. The first volleys from his defending infantry mechs lashed out as they entered into range. A pair of the enemy tumbled to the ground, the others not stopping as the advance continued. The second volley was more accurate as the enemy continued to close the distance. A half dozen Krixnas fell, then eight, then another ten before they made it to the wall and climbed over. The wall itself proved to be only a small impediment to the six-legged monstrosities.

His defenders had time for a final volley before the enemy met them in melee. The glowing tentacles that made up the Krixnas heads lashed out, grabbing onto and melting the alloy his infantry units were constructed of. His forces were overwhelmed at close range, unable to bring their weapons to bear as they were dismantled by the foe. When the last defender fell, the creatures all homed in on the command post building, ignoring the barracks and light mech factory.

Remembering that his opponent had the benefit of a full tutorial, Hugh assumed that losing his command post meant he would lose the battle. Glowing appendages from the Krixnas slammed into his command post, melting and crushing their way through the reinforced structure. In only a few seconds, breaches were made, and the monsters poured in, smashing machinery and comms gear as they went. His valiant construction drones arrived to try and repair the damage, only to be destroyed by the relentless enemy.

Hugh began to feel pain all over his nonexistent body. Each lash of a Krixnas tentacle wrecked not only the structure but a part of himself. Looking in the distance, Hugh could see the three T-7s; they were still too far away to intervene in his torture. The ability to focus left him as the searing pain became his whole world. He screamed and could faintly hear his commanders shouting in response, his mind too addled to make out what they were saying. The pain reached a crescendo, and Hugh stood on the brink of pain-inflicted madness when it all stopped.

You have been defeated. The Krixnas invasion of system es1422 will enter the second phase. Post-battle calculations are commencing.

Reward Point Calculations:

Base reward: 25 points

Victory bonus: none

Observation bonus: none

Total points awarded: 25

War Core Termination Calculation:

Base chance for termination: 0.0001%

Failure penalty: active

Multiple loss penalty: none

Effectiveness rating: poor

Effectiveness penalty: inactive for the first 3 battles the war core participates in

Observer rating: poor

Observer rating penalty: inactive for the first 3 battles the war core participates in

Bonuses: none

Combat pod lethality penalty: active

Hugh watched as the GCA made calculations that would determine if he lived or died. But what did it matter? Was this a life he even wanted to live? Was there any point to it all?

The results were in and the GCA gave him the thumbs-up. He would live . . . for now. For the first time since he had heard of the previous war core’s fate, Hugh began to understand why the other core had lost his mind.

Hugh flew through space, his consciousness returning to the undersea complex. The nurse and Mr. Smith were standing by the war core as he arrived. A look of relief washed over them as the status lights on the device in which he was housed announced his survival.

“Take some time to gather your thoughts, Hugh. We’ll have an after-action review once Cartwright and Tran are ready,” Mr. Smith said, walking away from Hugh. While he could move his point of view around the building, Hugh found himself content to stay there, hovering directly over his war core. He watched the combat pods open, technicians and medics standing by to assist the soldiers inside. It appeared the transition wasn’t an easy one for some soldiers, and they needed support to hobble their way out of their pods.

Hugh spotted Tran and Cartwright walking along the rows of combat pods. It was only then that he realized not all the pods had opened. Six were still sealed as technicians and medics with stretchers arrived to remove the occupants. Men under Hugh’s command had died; they were dead because he had failed. What should he do?

“You lost six, Hugh,” Cartwright said, walking over to him. “Six men won’t be coming home to their families. Six men whose sacrifice will never be known. Six families will be fed lies to protect our secret. Do you understand?” There was no hate in his voice and, strangely, no blame. All Hugh heard was a man who was worn out, empty.

“I screwed up. Those men are dead because of me,” Hugh replied.

“Are they dead because we lost? Maybe. Every time we go on a mission, we take the chance of not coming home. It’s no different than any combat zone, as far as that goes. What is different is that hellish calculation we’re forced to watch. In a real battle, the bullet or explosion that gets you is a surprise. In these damn things . . .” Cartwright hissed out, gesturing toward the rows of combat pods in front of them. “In these damn things, you can only watch and wait as the computer tries to decide if you’re going to be a ‘casualty’ this time.” He stood beside the war core, and Hugh was loath to disturb the silence as the dead soldiers, his soldiers, were taken away by the medics.

“You did screw up,” Cartwright added. “You didn’t account for any enemy behind the lines. You should have seen the enemy was proficient in the woods and anticipated they would focus their efforts there. By placing all our combat force on the front line, you left the rear areas open to attack. Even a small covering force, say ten of our infantry mechs, would have delayed the enemy long enough to allow us to respond.”

“I didn’t—” Hugh started before being interrupted.

“You failed, Hugh, but none of us will blame you for it . . . this time. The fault lies with the GCA, who forces us to participate in this war. The fault lies with their AI that refused to let us advise you more during the battle. We tried, you know. We tried to tell you to leave a rearguard, to protect the flanks and generate depth to our defense. We tried and were blocked. No, Hugh, you’re not at fault for this, but you will be next time if you don’t learn from it. Learn and improve so fewer of those have to be carried out of here.” Cartwright pointed toward the last soldier being placed in a body bag.

“You’re wrong about one thing, Captain Cartwright,” Hugh said. “You’re wrong that the soldiers we lost today will be forgotten. You and all the others here will forget, your minds wiped when your tour of duty is complete. I won’t forget. I may be the only one that remembers, but I will. Help me, Captain—help me get better at this so we can save as many as possible and stop the enemy cold.”

Cartwright stopped and replied without looking back. “We’ll help. All of us will. Together, we’ll push back the Krixnas and any others who get in our way.” He walked off to his quarters, and Hugh was left alone again. Sure, he could project himself somewhere else on the base, but he wanted time by himself to think. The captain had been right; he needed to improve and couldn’t just give in to depression. Lives were at stake, brave soldiers he could help survive.

“It’s all a big game. You know that, don’t you?” Maddison said to him. The consultant had snuck up on him while he was focused on himself.

“What do you mean? This is real. The results of failure speak to that,” Hugh replied.

“Yeah, it’s a bloodthirsty alien game, but a game, nonetheless. That’s my theory, anyway. Think about it. This GCA is so advanced they can force the rest of the universe to fight this way. Any group that powerful can have anything they want. Any desire can be fulfilled by their technology. Any ailment could be fixed, and they likely live forever. A race like that can only seek one thing from the lower life forms—they’re seeking entertainment. We’re all just fighting and dying so they can be entertained by our antics. Something to think about, Hugh, but it’s only a theory I have.”

Hugh didn’t know if he believed it or not, but the kid had obviously thought about it.

“Of course, I could be wrong and we’re all just hypnotized by some government experiment. We just might never know,” Maddison said and walked away.

“Gee, thanks, Maddison. You’re a real ray of sunshine,” Hugh whispered.

“I heard that, Hugh. Don’t worry, you’ll see one of my theories is correct before all this is over,” she said, pulling out her phone and tapping away at the screen once more. Their little conversation was the first time he’d seen her without the phone in her hand.

“Major Logan, please report to the briefing room,” Smith said over the loudspeaker.

Hugh pushed his point of view over to the briefing room. Inside were the usual suspects in their usual places.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen. Hugh just completed his first real battle,” Smith started.

“One he lost,” Maddison chimed in.

“At least he didn’t go bonkers and scream through the whole thing like your little gamer friend did,” the admiral snapped back. Somehow, the kid was able to get under the admiral’s skin, causing him to lose his military demeanor, something that was very unusual for an officer who had risen as high as the admiral.

“On to more productive topics, folks. What went wrong and what went right in the last battle?” Smith asked.

“We weren’t able to advise him,” Cartwright said. “That’s what went wrong. Every time I tried to tell him a weakness in his plan, the system blocked me. The GCA chose a retired officer with no combat experience for our war core and expected him to perform like General Patton reincarnated.”

“I underestimated the foe and didn’t properly protect the critical rear areas. What can I do to get better?” Hugh asked, frustrated at his own lack of knowledge.

“You have the experience. You just need to remember it. I may be a dumb gamer kid,” Maddison said, looking over at Admiral Nix while making a face, “but I did read your file, Major Logan. You did war games for a living while you were in the service, and assuming you’re not a moron, and I might be wrong about that, you had to have picked up something from your job.”

She was right. He did help run the exercises but wasn’t the one fighting the battles; he was just there to make sure the rules were followed and give a review of the results . . . just like they were doing right now. It was time to use his mind and experience to plan for the next fight.

“You’re right, Maddison, so tell me what I can do to improve. Anything you can add about my build decisions with the units and structures? What other strategies should I consider?”

“There was nothing wrong with your build order, and I thought you did as well as could be expected given that the enemy is an unknown quantity,” Madison advised. “In hindsight, perhaps building a few signal towers and beefing up your numbers before going for level 2 of your command post. You did well by pushing out quickly to gather resources, and your gamble to attack the forward base early paid off.”

“You now know we need to defend what we take but you’ll also have to balance keeping an offensive force,” Captain Tran added.

“Got it. What about adjusting to the enemy we face based on what we now know?” Hugh asked.

“Don’t read too much into that. The Krixnas may or may not try different tactics in the next battle. It will take more time before we begin to get a good read on them,” Smith answered.

“Speaking of unknowns, we have to be kind of a mystery to the Krixnas as well. I think we should go with something a bit riskier next time,” Maddison suggested.

“What are you thinking? We really can’t afford to lose another battle,” the admiral asked.

“That’s just it. The enemy will know we can’t afford to lose again. Say, did anyone even tell Hugh about how you win a system?” Maddison asked. Sheepish looks around the table told Hugh the answer. “You guys are impossible. So, Hugh, the aliens have to win two out of three battles to control a system. The enemy will figure we’ll be playing not to lose instead of going all out to win.”

“How do we know the Krixnas even think the same way we do?” Hugh asked.

“We don’t,” Maddison said. “The only thing we know is they’re advanced enough to go to space and wage war. That tells me they know something about strategy and tactics in a conflict. You made a mistake last time in not defending the base. They will expect you to proceed even slower in the next battle, wasting too many troops to protect your resources and command post. We double down and go with an early rush. Right when things start, concentrate on building cheap infantry. Once we’ve got enough, we head straight to the enemy base. No monkeying around with capturing strongly held things like the forward base. Just build all you can as quick as you can and attack.”

“That may be too aggressive, Maddison. We hold an advantage with our ranged weapons. We should fortify and use their long-range accuracy to our advantage,” the admiral suggested.

“Without knowing what the next battlefield will look like, it’s hard to tell. You’re going to have to consider all your options, Hugh. Decide how you want to run the battle after you get a peek at the terrain. Then do what you think is best,” Captain Tran offered.

The second battle for system es1422 will now commence. Negotiations will begin momentarily.

Hugh was pulled back into his war core. He wanted to bat around a few ideas with the group, but it looked like the GCA wasn’t going to give him a break. It was time to fight, and this time, he had to win.

★

Chapter 13

The second stage of the Krixnas invasion of system es1422 is initiated. The attacker is making the following demands.

Krixnas Demands:

1. A maximum command post level of 10

2. No unit type restrictions

3. No combat pod support

4. A command post starting level of 3

5. Enhanced resource flow

6. Additional starting structures

7. No pre-fight battlefield recon

The Krixnas were making the same demands as they had in the last battle. Since they’d won, Hugh figured the enemy didn’t want to mess with what had worked. Hugh thought for a while about his counteroffer. Perhaps Maddison was right about the aliens’ expectations. With that in mind, he also mirrored his offer from the previous battle.

Human Demands:

1. A maximum command post level of 0

2. No flying units

3. Combat pod support

4. A command post starting level of 0

5. Limited resource flow

6. No additional starting structures

7. Pre-fight battlefield recon

Waiting for the GCA reply was less stressful this time, perhaps due to his knowing how the process actually worked. He wondered about his Krixnas counterpart. Was he, she, or it feeling the same pressure as he was? Was their war core some normal Krixnas roped in by the GCA or a hardened veteran? Would he ever get a chance to meet and talk with his foe? That was an interesting angle, talking with the enemy. If the GCA was all about limiting damage, why not have some type of diplomacy or negotiation? Instead of diplomacy, they forced species into war. The GCA’s actions made Maddison’s theory about it all being a form of entertainment seem much more plausible.

A battle parameter decision has been made. The following restrictions and advantages are implemented for this fight.

1. A maximum command post level of 2

2. No flying units

3. Combat pod support is granted

4. A starting command post level of 1

5. Normal resource flow

6. No additional starting structures

7. Pre-fight recon allowed for a restricted time frame of 5 minutes.

Battle world selected. You will be fighting on the planet Tyrifox 131. This is a land battle with varied terrain. Your pre-fight reconnaissance will begin when you arrive.

It appeared the GCA skewed the battle parameters more in favor of his requests this time. Perhaps they were giving a small concession to improve the chances of the underdog. Too bad they didn’t reveal their actual method for calculating the various options or even how they chose which conflict world was selected.

He didn’t have time to think about the GCA, as he was pulled from Earth and hurtled out into space. The trip was longer this time and ended at another dead system. A small orange star cast a sickly light out toward the six planets in orbit around it. The fourth planet from the orange sun proved to be their target. The view closed in on the dark side of the planet, making Hugh wonder if light levels had any effect on his mechs’ performance.

Hugh approached the war zone for this battle, an area slightly smaller than the last one. Once again, the two sides were symmetrical with markers for the command posts on either end of the zone. Strange red trees grew on one side of the map, having almost a sort of fur coming off their limbs instead of leaves. The other side of the map was somewhat open, and a low ridgeline broke up each half of the battlefield. At the top of the ridgeline, Hugh made out a resource gathering station as well as several resource containers scattered about.

More resource containers were found inside the forest. The GCA seemed to like hiding these for the participants to discover. Near each command post’s starting point were some resource crates, past which lay smashed-up mechs from a past battle. Between each command post and the ridgeline was another forward base, similar in size and shape to the one in the last battle.

The key would be to control the ridgeline and gain a line of sight over most of the battlefield. Would the Krixnas assume he would be overly concerned about the forested area? If Hugh reacted logically to the results of the last battle, he would move slowly, leaving strong defensive forces where he could. No, this was the time to be aggressive; it was time to take the battle to the enemy when they—hopefully—least expected it.

His pre-battle recon was over, and Hugh was pulled toward one of the bases. Again, he selected his base as south and the enemy base as north for a point of reference. Pulling up his base information, Hugh planned his next moves.

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 25

Structures:

Command post, level 1 (unit points: 5/200): Upgrade to level 2 requires 500 resources.

Units:

Construction drones: 0/5

Combat units: none

Defensive garrison: 0/10

Other structures: none

Available Structures:

Barracks, level 0: The level 0 barracks requires 100 resources to construct.

Signal tower (0/2): A signal tower requires 50 resources to construct and provides 50 unit points.

It wasn’t much, but then again, his opponent would be under the same restrictions. In addition to his five starting construction drones, Hugh queued up another five and assigned all ten to gather the nearby resources. Three large crates and a pair of smaller ones were visible from his base. There was also the field of destroyed mechs in the distance. Hugh thought he could detect movement around the mechs but couldn’t zoom in enough to verify. Confirmation of what defended the debris field would have to wait until he built some infantry.

The first drone moved out from the command post and tried to drag a large resource crate on its own. Unable to budge the heavy resource container, the drone settled for a smaller one, locking it in its grip and scuttling back toward the command post. One by one, his drones were built, and the resource containers were gathered. Once he had gathered the first hundred resources, Hugh ordered the construction of a barracks. His command post switched over to producing his defenders as the tenth construction drone rolled off the assembly line.

After building the barracks, he was left with 311 resources. All available resources in his area were gone, and the only visible supply seemed to be the debris field in the distance. Now was the final chance to change his mind as to the overall strategy he would take with this battle. He would stay the course and try to overwhelm his opponent with an early, powerful strike. Hugh queued up a second barracks as well as one signal tower.

He would be left with 160 or so resources after building the new structures. That gave him enough to build 32 infantry mechs. By splitting the output over two factories, he would have his force ready in half the time. Knowing speed was the key to victory, he was antsy as he waited for all the construction to happen. Thankfully, the low light didn’t seem to interfere with him or his drones.

“I’m in the fight, Major Logan. What am I looking at?” Captain Tran asked as he connected to the first infantry mech.

“Another symmetrical battlefield. Creepy red tree forest to the west and a ridgeline splitting the zone. There’s a debris field I’d like you to recon. Something’s moving out there and we’ll need to secure those resources,” Hugh ordered, setting the distant debris field as Tran’s objective. As the other mechs came online, they would join him there.

“Roger that. Let’s see what horrible things we find this time,” Tran replied and started moving toward his objective. Hugh had expected some comment over the twin barracks build, and he assumed the GCA had blocked his unit commander’s input on the issue.

Hugh shifted his point of view to follow Tran, watching as the shapes of old mechs revealed themselves. In the center of the debris field lay the remains of a truly giant mech. Only the top half of the mech was visible, and the roughly humanoid shape bristled with weapons. Hugh could only hope he was able to build something similar at some point. As Tran’s infantry mech closed in, the figures he had seen moving among the debris became clear. Partially damaged mechs stumbled about, pulling parts from the debris around them in a futile attempt at repair.

“Seeing several mobile mechs, sir. Potentially hostile. I suggest we wait for enough of a force before we move in to engage,” Tran said. Every few minutes, another infantry mech would walk off the assembly line and move to join Captain Tran. As the second barracks came online, a pair of mechs at a time were being built. Tran signaled he was ready to make a move on the debris field once he had a dozen infantry.

With his mechs spread out in a line, Hugh watched as Tran stepped forward. When they reached the outskirts of the debris field, the damaged mechs reacted. As one, they turned toward the approaching infantry and began to stumble and drag themselves forward. Many held weapons, but a large percentage only held various things they had scavenged up to use as bludgeoning weapons.

“Hold. Fire at will, slow backstep,” Tran ordered. Hugh watched his infantry stop, fire a volley, and then begin to slowly walk backward, keeping their weapons trained on the enemy force. Hugh could finally get an accurate count as the zombie-like mechs continued to approach. He was facing just over twenty hostiles, and the first volley had dropped three of them while damaging several others.

Compared to the Krixnas, these opponents were lethargic. Tran was able to keep his distance, firing a volley whenever his weapons were off recharge. After only a few volleys, the last of the zombie mechs were down. Tran ordered his troops forward, carefully watching for hostiles that might still be hiding among the wreckage. After his sweep was completed, Hugh could feel his war core gain control over the area. With his vision pushed out, Hugh could see all the way to the ridgeline. What he saw there dashed his hopes for victory. On top of the ridge was a swarm of Krixnas infantry, moving about inside a series of reinforced bunkers, their numbers more than double that of his force.

“Sir, take a look at the central bunker on the ridge before you freak out too much,” Tran said, somehow picking up on Hugh’s stress. Hugh zoomed in as far as he could go, focusing on the control flag posted at the central bunker. The flag was showing as a neutral but hostile force. These were GCA-generated forces, not those of his enemy.

“You didn’t think all the neutrals would be mechs like ours, did you?” Tran remarked. It was true; he had made another assumption, reacting without carefully reading the situation.

“Yeah, you’re right. Hopefully, they’ll give the Krixnas a big headache if they try to take those fortifications. In the meantime, I’m going to reinforce you as much as I can. The plan is to build up our force and make a push through the forest to the enemy base. If they’re doing what I think, they’ll have only limited forces and will be concentrating on base upgrades,” Hugh advised.

“Roger that, sir. We’ll be ready. We may want to position a defensive line in the forest while we wait. That way, we can keep any enemy eyes off the true size and composition of our force. We should also leave a squad of ten or so mechs here to protect our resources until we’re ready for a push.”

“Sounds like a plan. Stand by with most of your force in the forest until I reach the unit cap. That will be the time to launch our strike,” Hugh ordered. To speed up harvesting of the distant debris field, Hugh built another group of five drones. They didn’t take up much of his unit cap, and gathering the resources faster would let him build infantry without any delays.

While his army was being built, Hugh assigned ten infantry to cover the debris field while the rest he placed in a defensive line covering the forest. The enemy would be hard-pressed to slip any recon forces through without his growing number of infantry finding them. Hugh pulled five drones off gathering duties and had them build the second signal tower. With the two towers, his total unit points were capped out at three hundred. Taking fifteen away for the drones in operation, he could build up to fifty-seven infantry mechs. They were all level 0 and didn’t have any upgrades, but as Stalin had once said, quantity had a quality all its own.

With two barracks working, he soon reached the unit cap. Hugh doubted the enemy had taken the time to build up a force as large as his. The whole battle would be decided by his risky gamble. It was time to go on the offensive. First, Hugh ordered the ten mechs covering the debris field to join the main force. Every single mech would be needed in the coming fight.

“Captain Tran, I’m setting the area around the enemy command post as your objective. Move out and ignore anything except the enemy command post. Keep moving. Don’t stop to fight. Take down their base, Captain Tran,” Hugh ordered.

“Moving,” was all Tran said in reply. Fifty-seven infantry mechs marched through the trees in the direction of the enemy. Each mech was being controlled by a live soldier he was responsible for. Was he wasting more lives, or was this gambit going to pay off? The fight was now in the hands of his infantry commander; it was up to Captain Tran.

★

Chapter 14

Captain Tran divided his infantry mechs into three lines of nineteen. Weapons lowered and ready to fire, the mechs moved through the forest of red trees. Hugh kept his point of view following the first rank as, in the distance, a single Krixnas infantry mech moved through the forest toward them. Once the enemy mech spotted the approaching infantry, it turned to run. The front line of mechs halted and a volley of nineteen shots reached out toward the enemy. Trees blocked many of the rounds, and the basic targeting systems of the level 0 mechs caused many to go off-target, but three rounds did slam into the Krixnas soldier. After moving a final step, the Krixnas crashed into the forest floor and lay still.

The second and third ranks passed by the first, their weapons ready to fire and seeking targets. Another two Krixnas infantry mechs were found in the woods, and each was brought down quickly by volleys of fire. Tran’s infantry smoothly executed the rotation of lines in order to keep fresh and recharged weapons ready at the front, overcoming the slow recharge rate of the level 0 weapons.

As his forces pushed deeper into Krixnas territory, fighting was heard in the distance. The high-pitched sound of the tentacle lasers mixed with the sound of mechs slamming into mechs. Glad the GCA had made the two sides of the battlefield symmetrical, Hugh could tell the fighting was coming from where the forward base should be located.

“You’re hearing that, I assume, sir?” Tran asked.

“Yes, it looks like they’re hitting the forward base. Should we send some scouts out to get eyes on what’s going on?” Hugh asked. He hated being blind in the crazy forest. His nerves over the gamble they were taking weren’t going away.

“I wouldn’t advise it, sir. Keep on toward the objective. After all, are you going to find anything out there that will change our plan?” Tran asked. He was right. Now was not the time to dawdle or risk even a single mech to satisfy his curiosity.

“Very well, continue mission. It’s time for us to chalk up a win,” Hugh said with a confidence he didn’t really feel.

“I can tell you that the enemy assaulting the forward base is good news for us. If the garrison is anything like the one we faced in the last battle, the enemy will have depleted their forces by the time they’re done taking it,” Tran observed. That also suggested the enemy didn’t believe his move through the forest was enough of a threat to pull forces back on defense. His units had quickly killed all three of the mechs they had encountered in the woods, so perhaps the enemy war core hadn’t gotten a good look at the true size of the force coming its way.

The sounds of fighting faded as they pushed onward. Hugh wasn’t sure if that was a result of the enemy taking the forward base or if the fluffy trees muffled the sound more than a normal tree. He pushed his curiosity aside as his forces moved deeper into enemy territory. They would be opposite where the debris field was located and would soon exit the forest.

If Hugh had lungs, he would have been holding his breath as the first rank of infantry stepped from the tree line. This was the moment of truth. Was he about to face a prepared enemy, or had he taken the Krixnas by surprise? Looking about, he could see they were just past the debris field and heading toward the enemy command post. At the debris field, a pair of Krixnas infantry mechs were picking up bits of debris and walking back toward their base. In the previous battle, he had also seen their infantry gather a downed human mech. Did their infantry also function as their construction units?

The enemy spotted his force before the last of his troops exited the forest. The pair of Krixnas mechs in the debris field dropped their burdens and charged toward his line. Hugh noticed that Captain Tran kept his first two ranks oriented on the command post while the third rank formed a line facing the pair of enemies. His third rank waited until the enemy closed, and at nearly the same time, both sides fired. Normally inaccurate, one of the Krixnas laser blasts landed center mass on a mech. The blast was powerful, knocking back the mech and burning through vital components.

What they lacked in accuracy the Krixnas weapons made up for in power. Thankfully, Hugh’s mechs were fairly accurate, even in their most basic form. Shots peppered the pair of enemies, shredding the approaching mechs. The third rank reoriented on the rest of the force and joined them in the assault on the command post. The individual buildings of the Krixnas command post began to take shape. They were nothing like what his war core created.

Instead of the blocky, industrial tech feel of his command post, the Krixnas structures looked like they had grown organically. Their shape reminded Hugh of a beehive, and he had no idea which was the command post, barracks, or light mech factory. He looked for the telltale signs of construction drones to discern the location of the command post, but there didn’t seem to be any in view. The only movement came from the nearly two dozen Krixnas infantry mechs that were forming up to defend their base.

Movement near one of the hives caught his eye and he spotted another enemy infantry mech carrying a hunk of salvage from the debris field. It entered the largest of the three buildings and emerged a few moments later without its burden. That was it; that was why he hadn’t noticed any construction drones—the Krixnas infantry mechs could do both tasks.

“Captain, I think the largest building is their command post. Orient your attack on that one,” Hugh ordered.

“Got it. Entering long range now,” Tran replied as his first rank stopped at the edge of their weapons’ range. The mechs knelt and took a stable firing position to improve their accuracy before firing off their first volley. With tactics more reminiscent of the era of musket than plasma rifle, Tran and his soldiers went to work. As each volley fired, the next rank moved forward a few paces, took aim, and fired. This slow and steady advance kept a continuous fire on the swarming enemy mechs, whose numbers had now grown to almost thirty as more of them emerged from the buildings.

A few of the enemy began to drop as the range closed and his infantry became more accurate. In response, the enemy charged, unable to match his forces at range; their best chance was to close in. Tran halted his force, the front rank going prone, the second rank kneeling, and the rear rank standing. A huge volley of fifty-six shots blasted into the approaching enemy. The tightly packed mass of Krixnas made it hard to not hit something.

Leaving behind half their number, the surviving Krixnas returned fire. Ten of his mechs were melted down and hurled back by the powerful blasts. Before the forces closed to melee range, Tran’s force fired a final volley. Only six or seven damaged Krixnas made it to the human lines. The enemy mechs were powerful in melee, glowing tentacles grasping and melting whatever they touched.

Instead of staying to fight, Captain Tran had the infantry continue their advance on the command post, spreading out to make it more difficult for the enemy to catch them. Whenever a weapon recharged, they would take a shot at the Krixnas nipping at their heels. By the time the last of the insect-like abominations was down, Hugh had only twenty-seven mechs remaining. Melee fighting against the Krixnas was pure murder on his low-level infantry.

“From my experience, sir, we have to breach the enemy command post and destroy the equipment inside to win. Even infantry weapons can create a breach, but it could take a while,” Tran advised. Hugh was surprised the GCA monitors had allowed the comment to go through. So far, they had worked hard to restrict what information his advisors could give him in the field. He wasn’t going to complain, though, and hoped it was a positive sign for future missions.

The remaining infantry mechs fired as they advanced. Their powerful alien-designed weapons were able to damage the imposing structure. Groups of mechs concentrated their fire on the same spot, seeking to breach the reinforced walls of the command post hive. Occasionally, a Krixnas infantry mech would scuttle out from the smallest building, which he assumed was the barracks. The lone defenders didn’t last long, and each that emerged was taken apart by close-range fire.

“Looks like the rest of the Krixnas are coming to play, Captain Tran,” Hugh said as he made out the shapes of enemy infantry mechs as well as one of their light mechs approaching in the distance. They must be whatever remained of the force that had taken the forward base. Tran ignored his comment and positioned his infantry to all fire at the weakest section of the wall they had found.

“Breach. Get in there and do what you do best, soldiers,” Tran said as the continuous fire finally knocked a mech-sized hole in the wall. His infantry mechs entered as fast as they could through the breach, choosing to just get inside rather than waste time expanding the opening. His troops fired at the strange machinery inside the command post. Hugh had no idea how any of the enemy tech worked, but it looked as disturbing as the creatures did. Wires and tubes ran from the floor and connected to pulsating metal pods. The whole inside of the command post looked like the interior of a living creature, one that had been created by alloys and technology.

“Sir, can we face enemies that aren’t so ugly next time?” a private controlling one of the infantry mechs said. Hugh was surprised he could hear the chatter among the soldiers. Usually, only the commanders could interact with him unless a soldier was announcing something important, like contact with the enemy.

“I’ll be sure to take up your concerns over the physical appearance of our foes at the next tea party the GCA invites me to, Private Morgan. For now, get in there and shoot. Their stuff is ugly, but it breaks up real good,” Tran said as his mechs went to work. Each shot took out a cable or punched holes in one of the pod-like structures. One of the pods collapsed and a half-formed Krixnas infantry mech rolled out. The frame of the mech had been completed and various other parts were being grafted on. However far along it was in the construction process, it didn’t survive the three shots the nearby soldiers put into it.

Outside, the enemy was closing in, but just like in their attack on his war core during the last battle, they were going to be too late. Hugh wondered if his counterpart was experiencing the same pain he had felt in their previous battle. He found he really didn’t care as the last of the organic-looking machinery was blasted to bits and a very welcome GCA prompt flashed in his view.

Congratulations! You have emerged victorious in the second phase of the battle for system es1422. The standings are tied, and a final battle will be necessary to determine ownership of this system. Post-battle calculations are commencing.

Reward Point Calculations:

Base reward: 25 points

Victory bonus: 100 points

Observation bonus: none

Total points awarded: 125

War Core Termination Calculation:

Base chance for termination: 0.0001%

Failure penalty: none

Multiple loss penalty: none

Effectiveness rating: average

Effectiveness penalty or enhancement: inactive for the first 3 battles the war core participates in

Observer rating: average

Observer rating penalty or enhancement: inactive for the first 3 battles the war core participates in

Bonuses to core survivability: victory enhancement active

Combat pod lethality: victory enhancement active

Hugh waited to be transported back to base, but for some reason, his return was delayed. A notification showing that he would survive the battle was displayed. No surprise, since he was still alive to read it. While he waited to return, a new prompt appeared. It looked like he had some decisions to make.

Congratulations! You have improved your war core to level 1. You may now select a minor perk for your war core.

Major Hugh Logan, War Core, Level 1:

Reward points: 150/250

Select a category of perk:

1. Unit upgrades
a. Air units
b. Land units
c. Sea units
d. Space units

2. Structure upgrades
a. Durability
b. Efficiency
c. Defenses

3. War core upgrades
a. Reconnaissance
b. Resource
c. Construction
d. Communication

Hugh wasn’t sure what to pick. He would have liked some more information but found he couldn’t interface with any of the options other than by selecting them. There was no help file, and unlike some of the things in his earlier training, he didn’t possess any pre-loaded knowledge. Perhaps this was another effect of his “truncated training” penalty. He also had a sneaking suspicion his advisors back on base had been prevented from telling him about this aspect of a victory. To make matters worse—if you could call getting a perk “worse”—a countdown timer had started.

Failure to select a perk in the allotted time will result in the perk being withdrawn. Choose carefully but choose quickly, human.

He had to decide, but which choice was the right one?

★

Chapter 15

Hugh did a quick assessment of his options. The unit upgrades were enticing, but he didn’t want to focus on a unit type only to be thrown into battles where they were banned. Structure upgrades for efficiency and defense were contenders, given the nature of his prior battles. Under the war core options, all four looked good. After thinking things over as the timer ticked down, Hugh decided the best option, given the limited information the GCA was providing, would be to go with upgraded resources—whatever that meant. Improved gathering or starting resources would be beneficial in any type of mission.

War core resource upgrade selected. This upgrade will improve the resource gathering rate from your command post and any resource stations under your control. In addition, extra resource containers may be generated near your command post, depending on certain mission parameters.

It was about what Hugh had expected, and he would have to see if it made any impact in future battles. Once his decision was made, the GCA sent him back to the undersea base on Earth. Smith and the admiral were waiting for him when he arrived. A technician monitoring his core gave them a thumbs-up when the readout showed that Hugh was back with them.

“Well done, Hugh. You took a risk and it paid off,” Smith said.

“Thanks, but Maddison was the one that gave me the idea, and Captain Tran executed it. Without either of them, I don’t think we could have done it.”

“Good to see you acknowledge the efforts of the rest of your team,” the admiral said. “Too often officers get the idea their victories are a result of only their work. Let’s get a debrief started as soon as possible. The GCA seems to be speeding up the process with this invasion for some reason.” He and Smith left in the direction of the conference room.

Hugh had missed the soldiers leaving their pods at the end of the mission, and before he joined the debrief, he made the rounds across the combat bay. Somehow, the name of the chamber popped into his head, another quirk of the GCA. Still, the name made sense since the area housed the combat pods. Row after row of combat pods showed the solid green light indicating everything was functioning. He hadn’t lost anyone in this battle and wouldn’t have to place any new names on his list of the fallen.

“All right, people. What went well and what can we improve on?” the admiral asked the assembled team.

“Duh, we won the battle. I’d say that went right,” Maddison said, goading the admiral. To his credit, the admiral kept his calm; the young expert had failed her attempt to break his military bearing.

“Brilliant as always, Maddison,” the admiral said sarcastically. “We won, but what did we do that secured that win?”

“An early rush caught the enemy unprepared, and Captain Tran pushed the attack home with skill,” Hugh added.

“Well, Hugh hit the nail on the head,” the admiral said. “We did something the enemy didn’t expect. As far as what to improve on, we’ll need to keep varying our strategy to match the battlefield. I have a feeling the Krixnas will be prepared for another rush.”

“Exactly, but can we move this debrief along and get to the good stuff?” Maddison said.

“And just what do you consider to be the good stuff?” Admiral Nix asked.

“Planning for various battlefield conditions and battle types. We need to bring Hugh up to speed on the other things he might face in his next fight. The GCA loosened our restrictions a bit, so let’s get to it before they yank him away again.”

“I agree. Let’s go over what we know so far,” Captain Tran added.

“Very well. Give him the short list of what he can expect, Captain,” the admiral ordered.

“Since both you and the Krixnas core are newcomers to the GCA way of warfare,” Captain Tran said, “I think they have purposely kept things easy as far as battlefield conditions go. From here on out, with each side having a win, we can expect things to escalate. You’ll have to start thinking about integrating air, sea, and space assets.”

“But what kind of units and buildings are we talking about?” Hugh asked.

The Air Force representative, Captain Tremaine, replied to his question. “Aircraft are typically VTOL mechs with varying levels of armor and armaments. They fight best in the air but can land and engage from the ground when needed. Early levels of units give you decent recon options and very limited combat capabilities, while a high-level heavy assault craft force can devastate the opposition. You’ll typically see four types of craft at the higher levels: recon, fighter, tactical assault craft, and heavy assault craft.

“Recon craft do what you’d expect them to: recon surveys the battlefield. Fighters are good at engaging other aircraft, and tactical assault craft hold a place similar to that of a helicopter gunship. Heavy assault craft carry the most armor of any flying mech but are slow and vulnerable to fighters. Think of them like heavy strategic bombers.”

“Okay, but what about space and sea?” Hugh asked.

“Hold up,” Maddison interrupted, to the annoyance of everyone around the table. “Let’s go over the types of battles before we get into the weeds on unit types. We also should cover some basic strategies that have been successful against other opponents.”

“Fine, that does make sense. Carry on, Maddison,” the admiral told her.

“Good, I’ll carry on, sir,” Maddison said with a mock salute. “The most common type of battle is the elimination fight, which is the type of battle you’ve experienced so far. Both sides build up their forces and attempt to destroy the enemy command post. While the battles can vary in size, they follow a normal progression. We’ve also had multistage fights where the battle starts in space, then proceeds to land combat, with the space victor given an advantage—usually fire support—over their opponent.” She stopped to take a drink of coffee.

“What happens in the space fight?” Hugh asked, visions of various science fiction space battles flowing through his head.

“Like everything else the GCA does, it changes,” Maddison told him. “Typically, you and the opponent will get a set amount of resources to build your fleet. You can spend them how you like, upgrading the main command post, which is kind of like a big space station, and building ships. You’ll have to balance upgrades and unit production. You don’t want to be at a higher level than your opponent only to find out you can only field one small ship. From what the other cores have told us, the GCA will usually run you through a short tutorial before you start your first space battle.”

Hugh was a bit worried the truncated training penalty might apply here as well. He had no idea how to run a space battle.

“For the naval stuff,” Maddison continued, “you’ll get ship mechs, which are kind of cool, especially if you go for land walking upgrades. The Japanese war core totally wrecked their opponent once by surprising them with a full naval build and only limited ground defenses. Just imagine a mech version of the battleship Yamato walking around slinging plasma cannon blasts at everything. Oh, sorry.” Maddison was getting carried away until she noticed the admiral’s glare. “Back on track. In a battle with naval components, you’ll have to balance not only land production but air and sea with the resources you have. Neglect any one of the three and you could be in trouble, but focusing on one aspect can be the key to winning the fight.”

“One thing I should mention,” Smith said, breaking into the conversation. “As you gain levels as a war core, you’ll often be granted pre-battle briefings with varying amounts of information and the chance to work with your advisors before the fight starts.”

“That would be good. I keep having to go in blind, and I’m never sure what you’re allowed to tell me and what the GCA is filtering out,” Hugh replied. His thoughts were interrupted by a prompt appearing in his vision.

The Krixnas war core has accepted a disadvantage in order to activate the next battle. Battle negotiations will commence shortly.

“Did you guys see that? Is accepting a disadvantage really a thing?” Hugh asked. The advisors looked confused as he relayed what the notice said.

“I’ve only seen it once before, but you can shape parameters of the fight if you place yourself at a disadvantage. For some reason, the Krixnas core wants another crack at you before we can go over much—” Smith was cut off mid-sentence as Hugh was pulled from the meeting and into the negotiation.

The final stage of the Krixnas invasion of system es1422 is initiated. The winner of this battle will control the system. Should the defender succeed, this system cannot be attacked for 1 year. The attacker has accepted a moderate disadvantage in order to select the type of battle and will also be granted greater consideration of their initial demands.

Krixnas Demands:

1. A maximum command post level of 5

2. No unit type restrictions

3. No combat pod support

4. A command post starting level of 5

5. Enhanced resource flow

6. Additional starting structures

7. No pre-fight battlefield recon

So the Krixnas had picked the type of battle they would be fighting, and Hugh’s negotiation selections wouldn’t be given as much weight. He had to play this smart and think about the enemy’s demands. He was still unsure how exactly the negotiations worked and had a feeling the system would give some of his choices more consideration if he agreed to a few of the Krixnas demands.

Deciding to test his theory, he would accept some of the Krixnas demands to get a better chance of approval for his most critical needs. He figured the most important would be keeping combat pod support. His officers and soldiers were good at their jobs and seemed to have an advantage over the Krixnas commanders. He also didn’t want to jump into higher-level units without more practice, so he would try to cut back the starting level if possible, giving him time to adjust to the new units.

Human Demands:

1. A maximum command post level of 5

2. No unit type restrictions

3. Combat pod support

4. A command post starting level of 0

5. Enhanced resource flow

6. Additional starting structures

7. No pre-fight battlefield recon

The GCA took its time as it weighed the options. Sadly, it didn’t tell him what his opponents’ disadvantage was. He wanted to do a pre-battle recon, but since the Krixnas already knew the type of battle they would be fighting, he didn’t want them to get a peek of the actual battlefield ahead of time.

A battle parameter decision has been made. The following restrictions and advantages are implemented for this fight.

1. A maximum command post level of 5

2. No unit type restrictions

3. Combat pod support is granted

4. A command posts starting level of 2

5. Enhanced resource flow

6. A barracks, a light mech factory, and a signal tower will be pre-constructed

7. No pre-fight battlefield recon

Battle world selected. You will be fighting on the planet Ix0071. This is a defensive last-stand land battle with supportive terrain.

This is your first battle of this type. A defensive last-stand battle pits the opponents against waves of increasingly stronger GCA-generated forces. The last command post standing is the victor. The terrain favors the defenders, and assaulting the opponent’s command post will be difficult. Instead of direct assault, look for battlefield opportunities to gain an advantage for your forces. The human war core is no longer under truncated training impairment. The Krixnas core has waived the remainder of the penalty as part of their disadvantage package. A short example of this type of fight will now be displayed for informational purposes.

Hugh’s vision was pushed toward another war world. This time, he was only an observer as he watched two other war cores fight out a defensive last-stand battle. One of the command posts looked similar to his own. Information was downloaded into his core, letting him know this was a prior battle involving the Japanese core and an alien race called the Jurladinone. The Jurladinone command post wasn’t as strange as the Krixnas ones. It was like a human structure, only it had a more graceful and almost delicate appearance.

Both opponents were placed at opposite sides of a valley, jagged mountains providing a natural barrier around the battlefield. Both command posts were separated by rough terrain teeming with neutral forces. Each core got to work, pumping out and upgrading troops. A pair of resource stations stood nearby, and there was a debris field for additional salvage. Hugh watched his human ally closely, curious about what he was doing differently.

His view blurred as the replay was fast-forwarded. Both sides had built up a considerable force, taking over the outlying resource locations and building fixed defenses. Trench lines ran around each of the outlying resource locations, and the Japanese war core had infantry and support units manning them. Their infantry mechs were somewhat different as well; they wielded not only the normal pulse rifle arm as his mechs but also a melee weapon in the form of either a long-bladed spear or a sword resembling a high-tech katana.

The enemy infantry mechs walked on four legs and seemed to be armed with only a long spear-like weapon. Neither side had light mechs or air units; they must have been banned for the fight. As Hugh watched, two identical armies marched out of the mountainous borders and into the valley below, attacking both bases. Before he got a good look at the fight, the video fast-forwarded again. This time, he found himself at the end stages of the battle.

Each side had taken a beating: the outer resource gathering stations and debris fields had been destroyed or recaptured by the GCA-controlled attackers. A final wave was pushing toward each base, supported by artillery fire from somewhere outside the battlefield. Rounds crashed down on the Japanese defensive trenches, blowing the occasional infantry mech to bits. Hardened bunkers were placed at intervals along the line and seemed to hold up well to the incoming fire. Marching out of the mountains was an unending horde of mechs. This would be over soon, one way or the other. In this fight, the GCA had decided to use mechs resembling each opponent’s army. The Jurladinone were being attacked by different versions of human mechs, while the Japanese war core faced off against the four-legged Jurladinone, whose spears also contained a deadly-accurate ranged weapon.

The outer defenses for both sides were overrun, and the Japanese commander pulled back to a line of bunkers right in front of his command post. Hugh’s picture of the battle fast-forwarded to the end. The Japanese command post was severely damaged but still standing, while the Jurladinone one was nothing but rubble. Hugh watched as the few remaining infantry mechs emerged from their bunkers, one walking to the command post alongside a drone. The drone repaired a destroyed flagpole that had stood in front of the command post. Once its repairs were complete, the drone stepped back and handed the infantry mech a large piece of cloth. Sheathing his broken sword, the infantry mech attached the flag and raised it slowly over the command post.

The rising sun flew victorious over the battlefield. Now it was Hugh’s turn to defend humanity.

★

Chapter 16

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

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

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 500

Structures:

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

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

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

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

Units:

Construction drones: 5/5

Combat units: none

Defensive garrison: N/A. This feature is disabled for the battle.

Available Structures:

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

Port: A port facility requires a level 3 command post to construct.

Time until next wave: 30 minutes

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

While he could see no resource stations, the flow of resources into his command post was better than in the previous battles where he had controlled both the command post and a resource station. Hugh had no idea how much of his windfall was due to the upgrade he had selected and how much was due to the battle condition of increased resource flow. With resource gathering underway, he looked at the sea around his island.

In the distance to the north, he could just make out the center island. During the brief flight to his command post, he noticed that the three islands were placed in almost a straight line. His opponent must be located on the northernmost one. Perhaps the central island was up for grabs and might provide more resources when the ones on his own island ran out. Until he developed either air assets or a naval force to begin reconnaissance, Hugh had no way of knowing for sure what the central island held.

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

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

Hugh already knew he would need better infantry for this fight, so going to at least a level 2 barracks wasn’t a problem. He directed the now-completed third squad of drones to upgrade the barracks all the way to level 2. It cost him 450 resources to go from level 0 to level 2, and he would need an extra 100 for the armory. While five hundred resources at the start of the battle had seemed like a lot, they sure didn’t last long.

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

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

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

Standard Infantry Mech Upgrades:

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

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

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

The following upgrades require an active light mech factory:

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

5. Plasma Grenades: These thrown weapons have an effective radius of 5 yards. Any mech or structure in the area of effect will take damage as a wave of plasma energy is released. This upgrade requires 100 resources and an additional 1 resource for every infantry mech produced or upgraded with these weapons. Replacement devices can be manufactured by your construction drones for 1 resource per pair of grenades. Please note that infantry mechs cannot carry more than 2 of these grenade types at any one time.

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

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

Fortifications, Level 1: Your drones are now capable of creating simple defensive positions and structures. Given time and available nearby materials, drones can create trench lines and watchtowers. Improvements in your command post and auxiliary buildings will unlock upgraded defenses.

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

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

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

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

“It’s a holdout mission. This little island is ours and we must hold it longer than the Krixnas hold their island. I’ve got our first defensive line started, and we’ll eventually have fifty infantry mechs for you, though I’m not sure how many will be done by the time the first wave of attackers arrives,” Hugh advised.

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

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

“No problem. These infantry mechs are quite a bit better than our level 0 ones from the last battle and I’m a big fan of the grenades. They should be very effective in this type of fight. Don’t worry about the light mechs just yet. A level 1 light mech isn’t very powerful and the resources are better spent on infantry. Hopefully, we can level things up before the next wave hits.”

“Have you ever fought in this type of battle before?” Hugh asked. After over a minute with no reply, he assumed the GCA had blocked Tran from either replying or hearing the question in the first place.

Time counted down, and every couple of minutes, a new infantry mech stepped out of the barracks to join Captain Tran. The captain spread the arriving troops around the perimeter, trying to get eyes on every possible approach. By the time they were down to the last minute, he had a total of fourteen mechs. At least the factory would still pump them out during the battle.

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

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

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

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

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

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

★

Chapter 17

“Light ’em up! I want focus fire on the two designated landing craft,” Captain Tran shouted over comms, and the fifteen infantry mechs Hugh had assembled began to lay down fire on the approaching Krixnas landing craft. The captain highlighted two of the craft for the soldiers, and they split their fire between them. Hugh was a little worried they were ignoring the other four craft, but spreading the fire out over six different targets wouldn’t accomplish much with the relatively weak infantry weapons.

The worm-like landing craft was lightly armored and the first rounds pinged off it. Thankfully, the plasma-based weapons the mechs used burned off a patch of armor with each hit, weakening it for the following shots. Krixnas landing craft closed in on the beach as the first rounds started burning through the bow of the lead craft. In response to his fire, the six approaching vessels had a panel open on the top. A claw-like appendage appeared, and the point of the claw began to glow; the weapon was charging. A ball of energy flew from the claws and landed in a line fifteen yards in front of the trenches. Blasts hurled gouts of sand in the air as the barrage missed the mark.

Captain Tran ordered his troops to spread out a bit, enough to keep their fire massed while reducing the chance of one of the explosive energy balls taking out multiple mechs with a single hit. Another infantry mech stepped from the assembly line and made its way toward the trench. Tran sent a message asking to have the new arrivals start to fill out the second trench line, which was even now being dug by his construction drones. Hugh reassigned any incoming mechs to the new location, where they could support those in the first line.

The landing craft hit the beach and the tentacles lining their sides struggled to pull the bulky vessels up onto the sand. One of the landing craft that had been targeted by the infantry floundered, and smoke began to billow from several holes burned into the armor. One enemy craft was down, but the others were still in the fight. With a loud clang, hatches along the sides of the landing craft popped open and a horde of Krixnas infantry swarmed out. Tran’s forces shifted fire to the infantry, even as the surviving landing craft continued their fire support.

Realizing he was wasting time as a spectator, Hugh searched for something productive to do. Noting that the invasion was strictly centered on one side of the island, he decided it was time to not only build defenses but also gather more resources for future upgrades. Leaving two squads of drones to continue work on the trenches, he tasked the other two with gathering salvage on the beach opposite the side being attacked. He didn’t know how much time he would have between attacks and needed every bit of scrap he could find.

Another wave of explosions rocked the beach in front of his trench line, drawing Hugh’s attention. This time, a couple of the landing craft had managed to get their rounds inside the trenches, destroying two of his infantry. The Krixnas soldiers moved toward the defenders, their inaccurate lasers blazing away at his troops. Even the limited protection of a trench was proving a key component to his defense; most of the incoming fire missed its mark. Tran’s soldiers, on the other hand, were deadly accurate. Round after round slammed into the swarming Krixnas, slowing their advance.

Hugh’s estimates on the capacity of the landing craft had been accurate; each seemed to hold eight infantry. None had left the smoking craft that was slowly rolling around in the surf, and just four infantry dismounted from the other craft that had been targeted on approach. The rest had probably been killed by the few rounds that had breached the front armor. With the enemy stuffed inside, any penetration was likely to result in a casualty.

The original thirty-six surviving attackers dropped to thirty and then twenty-eight as they advanced under the withering fire of Tran’s infantry. As the range closed, the mechs in the second trench line were able to add their weight of fire to the battle. Three infantry now stood in the hastily built defensive line, and more were under production. As the attackers closed to within twenty yards of the first trench, the infantry prepared and threw their first wave of grenades.

Plasma blasts erupted all along the front, melting and crushing with explosive force. A swath of Krixnas infantry went down, but the attackers continued their advance, not reacting to the mounting losses as they tried to close with Hugh’s forces. The second and last volley of grenades was thrown, destroying another half dozen attackers. Tran’s troops wasted no time, going back to their guns as the enemy closed in on the trench line. The Krixnas skittered over the lip of the trench, glowing tentacles leading the way. Tran’s infantry fought hard, but they were hopelessly outclassed in melee combat. Hugh watched his infantry get torn apart and melted by the enemy.

Things didn’t go all the enemy’s way, though, and his upgrades proved effective in keeping his infantry in the fight long enough to take down more of the Krixnas before the last of his defenders in the first trench line fell. A baker’s dozen of the invaders survived to continue the assault and were taken under fire from the handful of mechs manning the second trench line. The ground proved much harder to traverse for the attackers; the rocky and steep slope slowed their advance, giving his troops time to pick them off one by one. By the time they reached grenade range, only five remained, all of which went down to a flurry of explosions as the five defenders that now manned the trench threw their deadly missiles.

Hugh would have breathed a sigh of relief if he still had lungs. They had held the first wave, and it looked like the landing craft were even now backing their way off the sand. Thankfully, the assault craft support weapons, while powerful, were short-ranged and seemed unable to hit the troops in the second line of trenches. Once back in the water, the landing craft headed slowly out to sea.

The human war core has defeated the first assault wave. The next attack will begin in 25 minutes.

The clock was ticking again. Hugh wasn’t sure what had happened to the Krixnas war core. Was the announcement for him only or was it transmitted to both combatants? His question was answered a minute later when the GCA announced the Krixnas had defeated their first assault. It also looked like the timer for the next wave started whenever one of the war cores defeated the attacking wave. Fighting off the attacking wave quicker than his foe would give him an advantage and put a bit more pressure on the opponent.

“If the following waves have more indirect fire from their landing craft, we’ll need better overhead protection for our defenses,” Tran said.

“I agree, but I’m not sure how to unlock them. The defensive structure upgrades are tied to my command post, so I suppose that increasing the command post level might trigger more options for us,” Hugh replied.

“Good, if you can make up our losses, I’ll get the infantry back into the first trench line,” Tran advised. It was as good a plan as any, so Hugh queued up enough mechs to make good their losses and bring them up to a total of fifty. With the battle over, he pulled another squad of construction drones off trench-digging and had them gather salvage from the latest battle. The landing craft rolling around in the surf was too tempting, and he tagged that for their first target.

“Captain Tran, do you have any idea why we didn’t get any of the free defenders we normally get for a battle?” Hugh asked, not sure if the captain knew or even if the GCA would allow him to answer.

“I’ve only had a few fights like this before, and now that you mention it, I don’t recall seeing any of the defensive forces in those fights, either. Normally, by the time defensive forces come into play, my mechs have all been destroyed. While they would be a help here, they’re really not that effective since my soldiers can’t control them,” Tran offered. Hugh wasn’t impressed with their performance in the previous battles, but anything would have been welcome in the current fight, especially when they didn’t cost him anything.

Despite a constant output of infantry mechs, his rate of resource gathering was outpacing his rate of expenditure, and he now had a total of 374 resources to work with. Was it better to save up for a level 3 command post or should he go ahead and upgrade the light mech factory to see if he could improve things? If he wanted more support for the second wave, it made sense to go with a light mech factory. The infantry could only be churned out so fast, and having a second source of production made sense. Not to mention, the main gun on the T-7s would be better suited against heavier units like the landing craft in the first wave.

Hugh queued up a level 2 light mech factory, curious what the level 2 mechs could do. After the factory was upgraded, he should have enough resources to build the machine shop addon. Not wanting to slow down either the construction of his defenses or the gathering of resources, Hugh decided to build a fifth squad of drones to work on the building upgrades. While he waited, he watched the construction drones working on the trench line. They were over halfway done with the second line of defense, and once it was complete, they would move to the final defensive line.

Infantry mechs walked from his barracks at a steady pace. Tran was now up to eleven and counting. They had another fifteen minutes on the clock, and he was tempted to build a second infantry barracks, but the resource cost to keep both upgraded made that a nonstarter. At least he could supplement however many infantry he had built before the second wave with a few light mechs.

He had eight minutes left when the light mech factory upgrade was complete. The machine shop addon started, and after deducting the resources he spent for the upgrade, he had enough left over to build a pair of T-7 mechs. Ordering them up, he figured at least one would be completed before the second wave arrived.

“I’ve upgraded the light mech factory and I have a couple of T-7s being built. Where do you think they’ll do the most good?” Hugh asked Captain Tran.

“Two options. We can place them behind the first line of defense and use their extended range to degrade enemy forces before they arrive, or we can place them in the second line to keep them better protected. In the second line, A level 2 light mech should be able to engage the enemy around the same time the first-line infantry can. Of course, once the first unit is done, Captain Cartwright may have better advice. He is the armor expert,” Tran advised. As the first light mech stomped off the line, he received a notification that the machine shop was complete. Remembering his previous attempts, Hugh took a few moments to check each production building, looking for upgrades that might have been added.

“Major Logan, I’m connected to the first T-7. What are we dealing with?” Captain Cartwright asked.

“It’s a defense mission. We’ve got to hold this island longer than the Krixnas war core holds theirs. Forces controlled by the GCA are arriving in waves, the next of which is scheduled to be here in just over a minute.” Hugh left Cartwright on his own to survey the battlefield as he looked for upgrades, starting with the command post. The defensive structures tab now showed a new upgrade, unlocked by the addition of the machine shop.

Fortifications, Level 2: Level 2 fortifications include improved fighting positions consisting of reinforced trenches, grenade sumps, and modest overhead protection. Light mech fighting positions can also be constructed with this upgrade. This upgrade requires 100 resources to enable. Once it is active, construction drones can be tasked with upgrading existing fortifications, while any new construction will follow the upgraded pattern.

Having a total of only fifty-eight resources on hand, Hugh would have to wait a bit for the upgrade. He had been banking up extra resources when he was just building the infantry mechs, but adding light mech construction left him barely breaking even. Now that the machine shop was complete, he assigned the squad of drones that had built it to work on salvage duty. He now had three squads on salvage and two working on fortifications. Once everything he had queued up was built, he would also be closing in on his unit cap.

Prepare your defenses. The second wave is released.

“Eyeballs out, people. We’ve got hostiles coming to the party anytime now. Call out if you see anything,” Captain Tran said to all the troops. Hugh now had a total of seventeen infantry mechs and the one T-7. The second light mech was being assembled and infantry was being pumped out regularly. Hugh had assigned the light mechs to the first line of defense, wanting their harder-hitting weapons on hand to deal with any landing craft. Captain Cartwright kept his mech slowly walking the perimeter of the first defensive line, while Tran’s infantry was spread out evenly inside the first line of trenches.

“Contact, several landing craft to the east,” a soldier called out. Hugh pushed his view as far as he could, watching as a half dozen landing craft approached. Was the second wave like the first? Perhaps they were upgraded mechs or had some way of stuffing even more onboard.

“Contact, landing craft to the west,” another soldier advised. Looking to the west, Hugh saw there was indeed another half dozen landing craft approaching from that direction. He was facing double the number of attackers and he didn’t have double the number of troops this time.

“Hey, Major, do you think we can get a reload on grenades? I have five mechs that have already used up their loadout,” Tran asked.

He was right. The five that survived the first wave had thrown their grenades. Hugh tasked a single drone that was working on fortifications to resupply his troops.

“How do you want us to meet the assault, sir?” Tran asked.

His second light mech was walking out of the factory alongside infantry mech number eighteen. How could he best use his forces to beat back this attack?

★

Chapter 18

“Here’s what we’re going to do. I need a section of five infantry mechs covering the west inside the second trench line. The rest of our forces will crush the eastern force, then move to support the west,” Hugh ordered. He didn’t have time for it now, but with his forces growing larger in each battle, there was a need to standardize unit sizes at some point. While he had the time, Hugh assigned any newly produced units to assist with the holding action to the west. New arrivals would take a position in the final trench line, supporting the others and, hopefully, slowing the assault on that side long enough for the other force to win its fight and join them.

Before the actual fighting got underway, Hugh pulled his drones off the beach to prevent them from getting caught in the crossfire. Only a few crates remained near his base, so most of the drones would be idle during the fight. A steady stream of resources would be critical in the long run, so Hugh took the risk and sent the other drone squads to the north and south to gather salvage in an area he felt should be far enough away from the fighting.

With his housekeeping sorted, Hugh watched his commanders maneuver their forces. His units had been spread out along the island perimeter to keep watch for the attack, and it took them a minute or so to move into their assigned positions. The infantry set up inside the second trench line, halfway up the slope. This would keep his infantry out of range of the weapons on the enemy landing craft. His two T-7s worked their way down to the first line of defense, ready to engage at long range and then fall back toward the second line if the fire became too intense.

By the time the T-7s were in position, the enemy landing craft were in range of their guns. The .50-caliber guns on the light mechs began chugging out their heavy plasma-enhanced rounds. Rates of fire seemed to be slightly improved over the level 1 versions of the T-7s—still nowhere close to the full auto he wanted from the heavy machine-gun-caliber weapons. The soldiers controlling the armor kept their mechs moving in a slow, random manner to throw off the Krixnas gunners. Hugh thought they resembled some predatory beast stalking its prey.

The first rounds were close but off-target. The gunners quickly adjusted, and hits were made on the first landing craft. Captain Cartwright had selected a single target for both mechs, and this tactic was proving to be a sound one. Hugh could hear the impact as the first hits started to register on the targeted craft. Both rounds penetrated, and after the following volley, a large section of the front armor on the worm-like craft buckled. He saw movement inside the craft as the following rounds slammed into the tightly packed assault force. After a few more shots, the mechs shifted targets and began to pummel a second landing craft.

Looking back on the western assault, Hugh saw the Krixnas nearing the beach. The landing craft had nothing to shoot at, and his thin line of defenders wouldn’t be in range until the enemy approached as far as the first trench line. Over in the east, his T-7s began to work their way back as the enemy reached the beach. Two of the landing craft were heavily damaged from the light mechs’ fire, but the other four were still in the fight, trying to land hits on his T-7s. The weapons on the landing craft were great for lobbing shots onto a fortified position but lousy at trying to hit the rapidly shifting targets his mechs presented.

One of the damaged craft wallowed in the surf, unable to make the final approach as it slowly drifted back out into the ocean. The other craft that had been targeted on approach was able to drag itself onto the beach. A pair of battle-damaged Krixnas infantry stumbled from the smoking craft to join the ones forming up for the assault. The attackers wasted little time on the beach and immediately began to swarm toward the defenders in the second trench line.

The T-7s were able to keep out of range of the Krixnas infantry weapons as they fell back toward the second trench line, firing whenever they could. By the time the assault force was within range of the second line, they had been whittled down to twenty-six. The first volley of infantry fire slammed into the Krixnas as they reached the empty first-line trenches. Single-minded as usual, the enemy ignored their mounting casualties and continued their suicidal assault.

“The west is in trouble. Can you shift the light mechs over to assist?” Tran asked. Hugh looked over and saw the five defenders in the second trench line were about to be overrun. Without any fire to delay their landing, the enemy had moved further up than those on the eastern front.

“Good call. I’m sending them to help out now,” Hugh replied, shifting them over in his defensive plan. Cartwright wasted no time and marched both his mechs toward the top of the hill to support the final defensive line. Back in the east, a line of plasma explosions rippled through the remaining Krixnas as his defenders launched their first grenades. Only a half dozen enemy infantry survived, and his forces were gunning them down as he watched.

“I’ll mop up the last of these in the east, then head over to support the other flank,” Tran advised.

Hugh saw a notification he hadn’t seen before.

A construction drone is under attack.

Over in the west, the enemy force had spread out as they overran the defenders in the second trench line. A few of the Krixnas had come into range of the drones that were gathering salvage on the northern beach. A pair of drones to the north and another drone on the south beach had been hit by lasers and were out of commission. Not wanting to lose any more of his construction drones, Hugh pulled them back to the command post to wait out the rest of the battle.

The thin line of five defenders that had held the second trench line in the west was trying to fall back. Sadly, it looked like his infantry was too slow to outpace the multi-legged Krixnas, and his troops were taken down one by one. They didn’t go down alone, and the initial attack force had been whittled down from forty-eight to thirty-five by the gunfire and grenades of his defenders.

The only thing between the Krixnas and his command post was the final defensive line, which was occupied by a lonely-looking pair of infantry mechs that had been built during the battle. His light mechs were just arriving as one of the infantry was taken out by a lucky laser blast from a Krixnas tentacle. The remaining soldier threw both of his grenades as the enemy rolled over the trench line.

Wasting little time on the last defender in their way, the enemy pushed toward Hugh’s structures, pausing only when the two T-7s stomped into view, guns blazing. Each of his light mechs picked off a pair of the enemy as they closed in, giving up their long-range advantage to keep the attackers away from the critical structures. The Krixnas closed the distance, trying to get into melee distance, their laser blasts burning deep into the light mechs’ armor.

Round after round of .50-caliber destruction was dished out, but the rate of fire was too slow to stop the advance. The first of the enemy infantry began to skitter up the legs of Hugh’s light mechs, tentacles glowing as they sought to melt through the thin armor that protected their prey. Unable to depress their guns enough to engage the attackers directly, the T-7s instead focused on the enemy attacking their comrade, attempting to pick off the Krixnas clinging to its legs and hull.

Within a matter of moments, both of the T-7s stumbled to the ground as critical components in their legs were destroyed by the strange Krixnas weaponry. Another unwelcome announcement flashed as Hugh watched the surviving infantry from the eastern assault finish off the last attacker on that side and move to help defend his command post.

The Krixnas war core has defeated the second assault wave. The next attack will begin in 20 minutes.

His opponent had fought off the attack and the clock was ticking on the next wave. It was looking questionable that Hugh would survive the current wave, let alone have time to prepare for the next. Another infantry mech stepped off the assembly line and straight into the waiting tentacles of the enemy, buying his forces a few more precious seconds with its destruction. Pain flared in Hugh as the Krixnas survivors began to focus on his command post. Lasers and glowing tentacles burned their way through his walls. Construction drones tried to patch the damage, only to be cut down by the attackers. The pain was building, and concentration became difficult as a fresh wave of agony flared in his mind, along with a string of explosions among the attacking Krixnas.

“Sorry for the friendly fire, sir, but I had to get those things off the building,” Tran said as plasma explosions blossomed among the Krixnas attacking his command post. The surviving thirteen infantry mechs from the east joined the fight. Their final wave of grenades had torn into the Krixnas ranks as well as into Hugh’s command post, adding to his misery but finally turning the tide of battle in their favor. A dozen enemies survived and remained focused on destroying the command post, not the defenders. Hugh suffered more damage and lost more drones as the last Krixnas was picked off by precision fire from Tran’s infantry.

The Human war core has defeated the second assault wave. Seventeen minutes remaining until the next wave.

For the next few minutes, Hugh was useless as the remaining drones repaired his command post. As the damage was fixed, the pain receded and his concentration returned. Thankfully, his construction settings ensured that replacements for his losses were being built while he was out of commission. Only seven drones remained operational. He left two to finish his repairs while the other five would begin gathering resources. With the fight being so close to his command post, a lot of the salvage was concentrated nearby. This should speed up his gathering time, despite the limited number of operational drones.

“Sir, are you okay?” Tran asked.

“Yes, Captain. The pain’s slowly going away and I’m working on building our forces back up,” Hugh replied.

“We’ll need it. Only thirteen minutes to go, sir. How do you want us deployed for the next fight?” Tran asked. It was a good question. He now had sixteen infantry, with more on the way. The first of the replacement T-7s would finish up construction in the next thirty seconds. The trench lines were complete, and he had just under two hundred resources to work with.

“We are going to be limited in the number of defenders again for this wave,” Hugh said. “I’m going to invest some of the resources I’ve gathered into upgrading our fortifications. We’ll improve the final defensive line first and man that for the next assault. That way, we can shift our defenders quickly to any hot spots. I don’t like how the enemy was able to break through and threaten the command post, so we’ll tighten up our lines for now. With better protection in place, we may be able to preserve a larger force to fight off the following waves.”

There was a long pause before Tran answered, leaving Hugh to believe something had been edited out by the GCA. “Good call, sir. For now, I’ll spread my troops around the final line of defense.”

Replacements for both the combat forces and the drones were rolling out at a steady pace. Hugh paused to watch the drones’ progress on the upgraded fortifications, curious what they would look like, only to remember he hadn’t fully explored any new upgrades that might have been unlocked after the machine shop was built.

Before the last wave, he had only enough time to review the command post upgrades. Pulling up the command post tab, he confirmed the level 2 fortifications were the only new upgrade there. Selecting the light mech factory next, he discovered a new upgrade had been waiting for him.

Turret-Mounted Secondary Armament: The T-7 mech will be upgraded to include a secondary .30-caliber weapon coaxially mounted next to the main gun. While less powerful and shorter-ranged than the main armament, the secondary weapon has a higher rate of fire, making it effective against soft targets at short range. The cost to unlock the secondary armament is 100 resources. Build cost for a T-7 with a secondary weapon is increased to 30 resources. When this upgrade is activated, existing units will be upgraded by your construction drones at a cost of 5 resources per unit.

This was exactly the sort of thing Hugh had been hoping for; the secondary weapons should be just the ticket against the swarming Krixnas. He almost had enough resources to buy the upgrade but held off until he had a chance to look at everything. With another new item showing in the barracks tab, Hugh was glad he hadn’t jumped at the first upgrade he found.

M1919 .30-Caliber Medium Machine Gun: This upgrade unlocks a machine gun team to be added to your infantry mech formations. Machine guns allow for high rates of fire and have a longer range than standard infantry weapons. The cost to unlock this upgrade is 50 resources. A machine gun team requires 20 resources and 20 unit points. The team consists of the weapon and 2 of your current-level infantry mechs serving as crew.

His patience had been rewarded, but his resources were slowly shrinking as the production of replacements for both combat and construction mechs outpaced his income. Hugh figured that once a few more construction drones were built and sent out to gather salvage, he should break even, then start to tick back over into positive resource flow. There was also the concern that he was getting close to the unit point limit and would need to think about either another signal tower or a command post upgrade once he was able to construct all the forces in his queue.

Upgrading to the machine gun and queuing up a team would drop him to nearly zero resources, but it was a risk he was willing to take. The worst-case scenario was that the flow of replacements was slightly delayed for a few minutes. Hugh spent the funds and ordered a machine gun team. Queuing up a second type of infantry unit for his forces brought up a new barracks menu.

Please select which unit types have construction priority. Expand your barracks or upgrade to a second production line to prevent delays.

1. Infantry mechs

2. Support teams

The options showed support teams, which he assumed meant the machine guns, but the phrasing indicated other specialized teams would be unlocked at higher levels. For now, Hugh set the priority to support teams to get at least the first machine gun team completed. With only one team in the queue, the construction of infantry mechs wouldn’t be delayed for too long. He waited for the new weapon to be built, watching the construction of the improved defenses while the barracks did its thing.

With unit production and upgrades sorted out, Hugh looked over the battlefield. Whereas the level 1 fortifications had been a simple trench line dug into the ground, the new fortifications were reinforced with sandbags and were deeper overall, allowing the infantry inside to step down into total cover if they needed to. The overhead protection was laughable, only a few boards with sandbags placed over various sections of the trench. It might stop shell fragments, but not much else. There was a grenade sump dug into the floor, allowing the troops at least a chance to kick away a grenade, not that the Krixnas appeared to use them.

A few positions that looked like they were designed specifically for the weapons teams were sprinkled along the line, one facing each direction. Also, a hull-down firing position for his light mechs was dug in and reinforced with sandbags. The mechs would have to crouch down for them to be effective, which he assumed they could do, even though he hadn’t seen them perform the maneuver yet. All in all, whatever forces he was able to build before the next wave should have a higher survival rate.

So far, each wave of the attack had increased in number, but not quality. If he were a betting man, Hugh expected the next attack would feature landing attempts at all four compass points. One question remained: would he have enough to stop them this time?

★

Chapter 19

Hugh was down to seven minutes when the machine gun team walked off the assembly line. The team consisted of two standard infantry mechs, each holding a component of the machine gun. The weapon itself resembled something bulky, like what you would expect from a World War I water-cooled weapon. The second mech on the team carried a foldout tripod, as well as the large power supply the plasma-based weapon required. He assigned the team to Captain Tran’s final defensive line, watching as they picked the bunker to the north and began to deploy their weapon. After the weapon was mounted in the bunker, one of the infantry mechs operated the gun itself while the other began to scan for targets with its arm-mounted rifle. It looked like the weapons system only required the team to move it from place to place, and once it was employed, he gained an extra rifleman on the line.

“Sir, permission to take the light mechs down to the beach,” Captain Cartwright asked. “If they attack like before, I should be able to pick off a landing craft or two before they reach us and still make it back to the final defensive line before the enemy.” It was a good tactic, and the return fire from the landers had proven ineffective against the mechs, so the risk of sending them forward on their own was minimal.

“Sounds good, Captain. I’ll assign your force to that area,” Hugh replied, moving the light mechs from the final defensive line and onto the beach area, where they began to patrol. He had earlier increased the T-7 queue to four mechs, the third of which would be completed in the next minute and would join Cartwright’s other light mechs. Before everything in the production queue was built, he would hit his unit point limit, but Hugh was in no danger of reaching his limit anytime soon. He needed every weapon he could build and couldn’t afford to keep a production building idle.

He now had a total force of twenty-three infantry, one machine gun team, and a pair of T-7s. Once they fell back from the beach, the light mechs could move into one of the defensive positions the drones had dug for them, improving the lightly armored units’ survivability. After the next infantry mech was completed, Hugh queued up a second machine gun team, which should finish up just as the battle started. He had done all he could think of, and unless he had some unexpected windfall of resources or survived a wave without too many losses, he wouldn’t last much longer. He wondered how his opponent was faring as the battle began.

Contact warnings were called out at each of the four compass points, just as he had predicted. Thankfully, there were only four landing craft in each force, rather than the six the previous waves had included. His second machine gun team moved to the fighting position facing south. With the north and south reinforced with a weapons team, his forces holding the east and west would need the most support.

“Captain Cartwright, focus on east or west with the light mechs. We need to wear down those forces before they land,” Hugh ordered. The captain acknowledged the order and moved two of the T-7s to the east, and a single mech, which was just walking out of the factory, headed west. The landing craft were still pretty far out, so the single mech should have time to make it into range before they made landfall.

They now had twenty-five infantry to work with, and Captain Tran chose to divide five between the northern and southern positions to support the machine guns, while ten each deployed to defend the east and west. Replacement infantry would fill in on either the north or south, reinforcing whichever position was weaker.

The deep thump of the .50-caliber weapons in the light mechs caught his attention. The two facing the east began to focus their fire on a single landing craft, already scoring hits as the range shortened by the second. His mechs turned the first target to swiss cheese and had begun work on the second when the other light mech arrived on the western beach and began its attack.

The landing craft returned fire with their mortar-type launchers, and the light mechs began an evasive pattern as they kept up their own rate of fire. A loud clang was heard, followed by an explosion as the lone T-7 on the western beach was hit by a lucky shot. The mortar round had burned through the top armor and taken out the mech, which was now a burning wreck. Not having had much time to do its work, the mech had still managed to land a few hits on one of the landing craft, but the worm-like machine was able to make it to the beach and offload its forces. As the hatches popped off the landing craft, Hugh did note that only six Krixnas infantry dismounted, so his light mech had done at least some damage before being taken out.

In the east, things were looking much better. The pair of T-7s assigned to the beach had sunk two landing craft and severely damaged a third before the enemy landed. His mechs began a fighting retreat, keeping the enemy infantry under fire as they pulled back to the final defensive line. Only a dozen Krixnas dismounted, and two of those were shot down before they even made it to the base of the hill.

In the north and south, the landings were unopposed; in each location, all four craft made it to the beach and disgorged a total of thirty-two Krixnas infantry. The enemy moved easily past the first defensive line but had only begun their advance up the hill when the machine guns opened up. Hugh didn’t know what to expect. The light mechs mounted what was supposed to be a heavy machine gun, but the rate of fire wasn’t much better than a bolt action rifle. His machine guns, while not anywhere near the rate of fire of a conventional machine gun, were still able to spit out a shot every second. The steady fire reached out at the approaching infantry, the plasma-infused rounds slamming into the attackers and thinning their numbers. The machine guns were more powerful than his rifles but weren’t up to the damage output of the heavier-caliber guns on the T-7s.

As the enemy approached the second line of defense, the infantry were able to take them under fire. Rifle shots, the steady fire of the machine guns, and the dull thumps of light mech rounds cut down enemy after enemy. By the time the enemy was in range with their strange and inaccurate laser weapons, less than thirty of the total force of attackers remained. The first volley of grenades was thrown as the enemy closed in. Hugh noted that the soldiers on the machine gun teams didn’t use grenades. It was a strange disadvantage to place on his forces, but the GCA’s rules didn’t always make sense. Relief flooded Hugh as the last enemy was cut down. He had only lost a handful of infantry and a single T-7 in the attack.

The human war core has defeated the third assault wave. The first interlude has been claimed.

“Does anyone know what the heck an interlude is?” Hugh asked his commanders. There was a long pause before he received a reply, letting him know the GCA had likely edited or restricted some of what Tran was trying to say.

“Typically, when this type of battle reaches certain points, one side wins an advantage and gets to sit out the next wave. It’ll give us a chance to . . . And sometimes the first to beat the scenario wins the interlude . . .” The reply was chopped up and there was a long gap before he heard Tran again. “Sorry, sir, that’s all I can say at this time.”

“I understand. It should give us the time we need to build up our forces and get some more upgrades rolling,” Hugh added, glad for the reprieve. “Okay, for now, I’m going to work on gathering up resources and maxing out our forces. After that, we’ll see about upgrading the command post to the next level.”

His command post had assembled replacements for all of his lost drones, giving him five squads of five to work with. Hugh assigned one squad to complete the fortification upgrades, while three more were assigned to gathering salvage. Knowing he would need more unit points, Hugh queued up a signal tower to be constructed by the final squad.

Once the signal tower was built, he would have four hundred unit points to work with. Hugh went through several army buildouts, finally settling on one he felt gave him the most bang for his buck. It was hard to plan when he didn’t know what the next waves of attacks would bring, so he was forced to generalize and try to prepare for as many possibilities as he could. After the solid performance of the .30-caliber weapons the machine gun teams used, he wanted that upgrade for his T-7 mechs as soon as he could afford it.

Unit points: 400/400

Construction drones: 25/25; total unit points required: 25

Infantry mechs: 39/39; total unit points required: 195

Machine gun teams: 4/4; total unit points required: 80

Light mechs: 4/4; total unit points required: 100

Once the construction drones were done with the signal tower, he would place them on resource gathering. Hugh prioritized salvage that was furthest away from his command post. It would take longer for him to gather it due to the travel time involved, but it would help him not exhaust the salvage that was near his command post. That was likely to be the only stuff he could safely gather as the battle progressed, not that there was all that much of it left.

The Krixnas war core has defeated the third assault wave. The next wave will commence in 15 minutes.

It was interesting that the time for the next wave hadn’t started when he won the fight. Perhaps it would be too much of a burden to force the other side to deal with not only losing the interlude but also starting the clock for the next wave. He really wanted eyes on the enemy force, but that would likely take a command post upgrade to unlock. As it stood now, his resources were increasing at a slow rate, but the rate would skyrocket once his forces were all built and their drain on his resources ceased. Despite wanting the upgraded command post, Hugh first spent the resources for the secondary armament on his T-7s. Once that was done, he would have upgraded everything he could. Hugh was torn between building the final signal tower to increase his total force or just stockpiling resources for the command post upgrade.

“Captains, any preferences on rushing to the next command post level? Or should I build another signal tower and more troops?” he asked.

As expected, there were no replies.

“Thoughts on deploying our current forces?” he asked. His available troops, even now that they were maxed out, still seemed like too few to try and hold all three defensive lines.

“Two ways we go at it, sir,” Tran said. “We can keep a sizeable force of infantry and the gun teams at the second line, leaving the first empty, save for the light mechs. A small force would be held back at the third line to hold off any surprise rushes on the command post. If you expand the signal tower, we will have more infantry to cover the third line and flesh out the second line.”

“I concur, sir, and agree with Tran’s assessment of our options, especially with the deployment strategy for additional troops,” Cartwright added. Hugh picked up on their not-so-subtle suggestion to build more forces and queued up another signal tower. He had at least one light mech and machine gun for each side and decided that the best use of the extra unit points would be in producing more infantry.

The fourth wave has begun.

Hugh kept an eye out over the ocean as he worked, not entirely trusting the reprieve he had been granted. When no landing craft appeared over the horizon after the first few minutes, he realized the interlude wasn’t a trick. The third and final signal tower was well on its way to being built and he had queued up enough infantry to max out his unit points. Despite all the construction, he was still amassing resources and was up to 327, with the drones bringing in more all the time.

The third wave of the assault had been going on for around ten minutes when he finally hit the 750 resources needed to expand the command post. With his troops maxed out, he had no other reason to hold back, so he ordered the upgrade. A squad of drones was pulled from salvage duty and began to expand his command post. This time, the walls were only pushed out far enough for the drones to add additional structural reinforcements. Most of the work was happening inside, with upgrades to the production line as well as to the computer systems and communications gear. He figured he would need more processing power in addition to better comms if he wanted to control air and sea units at some point.

Hugh felt his mind work faster after the upgrade, and he instinctively knew his construction drone force had gotten a nice efficiency upgrade. Multiple drones could now be produced at the same time. Previously, he had to wait until one was finished before another would start building. Now the next drone in the queue would start once the first was only halfway down the assembly line. He could only hope the upgrades would affect his other combat unit factories once he got around to them.

Before doing anything else, Hugh looked through his various menus and build options to see if anything new had been unlocked, holding off on building any additional units until he saw everything available for upgrade. There was only one new option showing from his command post. Everything else was the same, at least until he upgraded his existing structures or built new ones.

Construction Drone Weapons Pod: This upgrade requires 100 resources and will equip your construction drones with a simple laser weapon that will automatically target and engage any hostile forces in range. Construction drones will require an additional resource point to construct or upgrade to the new standard. While this upgrade will add some firepower to your drones, which will improve at higher command post levels, it should be noted that the drone’s chassis is not rated for combat operations and drones make a poor substitute for even the most basic of infantry mechs.

It was an intriguing upgrade, and his drones had taken a beating every time the enemy broke through their lines to assault the command post. For now, Hugh couldn’t justify the resources when the other combat unit factories were still waiting to be built or upgraded. Once he maxed out on units and other upgrades, the weapons pods might make a good resource dump.

The Krixnas war core has defeated the fourth wave. The next assault will begin in 10 minutes.

The enemy hadn’t taken long to fight off whatever was attacking them this time, leaving him to wonder if the interlude attacks were weaker to offset the advantage. Hugh felt more confident about the coming fight after the time he’d been given to build up his forces, but he would have to use the next ten minutes efficiently if he wanted to keep his advantage.

★

Chapter 20

Hugh had ten minutes left to build up his defense. Hitting level 3 on the command post had unlocked new build options, but what should he choose? Taking a step back, he reviewed the current battle status. A few cursory questions to Tran and Cartwright about the airfield and port went unanswered, the information likely restricted. The decision on what to do next was his alone.

Current Battle Information:

Resources: 386

Structures:

Command post, level 3 (unit points: 450/550): Upgrade to level 4 requires 1000 resources.

Barracks, level 2, with armory addon: Upgrade to level 3 requires 300 resources.

Light mech factory, level 2, with machine shop addon: Upgrade to level 3 requires 400 resources.

Signal tower (3/4): Additional signal towers require 50 resources each.

Units:

Construction drones: 25

Infantry mechs: 49

Machine gun teams: 4

Light mechs: 4

Garrison units: none

Available Structures:

Airfield: The airfield requires 500 resources to construct.

Port: A port facility requires 500 resources to construct.

He had a couple of paths to take. The most obvious would be to continue what he was doing, upgrading the barracks and mech factories while maxing out his unit cap by producing the most powerful land units he could. Another option would be to venture into either air or sea units. He didn’t know how powerful or impactful the units would be, but those paths hinted at the ability to finally have a way to get eyes on the enemy forces. Taking a risk, Hugh decided on going for the airfield.

The aircraft the GCA would allow was unknown; he hadn’t seen any in the previous battles he had witnessed, so this would be new ground for him. He was hopeful the Krixnas war core had limited experience with aircraft. His opponent had completed an entire training program, but did that include naval and air units? He would find out soon enough. His resources were climbing well over four hundred and should hit the five hundred necessary to begin construction shortly.

While he waited, Hugh made sure his construction drones were on the proper tasks. Four squads were assigned with gathering salvage and the fifth squad was working on the fortification upgrades. The level 2 fortifications had been completed for the second and third lines of defense, and the drones were just starting to upgrade the first line, which was currently unoccupied. Pulling a squad off resource gathering, Hugh assigned them to begin construction of the airfield.

Just past his command post, an open area for the airfield was staked out. The total space was larger than either the mech factory or the barracks. Thankfully, the top of his little island fortress had more than enough room to fit the airfield and still have room for his existing buildings to expand a bit. A short but wide runway was laid out, the drones producing a concrete-like mixture that hardened instantly into a solid surface, complete with painted symbols that likely meant something to someone in the Air Force, but not to an Army soldier like Hugh. A command building was constructed on one side of the runway, and on the other side were three concrete hangars that looked like they could each house multiple aircraft. By the time the drones were done and back on gathering duty, Hugh was down to four minutes until the next wave.

Airfield, Level 3: The airfield allows for the construction of a variety of air mechs to use for combat, reconnaissance, or transport. The level of the airfield will determine the types of aircraft available for construction. Upgrade your command post to further upgrade the airfield. Note: This is the first time you have unlocked an air unit. Be aware of the following advantages/restrictions of this type of unit.

1. Air units cannot venture outside a friendly airfield’s zone of control or they will immediately lose power and their connection to the combat pod system. The maximum range is determined by the type of aircraft and the level of the airfield. Increasing the level of the airfield or adding the control tower upgrade will extend this range.

2. Aircraft do not use unit points, and the maximum number and type you can deploy are based on a new command resource called air points. Air points are determined by the level of the airfield and control tower upgrades.

New unit unlocked: F2A Buffalo air mech. This basic air unit is primarily designed for air-to-air combat but can function as a reconnaissance unit in a pinch. With limited ground-attack capacity, it is recommended this unit stay airborne in battle. A single .30-caliber weapon is mounted in the nose of the aircraft and can be used against both air and ground targets. Upgrade your airfield to unlock additional upgrades for this unit. The F2A Buffalo requires 50 resources to construct and uses up 25 air points.

A quick check of the airfield showed that he had only fifty air points to work with. Hugh queued up a pair of the Buffalo fighters, which would max out his air points. While the fighters were being constructed, he took a look through his various production structures to see if any new unlocks had occurred. The only thing showing was the control tower upgrade the system had mentioned in the description of the airfield.

Control Tower: The control tower upgrade increases the range of your aircraft and unlocks additional research options. Adding a control tower will increase the number of air points generated by your airfield. Once constructed, the control tower upgrades automatically with the airfield. The control tower requires 250 resources to construct.

The upgrade sounded like a solid investment, given that it scaled with the airfield itself. So far, all his auxiliary research buildings on his factories had done this, a small quality-of-life improvement and one fewer thing he had to upgrade with each level. He hoped the trend continued; he would hate to have to individually upgrade the armory, machine shop, and control tower each time he leveled their main buildings. With the production of new aircraft taking a chunk out of his resource flow, he couldn’t unlock the control tower just yet.

With the clock ticking down, Hugh went ahead and queued up more infantry for his defense. He had gained more unit points when the command post upgraded, and since the air units didn’t require them, he wanted to max out his ground forces. With the production of the air units and the additional infantry, his resource intake was barely keeping pace. He looked with a bit of concern at the dwindling piles of salvage strewn about the island. It had initially looked like more than enough to last the battle, but by now his drones had scoured the beach clean and were moving slowly up the hill as they continued to gather what remained of the precious salvage.

Looking in on the airfield, he saw the production of the first fighter was only halfway complete. The T-7 light mechs took longer to build than his infantry mechs, and the air units were going to take even longer than the light mechs. The fighters were being constructed in the air command building, where the assembly line was located. The other hangars were there for housing the completed units when they weren’t in combat. Resembling that of a traditional aircraft, the fuselage had a stubby rounded shape designed to prevent air drag. There was even a clear canopy on top, which struck him as odd, given that there was no living pilot inside. Zooming in on the canopy, Hugh could see the area was stuffed with sensors and the power collection unit that linked it to the airfield. The nose of the aircraft was hollow and mounted a type of turbine device to provide forward thrust.

Mounted in the front cowling of the aircraft was a single machine gun, the same .30-caliber weapon his ground forces used in the machine gun teams. The barrel of the weapon stuck out slightly from the cowling covering the nose, and Hugh couldn’t help but feel that the single weapon was woefully inadequate for a fighter aircraft. The tail assembly was added next. Resembling that of every other fighter plane he had seen, the tail was equipped with vertical and horizontal stabilizers as well as a rudder.

With the tail section attached, the assembly line now got to work on the wings. The wings were shorter and wider than normal; another turbine was housed in each to generate lift and allow the craft to hover when necessary. The wings could rotate, allowing for VTOL capability. From the midpoint of the fuselage, just beneath the wings, two doors opened, and a pair of spindly mech legs extended. The completed aircraft walked its way out of the hangar, the turbines spooling as it lifted off vertically. Once the craft was airborne, the legs retracted, and the F2A Buffalo began to make slow circuits over the island as the airfield went to work on building the second aircraft.

While the aircraft was under construction, the infantry barracks had been pumping out more units, bringing his total infantry up to fifty-two and counting. Production would continue up to the unit point cap, and Hugh set all his production buildings to automatically replenish any losses. That way, he wouldn’t forget to order replacements in the heat of battle. Priority went to light mechs, infantry, weapons teams, and finally aircraft if resources were an issue. Hugh needed ground units to defend the command post, and he wasn’t sure of the effectiveness of the aircraft, so they were at the back of the line.

“Major Logan, this is Captain Tremaine reporting in. The Air Force has arrived,” Hugh heard over comms. The first aircraft began to perform various maneuvers as Captain Tremaine put it through its paces.

“Welcome to the battle, Tremaine. I have a second aircraft under construction for you, but that will likely be it for a while,” Hugh replied, glad to have another officer to assist with air ops.

“Thank you, sir. What’s our situation?” the captain asked.

“We’re in a defensive mission. We need to hold this island longer than the Krixnas hold theirs. So far, we’ve been hit with three waves of attackers and had a couple of close calls. What can you suggest for the most effective use of our air units?” Hugh asked.

“With these Buffalos, there’s not a whole lot of options. I’ll do my best to keep any enemy air off you and maybe make some strafing passes if the enemy air defense isn’t too bad,” Tremaine advised. Hugh could tell the aircraft interface needed less interaction on his part. He could set the primary mission and the captain in charge of his air wing would take it from there. Hugh reviewed the new options that had been unlocked for air operations.

Air Missions:

1. Air Superiority: Aircraft will focus on intercepting and destroying any enemy air units within range, prioritizing the threats nearest to the command post first.

2. Ground Support: Direct attacks on enemy ground forces, consisting of low-level passes using any appropriate weapons.

3. Strategic Bombing: Long-range attacks against enemy resource gathering buildings, production structures, and units.

4. Escort: Assign your fighter aircraft to protect the more vulnerable heavy assault air units.

5. Ground Combat: Land the aircraft and engage enemies from the ground. This is an inefficient mode of combat for these units and not recommended except in case of emergency.

Hugh figured there would be more options later, and with only a pair of fighters at his disposal, he selected air superiority. Once his mission preference was selected, a second option appeared, asking if he wanted to add a secondary mission. He selected ground support based on what Tremaine had suggested. If there were no air targets, his aircraft would make strafing runs on enemy forces.

The fifth wave has begun. See to your defenses.

“Shout out any contacts,” Hugh ordered as he began to search for the approaching enemy.

“I’ve got air and sea contacts to the north,” Tremaine called out. Turning his focus in that direction, Hugh could see three ships heading toward his island while a flight of three aircraft kept pace overhead.

“Contacts to the south as well, sir,” Tran called, and Hugh saw a similar number of vessels and aircraft approaching from that direction.

As the enemy neared, Hugh was shocked to see the units approaching were not Krixnas forces but instead something he hadn’t seen yet. The ships were around the same size as the Krixnas landing craft, but instead of looking like a giant worm, these had a sleek twin-hulled design that looked like a futuristic human creation, not a mechanical representation of a particular species.

The aircraft were just as strange, sporting a twin-fuselage design that seemed to be favored by this race, whatever it was. Using the same type of propulsion as his fighters, the larger craft sported more turbines and had the barrels of several weapons sticking out at various points.

“Looks like those are Madrix units. The GCA is mixing things up for us,” Captain Cartwright said.

“What’s a Madrix and what can their units do?” Hugh asked, intrigued that something new was attacking. He had assumed he would face wave after wave of Krixnas, not a mix of races. The knowledge that other types of races and their units could be added to the battle made planning ahead more difficult.

“I’ve seen them before,” Cartwright advised. “Two-headed weirdos with decent tech. Individually, their units are pretty powerful, but they’re more costly and usually appear in smaller numbers. They prefer a type of constant-fire beam weapon that will eventually melt through whatever they lock onto. Keep everyone moving to prevent a lock from happening. I’m not sure what the ships are, but the aircraft resemble a transport craft I’ve seen before. I expect they will be carrying a load of drop troops.”

“So, two-headed weirdos with lasers. Got it,” Hugh replied.

The second Buffalo launched as the enemy closed in, and Tremaine held off his attack until he had a wingman.

“Let’s get the T-7s behind the second line of defense with a pair facing each attack. Reinforce north and south but leave a few troops behind to defend the other fronts just in case of a surprise attack,” Hugh ordered.

“Sir, I’m moving to engage the northern attack,” Tremaine reported. Hugh’s infantry and light mechs were still shuffling around to meet the attack, so he watched the air battle unfold. When they sighted the approaching fighters, the enemy aircraft formed into a V shape. Tremaine gained altitude and began to dive on the Madrix craft, engines howling at maximum thrust.

Visible laser beams began to fire from the enemy craft. The sky around them became a laser light show as the beams flailed about, trying to get a lock on Hugh’s fighters. Tremaine and the other pilot pushed home their attack, using the strange thruster setup to keep their aircraft from staying in the same place for too long. Hugh saw the first glow of rounds coming from the fighters’ machine guns. The slow and steady rate of fire matched that of the weapons his infantry machine gun teams used. It was sadly inadequate for what they needed, Hugh decided.

The fighters corrected their aim, landing only a handful of hits before they dove below the transports. One of the beams latched onto a fighter as it passed, the energy easily burning through the aircraft’s thin skin. The gunner lost his lock as the fighter dove past where the gun could bear. Other guns on the bottom of the aircraft’s hull began to fire, but their high-speed pass had put the fighters out of range too quickly for them to do any damage. The two fighters began to climb again, preparing for another pass. They only had time for one more pass before the enemy arrived. Tremaine looked to be targeting the same aircraft for his second pass.

Something exploded in one of the transport’s wings as the pair of fighters stitched a line of fire across it. With the screeching sound of twisting metal, the wing bent and then snapped off completely from the fuselage, causing the transport to spin out of control and fall into the sea below. One of the gunners on the other transports managed to lock onto the damaged fighter again. This time, the beam melted through the cockpit area, and the aircraft lost all power, dropping like a stone.

His sole remaining fighter was trying to climb for another pass, but time had run out; the enemy forces were nearly at the beach. It would be up to Hugh’s ground forces to hold out against this new foe.

★

Chapter 21

The main guns on the T-7s boomed as they began to engage the ships approaching the northern beach. Somehow, those vessels had pulled ahead of the southern forces. In response to the heavy rounds being thrown at them, twin beams from a weapons mount in the bow of the ship reached out toward the shore. Rocky soil sizzled where the beams hit, the attackers swiveling them back and forth as they sought to lock onto the defenders. Hugh watched as one of the beams landed on a T-7. The armor began to bubble and melt, but Cartwright, or whoever controlled that particular mech, quickly sidestepped, breaking the lock.

With their twin bows grinding their way onto the beach, the Madrix ships made it to shore. Hugh waited for the sides to pop off and troops to emerge, but instead, panels opened along the lower hull. Long limbs extended, and the ship rocked as the legs tried to pull the heavy vessel out of the water. The four legs didn’t seem up to the task, and four more sets of panels opened. A total of eight legs seemed to do the trick, and the ships were now able to move on land. The craft began to slowly stomp their way onto the beach as the T-7s poured round after round into them.

The Madrix craft were more heavily armored than the Krixnas landing craft, but the .50-caliber weapons on his light mechs were beginning to burn through. When the landing craft made it halfway up the beach, the secondary weapons on the T-7s and the .30-caliber machine gun positions added their fire to the mix. In response, the bow-mounted weapons on both craft zeroed in on the stationary machine gun team, burning through the sandbag-reinforced position it occupied. The beams struck the lightly armored infantry mech operating the weapon, destroying it nearly instantly and slagging the machine gun.

His T-7s proved a harder target for the ships’ weapons to lock onto. The soldiers crewing the light mechs moved them in a random pattern as they kept up their steady fire. The weapon on one of the ships went silent as incoming fire caved in a section of armor and began to tear apart its insides. With a hiss, the legs dropped the ship onto the beach as an armored hatch at the rear dropped to disgorge the infantry within.

Madrix infantry were strange and unlike either his forces or the Krixnas. A stout armored torso was mounted on four legs, and atop the torso were two large round globes resembling heads. The Madrix infantry mechs moved slower than Hugh’s troops, and the overall design had about twice the mass of his infantry, but they were still decidedly smaller than the T-7s. A total of four of the Madrix infantry emerged from the rear of the landing craft, forming up in pairs before continuing their assault on Hugh’s command post.

His T-7s shifted fire to a second landing craft, wanting to prevent the attackers from breaching his lines and dropping off the infantry directly inside his base. These Madrix were tough, and Hugh was beginning to worry his troops wouldn’t be up to the task of defeating them. So far, his only opponent had been the Krixnas, who, while powerful, had several flaws in their fighting style that gave Hugh a good chance at beating them. With the Madrix, Hugh was matched in range and accuracy while the attacking units were much more durable than his own.

The northern and southern forces had each managed to take down one of the landing craft; both fronts had lost their machine gun teams and several infantry mechs from the fire of the powerful shipboard weapons. His infantry were now in range and threw their fire into the mix, targeting their Madrix counterparts. The stout Madrix infantry shrugged off the first hits, returning fire in an unusual yet shockingly effective manner. The twin globes that served as the heads of the attackers proved to also be their weapons. A beam shot forth from each head, striking with impressive accuracy. Hugh’s infantry went down one after another as the Madrix picked them off, his return fire only now starting to penetrate the armor and do some real damage to their foes.

With only one air mech remaining to try and stop the airborne attackers, Hugh needed more protection near the command post. Since there was no threat to the east and west, Hugh ordered the forces there to come and mount a defense of the command post itself. He had only five infantry in each of those locations, but he also had two machine gun teams to help repel the airborne invasion.

Overhead, the attacking aircraft began to cross over the base, panels opening underneath them to allow the infantry inside to jump out. Each aircraft only carried a pair of Madrix infantry. Unlike normal human paratroopers, these infantry stood on oval platforms that mounted four small thrusters. It appeared the attackers had some control over the direction of their descent; all ten of the Madrix drop troops guided themselves toward Hugh’s command post.

One of the attackers lost control as a spray of plasma rounds began to hit it. Hugh looked up to see Tremaine and his Buffalo fighter fly past, his gun already seeking out more targets. The machine gun teams also surprised him. The crews were extending the legs on the tripod mount, allowing the guns to be aimed upward in an air-defense role. They and the accompanying infantry pelted the drop troops. Their drop platforms were armored to some extent, and the Madrix aboard them were already returning fire with beams launched from their heads, burning through Hugh’s infantry.

Hugh was tempted to call back some of the infantry defending against the seaborne assault, but it looked like they were having their own problems dealing with the deadly Madrix units. Of his four light mechs, only one battered T-7 was still in the fight, slugging it out with the final ship walking in toward the north. In the south, one of the ships was forcing its way past the infantry in the second line, who were trading grenades with Madrix infantry using their own version of the plasma weapons. Hugh’s forces were bleeding out, but the Madrix losses were also mounting. It would be a race to see if he could stop them before they reached the command post.

Captain Tremaine shot down another Madrix drop trooper just before it landed. The pilot turned his attention to the walking ships, already lining up his first strafing run on the pair to the south. Between Tremaine’s attacks and the fire from the infantry on the ground, only four Madrix landed safely. They didn’t hesitate, using their beam weapons to fry the crews of both machine gun teams almost immediately. A handful of infantry stood in their way, and given the power of the Madrix weapons, it wouldn’t take them long to burn down the command post.

“We’re being overrun at the command post. Everyone, fall back and defend,” Hugh ordered, re-tasking all his surviving forces to help. Another infantry unit walked from the barracks and joined the fight, followed closely by a freshly made T-7, its heavy gun picking off one of the drop troopers. Another fell under the surviving infantry’s rifle fire, while the last pair ignored the defenders and focused their beams on Hugh’s command post. A burning pain lanced into him as the beams began to dig deep into the structure, vaporizing construction drones that were already working to repair the damage.

Without any opposing fire, the T-7 and the new infantry unit took down the drop troopers before they could finish Hugh off. The pain nearly overwhelmed him, and he couldn’t concentrate very well. Just when the drones repairing the command post began to bring him some relief, more beams from the walking ships blazed in. The final damaged ship pushed forward, its powerful beams tearing through the command post as every surviving weapon tried to put it down.

At that point, Hugh lost his vision, teetering on the brink of failure. He didn’t know how long had passed, only that the pain wasn’t getting any worse and that meant his forces had, somehow, won the fight. The agony was receding much more slowly than it had previously, but his vision finally returned. Looking out from his command post, he spotted a lone, damaged drone slowly working on repairs. That was the problem; he had queued up his combat forces to keep building no matter what, but he had neglected to do something similar with his construction drones. He ordered replacements for his lost workers, giving them the highest priority. It seemed like ages before the first new drone was complete. It joined its damaged comrade, and repairs began to move more quickly.

“Hugh, are you back with us?” Captain Tran asked, concern in his voice.

“Yeah, I’m back now. The pain was too much,” Hugh replied.

“Good. I know it hurts. The same thing happens when the mechs we’re operating take damage. You need to shake it off, soldier, and get back into the fight. Time is ticking by,” Tran said. A third drone started work, and Hugh began to feel more like himself.

“So what happened with the Madrix?” Hugh asked, looking at the destroyed mechs strewn about his island.

“When they got close, they went bonkers and tried to steamroll your command post. It almost worked, too, but your recall order brought all of us back to defend. Without taking return fire, we were finally able to knock them out pretty quickly. Captain Tremaine saved the day by crashing his fighter into one of the walking ships, taking it out of the fight.”

“Well done, everyone. Let’s get our forces sorted out and prepare for the next wave,” Hugh said, looking up the most recent system notice.

The Krixnas war core has defeated the fifth assault wave. Six minutes are remaining until the next wave. This is the final wave. You will now face a continuous stream of attackers.

The notice was given just two minutes ago, so he only had four minutes remaining before the final wave started. At least his factories hadn’t stopped while he was writhing in pain; they followed their commands and replaced his losses. A quick check of his forces showed what he had to work with.

Construction drones: 4

Infantry: 29

Machine gun teams: 3

Light mechs: 2

Air mechs: 1

“We’re almost out of time. Let’s get what we have into our final line of defense and hunker down for the attacks,” Hugh said.

“Roger that, sir, but I have a feeling we’re in a better position than our opponent,” Captain Cartwright told him. It struck Hugh just then that the Krixnas victory prompt was the most recent one, which meant he had cleared the wave first. There it was in the logs; he had cleared it first, and the ten-minute timer had begun to tick down. The Krixnas had less time to prepare, and given the challenge posed by the last wave, he was willing to bet they were in worse shape than him.

Resources were at 134, the number dropping rapidly as new units were built. He had lost almost all his construction drones, and the ones being built now were all focused on repairing the damage to his command post. There was lots of salvage out there, with all the Madrix ships just waiting to be gathered, but his workers all seemed to go into emergency repair mode when the command post was attacked. This time, all but one were destroyed while he was out. He would need to always prioritize workers so if something like this happened again, he wouldn’t be left with zero resources and zero construction drones.

“Do you want us to spread the troops evenly around the perimeter?” Tran asked.

“Yes, at least until we see where the new waves will focus. From the prompt, it looks like they’re pulling out all the stops and I would expect them to come at us from everywhere at once,” Hugh replied.

“True, and this time, perhaps we keep a small force back at the command post to defend you. With none of the free AI garrison forces being produced, you need to have something to take their place,” Tran advised.

“I get that now, and something tells me you guys were trying to tell me that all along and the information was blocked. Okay, give me a squad of ten infantry, a machine gun team, and a light mech. Everything else that gets built goes into the final defensive line. Tremaine, do the best you can with our air cover. I know having a maximum of two aircraft to work with isn’t ideal, but you’ve done great with it so far.”

He had pulled a good chunk of their available force to defend the command post. The soldiers assigned to that duty took position behind the short wall that surrounded the building. The light mech would patrol inside the walls, and the machine gun team would shift to face the greatest threat.

The final wave has begun. Prepare for battle.

Another five infantry and a light mech were completed when the announcement was made. Hugh was up to twelve construction drones, two of which were still working on repairing the damage to the command post while the others gathered up salvage, trying to first clear away anything that was blocking his troops’ fields of fire. Even with his forces only occupying the final line of defense, his numbers looked thin. Hugh was almost ready to pare down the force defending the command post and add it to the defensive line when contact was made.

“I’ve got incoming at all points. Looks like a wave of Krixnas landing ships,” Tran said. Hugh looked out, and just as he had suspected, landing craft approached from every direction. He counted fifty-two of the vessels, which meant over four hundred Krixnas attackers would land at nearly the same time. As they closed in on the beach, Hugh could see they weren’t alone. Only slightly behind the Krixnas, another wave of Madrix was heading in. This time, the force comprised twenty transport planes and an equal number of the crazy walking ships, far more than his forces could withstand.

“Don’t freak out, Hugh. Remember, your opponent is likely in worse shape than we are,” Cartwright said.

“No problem, we’ve got this,” Hugh said with a confidence he didn’t quite feel.

★

Chapter 22

The waves of Krixnas closed in, but the flying units of the Madrix were overtaking them; they were no longer keeping pace with their strange walking ships. Captain Tremaine led his two fighters toward the foe, the second unit just now joining the fight. On the ground, Hugh’s forces occupied the final defensive line, conceding the beach and secondary lines to the superior foe. There were too many attackers to effectively defend any closer to the beach, and the final defensive line was also the shortest, allowing his limited forces to mass more of their firepower.

“I’m engaging the Madrix flying units. We’ll do what we can,” Tremaine called out.

The small air mechs had climbed above the flight of transports, choosing the flight of five heading in from the north. The defensive fire was heavier with five of the transports firing, but his human-controlled air mechs were continually altering course to avoid the beams seeking them out. As they evaded the defensive fire, his pilots poured rounds into their targets. Each mech had chosen a different transport, trying to get in a kill before the Madrix gunners got a lock on them. The transports were now well ahead of the Krixnas forces, giving Hugh a chance to defeat them before the slower Krixnas caught up.

“Pull everything but the machine gun teams back to the command post. The air units will drop long before the Krixnas disembark and make it up the hill,” Hugh ordered. The machine guns had fared poorly against the Madrix, their lack of mobility making them easy targets for the foe’s beam weapons. It was a different story with the Krixnas; the longer-range and heavier-hitting rounds were very effective, and their dug-in position on the trench line gave them good cover from the inaccurate return fire.

A transport spun out of control, crashing into the sea, taking the pair of Madrix troopers onboard with it. The other transport was heavily damaged, and the sole remaining air mech was already closing in for the kill. If his fighter took out the second transport, that would still leave eighteen to drop their pairs of attackers. One on one, his troops were outmatched, but if he could mass the firepower of his entire force, the Madrix shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The challenge would be in keeping enough of his force alive to defend against the closing Krixnas.

It wasn’t a long trip from the final defensive line to where the command post and other buildings sat atop the plateau. His infantry spread out, never stopping their movement as they tracked the Madrix drop troopers that were starting to leave their aircraft. Having failed to take down the second transport, the surviving air mech made a pass through the mass of slowly descending drop troopers, stitching rounds through their ranks. A pair of the enemy fell to the earth; the platforms they used to descend on were armored against ground fire, but not fire from above. His final air mech was targeted by most of the Madrix as it passed, and even the wild gyrations the pilot put the craft through weren’t enough to dodge all the beams seeking it out. The relatively light-armored air mech came apart under the fire.

The drop troopers were now low enough to be engaged by the T-7s, which were thumping out rounds from their main guns. The powerful guns on the light mechs had no trouble penetrating the armor of the drop platforms. The platforms held up well to the rifle fire that was now snapping out. When their initial volley met with little success, Hugh’s infantry changed their targets from the drop platform to any of the infantry they could get a line of sight on. Thirty-eight Madrix infantry had jumped from their aircraft, but that total was dropping by the second as his forces met them with a wall of fire.

Two or three infantry mechs were taken out as the Madrix tried to engage while they dropped, but it was hard to get a lock on the moving soldiers while firing from the drop platforms. Only seventeen of the attackers landed, and that number was cut in half as the Madrix left their craft and stepped into the fight. The two-headed creatures threw out beams, focusing down his infantry as they moved toward the command post. A couple of beams locked on the structure, and Hugh could feel the burning pain dig into him once more.

While it hurt, having the Madrix focus on the command post gave his forces a chance to engage without any return fire. They quickly blasted the remaining troopers before the pain became too much to deal with. Drones were already working to rebuild the damage as Hugh ordered forces back to the final defensive line. Although the Madrix airborne troops were defeated in short order, the Krixnas had landed their attack wave. Hundreds of the bizarre alien infantry mechs trudged up the hill, their heavy bodies slowed by the incline.

At first, only the fire from the four machine gun teams met the attackers, and while they were scoring kills, their rate of fire was far too low to make that much of a difference, given the sheer number of attackers. His T-7s arrived back at their hull-down positions, firing both their powerful main guns and the .30-caliber coaxial-mounted one. The Krixnas had cleared the first defensive line and were closing in on the second when his surviving infantry made it into the trenches and wasted no time in engaging the foe.

Krixnas were cut down by the score, and by the time they entered grenade range, their number had been reduced by a fourth. The first wave of plasma grenades tore into the lead elements, but the attackers were heedless of their losses, pressing the attack without concern for the fire tearing them apart. A second and final wave of plasma grenades exploded as the Krixnas neared the final trench line. Hugh ordered his forces to retreat to the command post, Captain Tran walking the lines backward while trying to keep up their rates of fire.

His troops were slower than the Krixnas, and despite the firepower unleashed against them, Krixnas began to reach his infantry and drag them down one by one. His machine gun teams were also overrun. Hugh opted to leave them on the line to fire for as long as they could, given their slower rate of movement while carrying their weapons. There had to be a way to order them to drop the machine guns and just use their rifles, but Hugh couldn’t find it in time to save them.

Like the Madrix before them, the Krixnas homed in on the command post, their focus allowing Hugh’s troops to mow them down in droves. His surviving forces fell back to the command post, where they used the short wall around it as a final bit of cover. Hugh was down to eight infantry mechs, the machine gun still at the command post, and three T-7s, but the enemy force had also been depleted, with around forty or fifty surviving for the final push.

A few of the blasts from the Krixnas face tentacles burned their way into the command post, his construction drones doing what they could to delay the inevitable. Back on the beach, Madrix landing ships were already emerging from the water, walking their way slowly up the hill. The Krixnas force was down to twenty infantry when a loud boom rolled in from the north. In the distance, Hugh could see a plume of smoke rising from the island where he believed his Krixnas counterpart was based. A very welcome GCA prompt confirmed that his opponent was defeated.

Congratulations! You have emerged victorious in the final battle for system es1422. This system has been defended and will not be eligible for hostile actions until 1 year has passed. War core post-battle calculations are commencing.

Reward Point Calculations:

Base reward: 25 points

Victory bonus: 100 points

Campaign bonus: 250 points

Observation bonus: 25 points

Total points awarded: 400

War Core Termination Calculation:

Base chance for termination: 0.0001%

Failure penalty: none

Multiple loss penalty: none

Effectiveness rating: average

Effectiveness penalty or enhancement: inactive for the first 3 battles the war core participates in

Observer rating: above average

Observer rating penalty or enhancement: inactive for the first 3 battles the war core participates in

Bonuses to survivability: victory enhancement active

Campaign victory enhancement: active

Combat pod lethality penalty: Campaign victory bonus is active. Lethality for this battle is waived.

The last line was a welcome relief; none of his soldiers would die today. The victory and defeat calculations were still a bit vague. Maybe the others back home could help explain them if there was ever time. His reward points should have leveled him up, and just as Hugh thought about it, new prompts appeared.

Congratulations! You have improved your war core to level 2. You may select a minor perk for your war core.

Major Hugh Logan, War Core, Level 2:

Reward points: 550/1000

Select a category of perk:

1. Unit upgrades
a. Air units
b. Land units
c. Sea units
d. Space units

2. Structure upgrades
a. Durability
b. Efficiency
c. Defenses

3. War core upgrades
a. Reconnaissance
b. Resource
c. Construction
d. Communication

4. Opponent penalty options

You have completed your first campaign and have entered the 7-day grace period. Selections for war core upgrades can be made at any time during the grace period but will expire if not selected before hostilities resume.

Hugh felt a wave of relief at the last message. This time, he could consult with the rest of the team before making his selections. A full seven days to work with them should help in his future battles. He wondered if the Krixnas would continue their attacks or if he would be forced to defend against some other alien force. Learning about the other alien races and how to defeat them would be something for him to try and figure out during his break. There were more prompts to look at, the next one describing how the grace period worked.

During the grace period, opponents are unable to declare attacks on systems controlled by your core. Refer to your integrated star charts to see which systems encompass your area of responsibility. Use this reprieve wisely. Prepare yourself for future battles and seek council to improve your skills at commanding your core.

Bonus reward unlocked. You have been granted a 24-hour leave with full access to facility TU8888, known by your race as Harmony Station. Please note that any leave you acquire does not affect your grace period. The countdown until your sector is eligible to be attacked is still active.

Campaign reward unlocked. When victorious in a campaign, you will be given a pass to Harmony Station as well as a reward package. Access the reward center inside Harmony Station to retrieve your reward.

Prepare for transfer to Harmony Station.

He was being granted leave by the GCA, whatever that meant. While Hugh would have preferred to return to the undersea base where his core was housed, he was curious what was about to happen. His view retreated from the island he had fought the last battle of the campaign on, going once more into space. This time, as he approached a strange orange planet, Hugh was drawn into orbit. There, above the orange world, was an enormous construct. It must have been a satellite or space station of some sort, but unlike the space stations around Earth, this thing was the shape of a large rectangle with a smooth, mirror-like surface.

Hugh was drawn inside the station. Then he found himself in darkness. Strange sounds occurred around him, and there was no small amount of pain involved. If this was supposed to be his reward for victory, what was the punishment for failure? Just when he was about to lose it and start panicking, Hugh felt a change. The pain was gone, but he could feel things around him; they were binding him down.

A light appeared, causing him to blink as a slab of steel retracted overhead. Hugh sat up, his lungs filling with air as the cold metal of his resting place seeped into his skin. He was back. His body was back! But was this all an illusion, some preprogrammed vacation granted by the same GCA that had killed his old body? From what he could tell, his body was the same as before. The same somewhat doughy and pale body was copied down to the last blemish. Even the scar where the neighbor’s dog had bitten him as a child was there.

“Hugh Logan, welcome to Harmony Station,” a large, bearded man in a Russian Armed Forces uniform said to him, a broad and genuine-looking smile plastered on his face.

“Where? How?” was all Hugh could mutter.

“First things first, how about you put on some clothes and old Valery will show you around the place?” the man said. Hugh just now realized he was completely naked, and on a small table next to him was a U.S. Army uniform with his name tape on it. Hugh wasn’t sure what to expect from winning the campaign, but having his body returned was more than enough reward as far as he was concerned.

★

Chapter 23

“Now, before you ask, yes, this is your real body. The GCA reconstructs us when we win a campaign and are granted leave. You should also know you don’t get to keep it. When your leave is over, back into the war core blender you will go,” the man who called himself Valery said.

“Where are we?” Hugh asked. There were so many questions that he didn’t know where to start. The room he was in resembled a small hospital room, but instead of a bed, it had a war core pod in the center. Other than that, everything looked like the type of furniture and fixtures you would find in an old, shabby hospital.

“We are on Harmony Station, the one and only vacation spot for a war core to visit. Like I said earlier, my name is Valery Akalov and I’ve been allowed to show you around. There was a pass for leave burning a hole in my pocket, and when I heard you had won your first campaign, I was offered the opportunity to be your guide through this process.”

“Hey, I watched you in that battle you won to give us a chance at another core,” Hugh said. He left out the part where Valery’s victory had also resulted in him being killed and shoved into said core.

“Yes, I didn’t know who would be selected, of course, but I have asked for updates on your progress. We sacrificed a lot to give you a chance, and I wanted to make sure those sacrifices weren’t in vain,” Valery said. Hugh remembered the bodies being pulled from the Russian combat pods and this man’s comments after the fight.

“I’ll do my best to not dishonor what you’ve done, but I can’t exactly say I’m happy to be turned into a machine.”

“Me either. When I was chosen, the KGB grabbed me from my auto repair shop and threw me into the machine. It wasn’t exactly an easy transition,” the man said.

“Wait, KGB? How long ago were you taken?” Hugh asked.

“Ah, yes, you see, we don’t really age when we’re a machine, but I was taken in 1964. I was thirty-eight years old, a retired army mechanic trying to survive. Things weren’t so hard for me. I didn’t have a family, no children, just an ex-wife I was fine with never seeing again.”

“I’m assuming your advisors kept you up to date on things going on in the world?” Hugh asked, a bit concerned that decades would pass and he wouldn’t know what was going on with the world around him.

“Yes, not so much information was given to us until the fall of communism, but now, the military does a pretty good job at keeping me up to date, and I have access to all the media sources. I think you will find that your interest in such things will diminish, given how our new lives progress, but I still like to keep up with the news. Now, enough boring talk of news and the dates we were abducted for alien amusement. Let me tell you what you can do here.”

Hugh picked up on the alien amusement comment, reminded of the theory that Maddison had about all this being entertainment for the GCA.

“Sounds good. I assume my reward doesn’t mean I just sit my rebuilt body inside a hospital room for three days,” Hugh replied.

“No, you get to have some fun, but you must also be on your toes. I suggest you use the restroom here, and then I will treat you to a meal. There is a restaurant that I prefer on the next level down,” Valery said. Hugh did have to go, and he could say at least one benefit of being a war core was the lack of bodily functions. Of course, that also meant he didn’t have a body.

There was a small hospital restroom near some shelves full of old bandages and IV containers. Inside the bathroom, Hugh found a normal toilet, a small sink, and that crappy soap they always had in office buildings.

“Hey, Valery, is the whole station like this?” Hugh asked as he left the restroom. The visit confirmed his body functioned just like it had back on Earth.

“No, they load up something they think will be familiar to you. Outside is a whole other story. Follow me.” Valery opened the door and walked through without waiting to see if Hugh was following him.

Hugh was led down a long hospital hallway with several doors on each side. Valery told him this section held six rooms to rebuild bodies for Earth’s cores when they visited. Currently, they were the only two from Earth. Whether that was due to a string of defeats or if it was normal, Hugh didn’t know, and he didn’t feel like asking. At the end of the hall, large swing-out doors led into the station itself. After passing through, Hugh stopped and stared at the sight in front of him.

Lights, holographic display ads, and a bustle of activity assailed Hugh’s senses. He was on overload, trying to process everything he was seeing. Something must have been done to his mind, despite his body looking the same. An implant allowed him to hear and understand the languages being spoken around him by the myriad of creatures making their way through the place. There were bipedal humanoids of different flavors, hulking behemoths on varying numbers of legs, and even tiny hover cars that must have carried even smaller passengers about the station.

“I know it’s a lot to take in. Just follow me for now and don’t engage anyone in conversation. The place looks like an amusement park had a child with a shopping mall, but there are dangers lurking under the surface. Let’s just get to the restaurant and we can chat in relative peace,” Valery said.

Hugh nodded and followed the hairy Russian, concerned a bit by what dangers might be lurking in here. Several of the races looked plain evil and were the stuff of nightmares. He could have done without seeing the eight-foot-tall, bull-headed spiders that looked hungrily down on the humans.

His companion didn’t look concerned in the slightest, and Hugh figured that was a good attitude to have. He tried not to look like prey but like something that didn’t care about what was walking around him. Several restaurants and bars were placed about the station. The implant in his head displayed their bill of fare, highlighting which options were suitable for his body to consume. Other shops offered things that were much more interesting than a meal or a drink; they offered upgrades to his forces. Hugh held off on any questions, allowing Valery to lead him to the spot he had picked out.

Going down a level proved to be an experience in its own right. They didn’t wait for an elevator or take a stairway. They simply walked into an open tube that let them drop down or hover up to the level of their choice. If he had still been a kid, Hugh could have ridden that thing all day; it was better than a roller coaster. Eventually, they made their way toward a place that looked like a mix of a fifties diner and a dive bar. Inside, Valery guided Hugh to a booth near the back and gestured toward the interactive tabletop.

A menu appeared when he concentrated, showing a selection of favorite Earth dishes. Not sure where to start, Hugh went with something familiar: a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Coke. He wasn’t sure what to expect, but a serving drone soon brought them two trays, his order, and a meat lover’s pizza for Valery. The burger looked and smelled like he expected, and his new stomach growled, reminding him there was nothing in it. His first bite was heaven. The taste was more than what he expected, and it brought to mind the small burger place his dad used to take him to on the weekends.

“It’s good, yes? I don’t know how they do it, but somehow, they can access what you expect something to taste like and match it exactly. Don’t get locked into your old favorites, though. Some of the other offerings are amazing as well. Do you know this is the first place I’ve ever eaten a pizza? Pizza restaurants weren’t a big thing in small Soviet towns in the 1960s. I’ve tried all the American favorites as well as Russian dishes that remind me of my mama’s cooking,” Valery said, a faraway look in his eye as he mentioned a family that had long ago left the realm of the living.

“It’s amazing, but why are we here?” Hugh asked.

“I assume you mean why Harmony Station, not this particular restaurant. The GCA has made this a sort of gathering place for all the war cores and offers us several temptations to pry us from our reward points. That’s where we should start. You have reward points from your victory?”

“Yeah, they are used to level up your core, whatever that means,” Hugh replied.

“Yes, as your core levels, you will gain rewards. At first, they are small rewards, minor upgrades to various things, but at higher levels, much more powerful options will be found. It appears that every five levels represents these greater rewards. Here you can spend those reward points to purchase upgrades for various things not offered during your leveling. But therein lies the problem. If you spend them here, they’re gone from your pool.”

“So what happens if you spend them all? Do you lose your level, or is there some kind of penalty?”

“You will not lose the levels you have gained, but it will make gaining that next level much more difficult,” Valery replied.

“So does it matter? Are the things here that much worse than the items gained by leveling?”

“Not worse, just different. I say it’s a trap because the points you spend here won’t permanently affect your forces. They do other things that are helpful, but not like the continuous upgrades that leveling provides. You’ll see it when we go shopping later. A war core that spends all his money here on the station will find himself falling further and further behind the other cores. You were lucky that your first battle matched you with a similarly skilled opponent. Your next campaign will up the potential power of your foe, and after that, your sector of the galaxy is open season. Cores that are much higher in level might challenge you, and every tech upgrade you can get for your forces may be the difference between life and death.”

“Okay, I don’t want to be at a disadvantage. I’ll just keep my points and level up as quickly as I can,” Hugh said.

“Oh, you’ll see, my new friend. The things offered are very tempting. I should also mention that there are other ways to earn more reward points. They can be traded between the various cores that are buying and selling their services. In my last campaign, I was fighting a dangerous opponent with significant upgrades. To help counter that, I purchased the service of a mercenary group that had the skills to counter what I was facing. It was expensive, but it beat losing the fight.”

“Does the GCA allow that? I would think that could skew the battle too far in favor of one participant.”

“It is allowed,” Valery said, “and the inclusion of an outside force will greatly affect the pre-battle negotiations. If you bring mercenaries into the fight, the GCA will typically give more weight to your opponent’s preferences for the coming fight. It’s not unheard of for a core to hire the services of high-level units from an elite force, only to have the level cap of the fight exclude them from the battle. You would still have to pay the mercenaries, but you would be paying them to sit on the sidelines.”

“I’m beginning to see how important the pre-battle negotiations can be. There wasn’t an option for mercenaries or anything like that when I fought before.”

“Yes, the ability to hire outside forces isn’t unlocked until level 5. There are restrictions on battle parameters that loosen as you get higher up. It’s also not strictly tied to your level. The number of battles you’ve participated in also plays a role. Otherwise, we could just spend all our points here on the station, keep our levels low, and never worry about the greater threats.”

“Why don’t the more powerful forces just crush us then?” Hugh asked. “We’re new to the fight, so I’m sure there are others with much higher levels that can stomp on any of our cores.” He hoped something was preventing a level 100 core with complex upgrades from just owning all of Earth.

“A combination of things prevents that, the first being that the more powerful cores are typically too busy fending off challengers or digging into territory much more appealing than our little section of the universe. You see, our entire territory only encompasses a few worlds that can sustain life. There are a few dozen or so that could be easily terraformed into something useable, but we’re centuries away from learning how to do that. Most of the attackers targeting us are of similar size, looking to secure a buffer between other threats and recover ground lost in other conflicts.”

“Okay, so we’re in the low-rent section of the universe and aren’t that appealing. Is there nothing else other than the poor property location keeping the wolves at bay?”

“Yes, when the level gap between two battling cores is large enough,” Valery began, “the GCA will often allow multiple low-level cores to battle against one higher-level one. It still greatly favors the more powerful core but gives us small fries a fighting chance. Think of it like a professional boxer facing a normal guy off the street. The normal guy gets to bring a friend or two, which will improve his chances, but I would still bet on the pro boxer to win.”

“So the burger was great. What do we do now?” Hugh asked, wanting to not think about battles for a bit. He was supposed to be on leave, and while he wanted to squeeze all the information he could from his compatriot, he didn’t want to depress himself, either.

“Many things. We’ll check out the games, but before that, I’ll take you to a shop. It might be better if I go with you on your first shopping trip, keep you grounded enough to not buy foolish items,” Valery said.

“Sounds good. I also have to pick up some reward thing. Do you know where we do that?”

“Yes, there is a GCA hospitality center on each level. You can collect what my gaming advisor calls a ‘loot box’ there. Those things are usually useless, but occasionally some good upgrade can be found.”

“Sounds like a plan. Collect my loot box and then I can do my adult-supervised shopping,” Hugh said, starting to get more excited at the prospect of finding what was available to purchase.

★

Chapter 24

Hugh was led out of the restaurant, Valery kindly picking up the tab. He hadn’t noticed the prices on the menu, being too excited to eat, and his meal had cost Valery five reward points. Not a lot, but Hugh could see how the small charges could add up during his leave. He would need to be frugal with his points, not wanting to waste them on too many luxuries, if a burger and fries could be considered a luxury item.

It wasn’t too far to the hospitality center, which was only a small kiosk located near the shaft they used to change levels. As Hugh activated the kiosk, notifications appeared, asking if he wanted to claim his rewards. Hitting yes, Hugh watched as information about his rewards was displayed.

Congratulations! You have acquired the following 3 items:

1. Each campaign reward includes another 24-hour leave pass. This item is bound to your core and cannot be sold or traded.

2. Free entry into the War Core Trials. Test your skills and see how far you can go. Enter now for the chance to earn points and prizes.

3. A crate of hypervelocity rounds. These rounds do double the damage of standard ammunition and can be used by any weapon of your choice. The number of rounds in the crate will be determined by the weapon type.

“Hey, not bad. The ammo is always good to help dig you out of a tough fight. You’ll see a new option on your interface to activate consumables,” Valery said, looking over Hugh’s shoulder while he collected the rewards.

“That’s nice, as is always getting another leave. What’s the deal with these trials I have an entry for?” Hugh asked.

“We’ll head to the games now. I have one of those entries to use from my last campaign reward. It enters you into a simulated battle that will showcase a particular form of core combat. The better you do, the better your prize at the end. Normally, I wouldn’t bother. The entry fees are too high, and the type of challenges you can choose from are too random for me to waste points on. But when the entry is free, it is a good chance to learn. You can also sell the entry. There is a type of auction system here where cores can sell everything from their services as a mercenary to rewards you’ve earned. The entry fee is normally a hundred points, so you can typically sell these for around sixty-five or so. Not a bad option if you don’t want the challenge.”

“I think since it’s free, I’ll give it a shot to at least see how it works. What kind of stuff can you win?”

“I’ve only made it past three levels, but when I did, I got just over 150 credits and a heavy mech skin,” Valery told him.

“Well, winning more than the entry fee isn’t the worst, but what is a mech skin?” Hugh asked.

“Oh, it’s strictly a cosmetic enhancement, and once you activate one, you have the option of changing the looks of that class of mech. I don’t care for them, and I usually just sell them if they’re not bound to my core. Of course, you may like the bling. Some of my soldiers have said they like it when I throw a skin on now and then.”

That was interesting, and all these little tidbits kept pushing Hugh toward believing Maddison’s theory that this was all some big form of entertainment for the GCA and the war cores were just its toys.

“Do you want to go to the games first, or do you want to show me the shopping stuff?” Hugh asked, not sure if he was up for a challenge just yet.

“The games are three levels down. We’ll stop at the shops on the way,” Valery said. They got to use the almost magical lift system again, and it was just as much fun the second time Hugh tried it. Two levels down, several corridors led off from the central hub, each lined with brightly lit shops.

“Do you have a favorite shop to use?” Hugh asked, wondering if Valery had stalked out the best deals.

“No, they are all mostly the same, but each one can sometimes have an item unique to that particular store. Frankly, I wasted too much time blundering around trying to find a unique deal, so I just go to the closest one if I feel the need to buy something. Here, take a look. I think you’ll be a bit surprised at what’s for sale. Just remember my warning about spending all your points.” Valery led Hugh into the first shop he found. The store had holographic signs that showed images of past battles, with mechs wearing outrageous-looking skins. Hugh activated the kiosk inside the store, its interface nearly identical to the one at the hospitality center.

Welcome to the GCA shopping experience. Please feel free to browse our offerings. Select from the following categories:

1. Mercenary contracts

2. Unit purchases

3. Consumables

4. Personal

5. Unique store items: N/A. Unique items are sold out at this location. Check back later for new deals.

It looked like Valery was busy at another kiosk, so Hugh took his time to review all the offerings. Starting with mercenary contracts, he saw that he could hire other war cores to assist either in a single battle or through an entire campaign. The costs were far too high for Hugh’s limited budget. He wanted to save his points for leveling up his core, but he could see the advantage a merc company could offer if a particular battle looked like it would be difficult. The main problem he could see was that the contracts had to be purchased ahead of time, and he would never know if an upcoming campaign would be one that a particular merc group would fit into.

Another intriguing option was the ability to offer his own services for a fee. There was a lock that required the core to be at least level 5, but it was an option Hugh would consider in the future. Unit purchases followed along the same lines: he could spend some points to purchase a certain number of units from another core’s arsenal. It looked like these were sold directly by the GCA and were just copies of what other cores were using. Given the limited effectiveness of the AI-controlled units, the option of purchasing units wasn’t all that appealing. He would check with the advisors back home. If his soldiers could pilot the mechs, that would make a huge difference.

Consumables had more of the upgraded ammo for sale, and there were even some variants with secondary abilities that would corrode armor, penetrate shields, and the like, but they were all kind of expensive. Still, having a supply of specialty ammo wouldn’t be a bad idea, giving him some extra flexibility in a tough fight. Hugh would consider purchasing some before his leave was over, but he didn’t want to jump into buying anything until he knew all his options.

A subset of the consumables menu allowed him to purchase defense turrets with various armaments. The least expensive examples were simple, single-weapon turrets like those used in the first training missions. As the cost increased, so did the firepower. The most expensive options were complete defensive systems, including a small minefield, cannons, machine guns, AI-controlled infantry, and indirect fire weapons similar to mortars. Something like this could really turn the tide of a battle. A drone would be required to deploy the structure, and the more complex the design, the longer it took to activate, so there was a risk it could be interrupted or destroyed before it was complete.

The personal tab—now that was the jackpot. Lower-cost items included adding hours to his leave, saving money on meal plans, and preferred pricing on other entertainment on the station. It was here that Hugh made his first purchase, spending twenty-five points for a ten-meal plan. He could choose any of the restaurants that catered to human biology, and given how good the burger was earlier, Hugh knew he would save a few points with it in the long run, confident he could pack in several meals throughout his leave. There at the bottom of the cost chart, below expensive spa treatments and other foolishness, was the grand prize. Here was the one thing he had been wanting to find out since the day he was placed inside the war core.

Physical Reconstruction: Pre-purchase a new physical form for yourself. The new form will be constructed for you once your core is eligible for retirement. This upgrade requires the purchase of a retirement contract. The cost for physical reconstruction is 1,000,000 points and does not include the cost of the retirement contract.

Hugh jumped back to the personal menu, searching for a retirement contract.

Retirement Contract: Complete your service as a war core and retire back to your home planet. Retired cores will be housed in a server complex on your homeworld and can interact with their world through virtual means. Please note that it is highly recommended that you purchase a physical reconstruction to go along with your retirement, but you can opt for just the retirement and lead a purely digital existence. The retirement contract has a price of 500,000 points. While you can purchase the contract at any time, to exercise it, your core must have attained a minimum level of 100 and must have completed any outstanding campaigns.

“I can see from the look on your face that you just found the physical reconstruction option,” Valery said.

“Yeah, so it is possible,” Hugh said, finding some hope for the first time in a long while. He just might be able to return to the land of the living on a permanent basis.

“Yes, but it will take you some time. I’ve been doing this since the 1960s and I’m only level 42. Of course, I probably stunted my growth a bit when I first started by purchasing too many things here at the store. Don’t get too hung up on it. Just file it in the back of your mind, and don’t let the possibility of returning to your body throw off your game. Other cores have been so focused on returning that they forgot they had to win, and win a lot, for it to become a reality.”

“Out of curiosity, what is the highest level of a human war core?” Hugh asked.

“That would be one of the Chinese cores, Hsin. He’s level 57. Rumor among the cores I’ve interacted with here on the station is that a human core was retired and reconstructed. I suppose it’s possible that one of the first cores hit level 100 and gathered enough points to purchase his body back, but nobody official will confirm or deny it. The GCA is likely locking that information for some reason. They do weird stuff like that, prevent things that shouldn’t be a big deal from being known. How does it hurt their cause if a human core was returned to the real world? After all, it would be a big motivator for the rest of us to try our hardest.”

“Do you know how many points Hsin has?” Hugh asked.

“Ha, no. That’s like asking someone how much is in their bank account. It’s not a polite thing to do,” Valery replied. That brought up another question, one that Hugh hadn’t thought of until he found out about the store.

“It may not be polite, but what did it cost you to give my country the chance for another core? To make me a core?”

“A lot. Perhaps too much. I will not tell you all the details. Only know that it wasn’t cheap, and you need to do your best to justify the sacrifices that were made. I’m not talking about the points—those can be won back eventually. You know the true cost I speak of,” Valery replied.

“I do, and thank you for what you did. I’m not happy at what has become of me and how it happened, but I appreciate your sacrifice and that of your soldiers.” Hugh knew the true cost was the dead Russian soldiers who had been carried out of their pods during that campaign. He also had to think about how much longer Valery would have had to risk his life as a core. The points spent for hiring mercenaries for that campaign must have set back his future retirement.

“Maybe you can return the favor someday, but we’ll pray it’s never needed, da? Too much doom and gloom. Let’s finish up our purchases and head to the games so you can use your free trial,” Valery said, his expression brightening.

Hugh jumped back into the kiosk, and Valery helped him decide on a few more purchases. While his new friend had cautioned him to be frugal, a few emergency items were not a bad thing. With Valery’s guidance, Hugh purchased another crate of the hypervelocity ammo, a pair of simple defense turrets, and, oddly enough, two squads of medium mechs from a race called the Durhass. While Valery had confirmed buying AI-controlled mechs was usually a bad investment, these were melee specialists, and given humanity’s focus on ranged firepower, the mechs Hugh bought might turn the tide and cover for a weakness in his unit makeup. The purchases left him with a reward point balance of 250. He had a long climb to make it to a thousand points and level 3, but with the purchases, he felt more confident it was achievable.

They left the store. Hugh reminded himself to return at some point and explore the other shops if he got bored. The possibility of some unique store items intrigued him. The shopping trip complete, they headed to the level where the games were held. Hugh wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and in his mind, he pictured a huge arena to rival the Colosseum of ancient Rome, but what he found was something closer to an old, dingy arcade from the eighties. The “arena” consisted of rows of combat pods designed to fit the various races.

“So I’ve got the free pass. What do I do now?” Hugh asked.

“Hit the kiosk and pick a pod, preferably one without any dubious stains or smells, and then wait while it activates. I don’t know what your first trial will be. Typically, it’s something easy to do, but you need to try and progress as far as you can. The higher level you achieve, the better your reward. I’ve never had much luck with these, but hopefully, you’ll do better than I do.”

“Sounds good. Will you be here when I’m done?” Hugh didn’t want to ruin the guy’s fun or make him feel like he had to babysit for his entire leave, but he was a bit apprehensive about being on his own among all the weird races wandering about.

“Yes, I should be, but I do have to take care of some personal business. If I’m not here, let’s meet back at the restaurant at 1800 hours, station time,” Valery replied. A chronometer appeared in his view. Whatever the GCA had done to his flesh-and-blood brain when he was reconstructed for leave included a clock. Hugh tried to pick out a clean pod. They were surprisingly poorly kept, not something he expected from the station. A suitable candidate was found, and he lowered himself in, wondering if he was experiencing the same thing his soldiers did when they participated in one of his battles.

★

Chapter 25

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

Welcome to the War Core Trials! A free entry has been detected in your account. The challenge rating for your core is set at 1. Complete the current trial to unlock higher challenge ratings and an enhanced prize pool. Select one of the following challenges to begin:

1. Infantry Trial: Guide your infantry squad through a ruined city as you try to locate and destroy the enemy headquarters.

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

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

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

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

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

Space defense selected. You have been ordered to escort 3 defenseless transport ships from the space station to the jump point. Have at least 1 of the transports survive to progress to the next level. You will be given 1000 resources to build and upgrade your escort fleet. All selections must be made within 15 minutes or unspent points will be lost.

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

Ship Build Options:

1. Patrol Boat: Lightly armed, the patrol boat is an inexpensive means to provide defense against fast-moving foes, and their initial missile barrage can be deadly to unprepared starships. Standard equipment includes a fully functioning vessel with a powerful thrust profile and no armor or shields. Armaments consist of a pair of light point-defense weapons and 4 single-use anti-ship missiles. A patrol boat requires 75 resources to build.

2. Frigate: The frigate is perfect for chasing down smaller vessels or teaming up with others of their kind to engage capital ships. Armaments are more formidable than those found on a patrol boat but still minimal. A standard frigate loadout includes a fully functioning vessel with a strong thrust profile and minimal armor over key areas. A pair of light cannons, a dual-mount missile launcher with 3 reloads, and 6 point-defense weapons round out its arsenal. A frigate requires 150 resources to build.

3. Destroyer: Larger than the frigate, the destroyer can hold the line or perform various tasks for the fleet. Variants can be built to perform special duties, including long-range missile assault, pursuit, or point-defense protection for the rest of the fleet. A standard destroyer loadout consists of a fully functioning ship with a strong thrust profile and a lightly armored hull. Armaments consist of 4 light cannons, a triple-mount missile launcher with 4 reloads, and 12 point-defense weapons. A destroyer requires 250 resources to build.

4. Cruiser: These capital ships can brawl with just about anything, and their enhanced defenses can keep them in the fight longer than the lighter ships. A standard cruiser loadout consists of a fully functioning vessel with a moderate thrust profile, modest armor scheme, and a light shield generator. Armaments consist of 6 medium-caliber guns, a quad-mounted missile launcher with 4 reloads, and 10 point-defense weapons. A cruiser requires 750 resources to build.

5. Battleships: The ultimate weapon, battleships provide the best protection and can unleash the most damage. Capable of standing against multiple foes, the battleship is the center of the fleet. A standard battleship loadout consists of a fully functioning vessel with a low thrust profile. This ship type mounts the heaviest armor and shields available. Armaments include 9 heavy-caliber guns, 6 medium-caliber guns, 12 light cannons, 2 quad-mounted-missile launchers with 10 reloads each, and 24 point-defense guns. A battleship requires 1500 resources to build.

6. Drone Carrier: Drone carriers are lightly armed and vulnerable to just about any ship. The true strength of a carrier lies not in its guns but in the attack drones it carries into battle. Drones can be equipped in either an anti-ship or point-defense role. Standard equipment includes a fully functioning vessel with no armor and a weak thrust profile. Armaments include 30 attack drones and 8 point-defense weapons. A drone carrier with standard equipment and a full complement of drones requires 2000 resources.

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

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

1. Drive Systems: Improve the thrust and maneuverability profiles of your light ships for 50 resources each.

2. Armor can be upgraded for 25 resources per vessel. This upgrade will have a slight negative impact on drive performance.

3. Main Gun Upgrades: Improve the accuracy, rate of fire, and damage for your ship’s main armaments. This upgrade requires 50 resources per vessel.

4. Missile Upgrade. Improve the range and survivability of your missiles for 25 resources per vessel.

5. Point-Defense Upgrade: Add an additional point defense weapon to your vessel for 25 resources.

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

His decisions made, Hugh was asked to confirm the selections and then issue a set of orders for his flotilla. He could also give orders to the transports he was guarding. With only three defenders to work with, he kept the transports close together in a line since it made it easier to cover them with his warships. The frigate would lead the formation, with the two destroyers flanking the trio of transports. All he had to do was activate the scenario and the battle would begin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Transport Upgrades: Your transports have 2 hardpoints for upgrades. You can switch loadouts at any time but will lose the resources spent on any upgrade you choose to replace.

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

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

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

★

Chapter 26

The new sector of space that Hugh found himself in wasn’t quite as empty as the previous one. His preset course would lead the fleet through a small asteroid belt brimming with mining activity. It was an obvious location for an ambush. Further along their intended path, not too far from the jump point, a small cluster of asteroids was marked as hostile territory. A new tab flashed in his interface, indicating he could look at system intel to see what the flashing red marker meant.

Hostile faction detected. A series of bases belonging to the pirate faction the Humar Clanners are in this asteroid field. The pirates’ ability to hide from powerful forces and their bases’ placement near the jump point makes this the ideal location from which to launch raids against vulnerable convoys. Enemy strength is currently unknown, but the pirates are said to have captured a light cruiser to supplement the armed merchantmen and small assault craft they usually employ. While the cruiser is a serious threat, the admiralty has doubts as to its effectiveness, given the pirates’ lack of access to spare parts and the damage the craft has sustained in previous battles.

That wasn’t good news. His destroyers and frigate were fine against the relatively weak armed transports he had faced in the initial system, but he wasn’t too confident they could handle a cruiser. Even one with some systems that weren’t operating at peak capacity could be a challenge, especially if it was supported by other vessels. Hugh spent some time rerouting his course, both to avoid the main asteroid field and approach the jump point as far from the pirate bases as possible. The time required to reach the jump point ballooned from thirty minutes to over an hour. Taking the additional time was worth the risk, though, since there was no apparent bonus for completing this trial quickly.

There was no change to Hugh’s formation, and he kept the transports in line, flanked by the destroyers, with the frigate out front. Time ticked by as his ships progressed on their route, Hugh watching nervously for any sign of hostile forces approaching. The armed transports in the other system had appeared unexpectedly, and he wasn’t quite sure how the scanners really worked. Of course, this was all a simulation and might not resemble real space combat. As his ships neared the closest point their course would take them to the asteroid field, a series of hostile contacts appeared, charging toward his flotilla.

It looked like the cruiser wasn’t hanging out at home and was here in the asteroid field. To make matters worse, it was accompanied by four armed transports and a pair of smaller vessels. A quick check of his interface revealed that he had little chance of outrunning the enemy. The armed transports had souped-up engines that gave them more thrust than the slow ships he was escorting.

Hugh moved his warships, placing all three between his transports and the attackers. The range closed and his missiles acquired a lock on the enemy. With no reason to hold back and every reason to try and thin out the enemy force, Hugh ordered all his ships to fire. Eight missiles launched in the first volley. Immediately, the autoloading mechanism began the process of moving reloads from the magazine to the launch tubes. A pair of missiles launched from the cruiser in reply, not the full four the ships were supposedly equipped with. Given that he had opted for improved point defense on all his ships, he was fairly confident he could take them down.

A second volley launched from his ships, and this time, the enemy fleet’s return fire showed fourteen missiles inbound. Several had launched from the smaller craft as well as from the armed transports. The third volley launched, once again comprising two missiles per ship. His sensors were noting the large second volley was due to some external mounts bolted onto the attacking ships; they were one-shot options and couldn’t be reloaded outside of port facilities.

The first missiles were entering point-defense range, and his ships shot forth in a hail of plasma bolts. The incoming missiles were swatted down, but Hugh was nervous as the larger volley of fourteen entered the point-defense envelope. His ships did well, killing ten of the incoming missiles, but four got through, two slamming into one of his destroyers and the others obliterating the frigate. The damaged destroyer was a wreck, engine at half capacity, and the only weapons still working were three of the point-defense guns. Hugh pulled the damaged ship back, placing it next to the transports to provide them some cover with its remaining guns.

His undamaged destroyer fired off the last of its missiles and began to target the incoming ships with its main guns. The missile volleys had done some work. The cruiser was slowing, falling behind the rest after absorbing three missile strikes. Two of the armed transports were gone, and the others didn’t seem too worried about charging into the superior firepower of a destroyer. Round after round slammed home, taking out the two transports before they could land hits with their more limited main guns. The two small patrol boats only had point-defense weapons remaining, having expended all their missiles on the big volley.

By the time the last patrol boat was turned into debris, the light cruiser had entered gun range. It fired three volleys from its larger main guns before the destroyer could respond. None of the shots hit, but they were getting closer. Only one main battery was still functional on the cruiser, but it was a twin-mounted gun, and when it finally did hit, the larger-caliber shells did horrible damage. The two bow-mounted guns on the destroyer were smashed to pieces, and Hugh could see warnings indicating that the maneuvering system had been damaged. Thrust was still there, but evasive maneuvers were done for. His destroyer managed to land another hit, but the cruiser’s main gun was still in the fight. The next volley took out Hugh’s destroyer, leaving him with only one crippled destroyer to protect the transports.

The cruiser would have trouble catching them, though. Its speed was cut by the damage it had taken; the last rounds from his destroyer had slowed it down to the point it was falling behind. Hugh thought he was home free, but his hopes sank as new hostile targets appeared. It wasn’t much, only a pair of patrol boats backed up by an armed transport, but it was more firepower than his remaining ships could handle. The point defense couldn’t stop all the missiles from the patrol boats, and once they finished off his wounded destroyer, the pirates then began to pick off the transports one by one. When the last one was taken out, his game was finished.

Hugh tried taking some solace in the fact that even an experienced core like Valery hadn’t gone too far in the trials. It seemed like the challenge was very difficult, and he wasn’t sure what he could have done to survive the number of ships that had come at him. The pod opened as his focus shifted from it to his living body once more. Not sure what his reward was, Hugh walked over to the nearby kiosk to access his results.

Congratulations on completing your first war core trial. You have earned the following rewards based on your performance:

Level 1 cleared. A reward of 50 points has been issued. Bonus for each surviving transport is 10 reward points. The total level 1 reward is 80 points.

Level 2 was not cleared. A partial reward of 25 points has been issued for defeating 79% of the opponents.

Total reward: 105 points.

The entry fee for your next run is 100 points.

Hugh declined any further runs through a trial. His last attempt would have netted him a whopping five reward points over the entry fee, and he didn’t know if he would do much better on the second attempt. Based on the earlier instructions, he assumed it would cost more points for each subsequent attempt, and he didn’t want to risk wasting his time for a potential negative return. After all, he only had limited time in this body, and he didn’t want to spend it all playing a game that resembled his usual war core existence.

It had taken several hours to run through the trial, leaving him only a few minutes to meet Valery at the restaurant. A bit confused about where to go, Hugh found his interface included a navigation function that could bring him to any place he had already visited. He hadn’t noticed the name of the place before, but the navigation data showed it was called the Hungry Human. It was an appropriate enough name, he figured. Once inside, Hugh could see that Valery hadn’t arrived yet, so he went to their previous booth and ordered a beer while he waited. Never a big drinker, Hugh had to make sure he took it easy on any alcohol. After all, this was a new body with zero tolerance built up over the years.

“I’m sorry I’m late. My business took longer than I anticipated. Did you already order?” Valery said as he slid into the booth. The man looked a bit frazzled, much different from the confident core Hugh had hung out with earlier.

“No, I didn’t order yet, and I was enjoying a drink while I waited for you. Is everything okay?” Hugh asked.

“Yes, it’s good. Just a difficult negotiation for something. Now, tell me how the trial went.”

“Not that great. I did a space mission and only made it to the second level before my fleet got shot up.”

“Ha, not bad, I suppose,” Valery said. “It’s good to get your feet wet with space missions. Some of the battles you will participate in will include space actions. Don’t worry about it too much. You typically won’t see them until you hit level 5 at least. Please tell me you didn’t spend all your points while I was away.”

“No, I’m kind of frugal by nature, so I didn’t go hit the blackjack tables. Do they have blackjack tables here?”

“You won’t find any of that, sadly. The station entertainment is a bit more focused on our profession.”

“That arena place was kind of underwhelming, if I’m being honest,” Hugh said. “I was expecting something a bit more elaborate than the scuzzy arcade vibe the place gave off.”

“I get that. There are other events more popular than the trials. You can participate in matches where you wager some points against other cores. I don’t recommend you try that until you have a bit more experience under your belt, though. Maybe on your next visit you should give it a go. It will give you a good feel for the other fighting styles.”

“That might actually be fun, especially if there is no risk of dying.”

“There’s no risk of death, only reward points. Now, what will we have to eat for our dinner tonight?” Valery asked, pulling up the menu. Hugh looked through it, landing on one of his favorites. A few minutes later, a bowl of rice and Szechuan chicken arrived. It was spicy and delicious, reminding him of the Chinese restaurant that was around the corner from his apartment. Valery had some traditional Russian dish that included something that looked like a crepe or pancake wrapped around savory fillings. Hugh gave it a try but wasn’t a fan. He’d stick to his favorites; he never knew if he would get another chance to try them.

“Time is ticking down. Any other advice you can give me?” Hugh said, painfully aware that his leave was slowly passing by.

“Flexibility is key. The battles you have fought so far have been of a straightforward type: either kill the command post or survive longer than the enemy command post. You should have an idea of other types of battles,” Valery started before getting a glazed-over look in his eyes.

“You okay?” Hugh asked.

“Yes, I’m apparently not supposed to give you details on battle formats. Our lords and master in the GCA think it would be an unfair advantage. Bah, just understand that the types of battles are only limited by what the GCA can think up. Now, don’t expect every fight you’re in to be a crazy mash-up. Most will be traditional—kill the enemy command post—but I don’t want any weirdness to throw you off your game.”

“And just what is your game? What did you focus on for your core upgrades?” Hugh asked.

“I’ve dumped most of my upgrades into heavy mechs. One of my armor commanders has been with me a long time, and between the two of us, we typically dominate in any battle that is high enough level to get to the heavies. I didn’t make myself a one-trick pony, though. I also put several upgrades into the command post itself. Economics is important, and managing the flow of resources in a fight typically determines who wins or loses.”

“My first upgrade was for enhanced resource flow.”

“Not a bad choice, one that will benefit you in almost every fight. Don’t neglect your mechs, though. Keep a focus on at least one combat line, with some investment in a second. While I have mainly invested in the heavies, I also put a few upgrades into infantry. They’re almost always important, especially in the early game,” Valery advised.

“How about opponents? Which races do you fight with most often?”

“It has varied over the years, and I suspect your opponents will shift as well. Borders are always changing as systems are taken and retaken. For the most part, I’m locked into an ongoing war with a race called the Bizroth. They are close enough in appearance to humans, save for having four arms and no hair. One of my advisors thinks they look like mutant vampires.”

“How do they fight?” Hugh asked.

“They employ lots of support units, and the core I’m usually up against has a lot of infantry upgrades. Their accuracy is also strong. They usually inflict more casualties on my forces than I inflict on them, but it evens out because I think their command post and other building upgrades cost more. I don’t know for sure, but that’s my guess, based on the fact that I usually hit upgrades and build new structures much faster than they do, even when resources are a bit in their favor.”

“I’ve got the Krixnas. They look like ants with tentacles for faces. They’re way more powerful in melee but can’t hit the broad side of a barn at range.”

“Ah, yes, that’s the new race in your sector,” Valery said. “I also get to fight the D’kahn regularly. They are at the extreme end of the quality-over-quantity approach, and their units are incredibly powerful. Thankfully, they can only field a few in each battle, and I have a good chance to smother them with cheaper units. There are others that I see now and again when the borders shift, but the D’kahn and the Bizroth are my main foes. Your territory is the United States on the west coast, right?”

“I’m the U.S. core. Wait, you mean to say there’s more of us?”

“Oh, I see you thought you were the only one. No, the major nations had multiple cores, and I believe the U.S. started with four. Two have been eliminated and not replaced. The slot you took would have made it the third lost by your country. The area of space you are responsible for was too large, and the burden would have fallen on others, so my country made the effort to have a replacement granted.”

“How many have we lost?” Hugh asked, more than a little annoyed this hadn’t come up yet with his advisors back home. Time had been critical, but they could have at least mentioned that there was another U.S. core out there.

“We started with 112 cores. The total now stands at eighty-seven.”

“What happens when we lose a core?” Given there was a chance of dying with every mission, wouldn’t humanity and every other race run out of them eventually?

“The territory assigned to that core is redistributed, and other cores have to take up the slack. Understand that when a core dies, a replacement is usually selected by the GCA. Only rarely is the loss permanent. There is also a time delay while we wait for the GCA to choose a new core. While we have eighty-seven active cores, there are seven open slots that are waiting on a replacement. It can take a few hours or a few decades for the GCA to select. We never know. Occasionally, a chance to win a new core is given, like with you, but those opportunities are rare and costly.” Valery paused, and Hugh could see the gears turning in his mind.

“As far as the other races go,” Valery continued, “I think the ones that have been around the longest have only a few active cores. Those active cores are the highest-leveled and most powerful ones out there. I guess it’s also one of the reasons the more powerful cores aren’t chasing down us small fries. They likely have their hands full doing the work that numerous other cores would typically do.”

“Have you met the other U.S. core?” Hugh asked, curious about his comrade in arms.

“Personally, no, but I understand he’s level 27 and doing a good enough job. The guy started sometime in the 1980s, if I remember right, so he’s been at it for a decent amount of time. While you will run into a core occasionally on leave, it is kind of rare. We can time our leaves if you ever want to, and I’m sure your team back home can make arrangements for you to meet your counterpart if you ever have leave at the same time. Normally, we’re too busy fighting off the invaders to worry about social visits.”

The fact that this man had sought out Hugh to help with his first steps on Harmony Station meant more than he had initially thought. Valery would have had to spend some time getting leaves to line up for them to meet in person. Hugh hadn’t had many friends back in the real world, but he would happily count Valery among them.

“If you don’t have any other questions, I have to run,” Valery said. “Sorry to cut our visit short, but my other obligations on this little vacation can’t be ignored. I’ll have to leave you to your own devices. Don’t waste all your points shopping, and don’t accept any challenges from anyone aboard the station. If the other races find out that you’re a new core, someone will try to take advantage of you in the competitive contests. Goodbye, my friend Hugh. I hope we meet again.”

Hugh was worried about Valery. Whatever happened while Hugh was doing his free trial hadn’t been something good, and he could see it weighing down on his friend. He didn’t want to pry into it, and Valery didn’t seem like he wanted to discuss it.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Hugh asked.

“No, it is something I must take care of on my own,” Valery replied.

“Very well. Best of luck to you, Valery. I hope we get to hang out again on leave and eventually back in the real world when we retire.”

Valery nodded, smiling at the thought of retirement, and made his way from the restaurant, leaving Hugh feeling a bit confused as to what he was going to do next.

★

Chapter 27

Hugh wasn’t sure what to do with himself. He didn’t feel comfortable jumping into any of the games. The entry fee would eat into his few remaining points, and he had a good idea that the results would be embarrassing, given his inexperience. He left the restaurant, a bit sad that he was full; the act of eating made him feel human.

A less pleasant reminder of his humanity was the need to use the restroom. Just outside the restaurant, Hugh stopped and looked around for one. Opening his interface, he found there wasn’t anything like a public restroom, and he would need to go back to the old hospital room he’d arrived in. He supposed it made sense that they wouldn’t have public restrooms. After all, with hundreds of different species on the station, there was likely no way to account for all of them in a single restroom that would take up valuable space. Incorporating them into the arrival chambers that were already set up for that particular race was the logical option.

“Move, lesser creature, or be moved,” a voice screeched out at Hugh, causing him to jump. He had been too focused on his interface and didn’t notice the seven-foot-tall dinosaur-looking creature barreling down on him. In his shock, Hugh just stood there, which seemed to enrage the creature.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you coming,” Hugh mumbled, trying to get out of the angry dino’s way. It looked like an oversized version of a velociraptor, but more lizard-like and without any of the bird features the creatures from Earth had.

“Don’t you dare speak to one of the Ssath. Face the penalty for your presumption,” the dino guy shouted, leaping at Hugh with claws outstretched. The impact knocked Hugh over, and a second later, the pain hit.

“No,” was all Hugh was able to feebly reply, looking down to see his insides spilling out over the floor of the station. His vision dimmed, and the last image he saw was the Ssath creature tearing strips of flesh from his body and swallowing them down.

Things went dark. Hugh could still think, but his mind was no longer in the body the GCA had built for him. The pain was thankfully gone as well. His clock was also gone, and he couldn’t tell how long had passed since the attack by the Ssath. Valery had warned him the place wasn’t exactly safe, but he hadn’t thought there was a danger of being eaten right in the middle of a public area by a dinosaur guy.

His thoughts were interrupted by system prompts.

Your physical form has been destroyed. Combat among the physical war cores is prohibited. An investigation into the matter is commencing.

Investigation complete. No hostility was instigated on your part, but inattention and a failure to promptly mitigate the conflict will be considered for the final adjudication.

The Ssath known as Warmaster Hssim assaulted the human known as Major Hugh Logan without true cause. Hugh lacked situational awareness and failed to avoid conflict with the Ssath. Hssim is judged to be 90% at fault for the incident. A total of 5% of the liability is judged to be based on cultural differences and will not be included in the calculation. Hugh will accept negligent responsibility of 5% for this illegal incident.

Penalty and remunerations will occur as follows.

Hssim will pay the primarily affected party a penalty of 200 reward points. The penalty will be offset by 10% to account for both Hugh’s negligence and any cultural misunderstanding. Hugh has been awarded a total of 180 reward points. Hssim’s leave will be terminated, and he will be placed back into his core immediately.

Major Hugh Logan will be reconstituted and allowed to participate in the remainder of his leave. Due to his partial negligence, Hugh will not be reimbursed for the time his reconstruction takes. Remember to adhere to section 123.23.a.44 of the War Core Leave Behavior Guide. No personal combat is allowed on the station at any time. This judgment is final and there is no option to appeal.

Wow, that was . . . unexpected. Hugh waited for his body to be rebuilt, wishing he had a clock right now to see how much of his leave was being taken up by the reconstruction. There were all kinds of aliens on the station, but he didn’t exactly expect murderous and hungry ones to be prowling about. Hugh would have to ask back home where the Ssath section of space was and if this species had ever fought against human cores. While he was still new, Hugh wouldn’t mind a chance at some payback. Until then, he would have to just enjoy the fact that the little incident had netted him another 180 reward points, even if he did have to be killed and eaten to get them.

The light blinded him as his eyes adjusted. Hugh found himself back in the same hospital room as before. After fumbling around a bit until his new body was calibrated with his brain, Hugh dressed and checked his remaining time. It wasn’t good. The reconstruction had taken a while, and he only had two hours left. What should he do now? He was a little reluctant to leave, worried something else might be hankering for a bite or two of human meat.

Not letting his apprehension control him, Hugh forced himself out of the room and down the corridor leading to the station proper. With two hours left, he first intended to enjoy a final meal and then maybe do some window shopping. He didn’t have time to get into a core trial and didn’t want to participate in any of the competitive games just yet. Keeping a wary eye, Hugh returned to what he now thought of as “his” restaurant. This time, taking a page from Valery, he ordered a meat lover’s pizza and a root beer. The meal reminded him of an old hole-in-the-wall pizza place he used to frequent in high school.

It didn’t take long to eat; his new body had woken up hungry, leaving him some time to shop. The shopping level was just like it had been earlier, but this time, Hugh passed by the closer shops, choosing to peruse the more out-of-the-way places in a search for any unique offerings. A few others seemed to have the same idea, as a smattering of cores wandered through the area. Not until the fifth shop did Hugh find something noteworthy. The item was expensive, but it might just be too good to pass up.

Drop Beacon of the Vanquished: This unique upgrade to your command post allows you to call a force of AI-controlled mechs down at any point within view of one of your units. The forces called in will be randomly selected from units that your previous foes have used. To be included in the random unit pool, a race must have been defeated by you in battle. The units will vary in quantity and quality based on the level of your command post. This item can only be used once per battle and requires an airfield to function. The upgrade will automatically be unlocked for your command post once that building has reached level 3. The purchase price for this item is 750 reward points.

*Note: This is a unique upgrade, and once purchased by a war core, it will no longer be offered for sale.

Hugh wanted that beacon, badly. It would be a powerful addition to his forces in just about any battle other than something low-level where he didn’t have an airfield. To drop a force of attackers on the head of the enemy at any time would be devastating. Even the distraction factor alone would be worth it. Sadly, he didn’t have the funds, causing him to hit the purchase button several times out of frustration.

Insufficient reward points are available. Credit has been offered to complete this purchase. If you choose to accept this offer, the price of the upgrade will be raised to 1000 reward points. Hit the purchase button again to accept the terms of the loan.

Woah, this was new. He could still buy the item but would have to go into debt to do so. Everything he had heard from Valery told him to not spend his money foolishly, but this was a unique find and he would never have the opportunity again. Not being a complete idiot, Hugh read the fine print, but there wasn’t anything waiting to bite him. The only negative was the price increase, which amounted to pre-paying the interest on the loan. Buying it would also keep it from falling into the hands of one of his foes. Not quite sure if he was making a mistake, but also not wanting to miss out on a powerful upgrade to his core, Hugh hit the purchase button again.

You have purchased the Drop Beacon of the Vanquished. It will be available in any battle once the requirements are met.

Debt has been incurred. Any reward points you earn must first be used to pay the negative balance.

Current reward point balance: −465

There it was: a negative balance. How many battles would he have to win to dig himself out of that hole? It was done, and buyer’s remorse wouldn’t help anything. At least he knew the cost upfront. A credit card company would have done some arcane calculation to add interest each month. At least the GCA told you how much more everything would cost up front. Valery hadn’t mentioned you could go into debt, but it might have been restricted information or something just offered for unique items. To test his theory, Hugh tried to buy another crate of ammo, but this time, there was just the normal insufficient funds prompt and no option to borrow further.

By the time he completed the purchase, only forty-five minutes remained on his leave. Hugh made his way back to the restaurant, thankful he had purchased the meal plan earlier, given his lack of funds. He was still full, but since the body was about to be destroyed anyway, he opted for a chili dog and fries.

“Have fun cleaning up the mess of reprocessing my body after that one, GCA,” Hugh said to himself. Of course, it wasn’t a member of the GCA that cleaned the war core machines; it was done automatically, but a man could dream. Wandering around and looking at the various races was exciting, but with ten minutes remaining, a warning prompt appeared in his vision, telling him to report back to the hospital room. The penalty for not reporting on time would lead to him being banned for the next three leave passes. Warnings of harsher punishments for further offenses made the decision to return somewhat easier.

“Well, body, I’ll be back soon, and someday, it’ll be for good,” Hugh told himself as he lay on the hospital table. The table retracted slowly into the core. No need to climb into a cramped hatch for this version of the machine. Sweat beaded on his brow as the straps tightened over his body. This time, there wasn’t any pain as his mind was pulled into the war core almost instantly. That didn’t necessarily make the process any easier, serving as a final reminder that he wasn’t fully human anymore.

We hope you have enjoyed your stay at Harmony Station. The GCA looks forward to welcoming you back again in the future. You will now be returned to the war core residence of record.

With that, Hugh felt himself fly across the galaxy. Instead of being awed by the majesty of the universe around him, he felt melancholy. There was hope he could recover his body at some point, but the mountain he had to climb in order to do so seemed insurmountable. One and a half million reward points were required. How many battles did that represent?

An old military history story popped into his mind, a story about the American heavy bomber pilots in World War II. The life expectancy of a bomber and her crew in the early part of the war was somewhere between eight and twelve missions. With morale dropping among the crews as they saw their job being an eventual death sentence, a new program was instituted. Any crew that could complete twenty-five missions would be pulled from combat operations. They had a goal to hit, and the mere fact there was a light at the end of the tunnel helped improve morale. As crews and their planes began to reach their goals, they would often rotate home on publicity tours. Hugh had his own goal now, one that would likely take more than twenty-five missions but one he was determined to reach.

Earth appeared in the distance, and Hugh could feel himself being drawn back to his homeworld. He was hurtling toward that small oil platform off the California coast, and just as he hit the water, he could feel his mind link with the war core below. As he settled in, he heard an announcement over the base intercom.

“Let’s all welcome Major Logan back from his first victorious campaign. Well done, soldier,” Admiral Nix said. Hugh was surprised to hear clapping and cheering throughout the base. His vision returned, and he could see soldiers standing next to their combat pods, cheering. They were cheering for him, and Hugh wasn’t sure what to feel. He had figured that many of the soldiers would be angry at him for the various mistakes he had made, but instead, their approval looked genuine.

“Did you want to say a few words, Major?” Admiral Nix asked over direct comms to his core.

“I’m not one for speeches, but sure,” Hugh replied. He was linked into the station-wide comms channel. It was silly, but he felt a bit nervous, like standing up in front of the class as a child. “Thank you all. I appreciate your support, but don’t cheer for me. Cheer for yourselves. This is our victory, and make no mistake, it took all of us to win against the Krixnas. I’ve made many mistakes, but we won, not so much from my skill, but from yours. The Krixnas are deadly, but nothing is deadlier than a trained human soldier with a weapon in their hand. Whether that weapon is a rifle or a mech controlled by a combat pod, we have the deadliest warriors in the galaxy, and before we’re done, aliens will think long and hard before deciding to mess with Earth. Well done, soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and even the coasties that might be hiding out there. It’s an honor to lead you into battle.”

“Well said, Hugh. I know this was a bit over the top, but the troops insisted. We needed a win. We needed one badly, and you delivered, soldier,” Admiral Nix said. “Take a moment. Then join the rest of us in the conference room. We have work to do.”

The admiral was right. They had work to do, and just maybe the next battles wouldn’t start until after he had time to consult with his team. Hugh needed to get better at his job. He needed to do it for those men and women out there who had just cheered for him. They risked everything to fight, to follow his orders, and Hugh was more determined than ever to make sure he did his best to keep them alive.

★

Chapter 28

“I hope that you enjoyed your leave, Major Logan. The GCA doesn’t tell us what happens when you’re given leave, but I understand it’s a good experience,” the admiral said. Hugh tried to talk about Harmony Station and the body that had been created for him, but when he started to, nothing came out of the speakers on the table. Very well—they wanted to censor him, but it would just make for a bigger surprise when he showed back up from leave one day, retired and in the flesh. Sadly, the fact that the GCA had censored his efforts led him to believe that no human core had reached retirement and had their body reconstructed, despite the rumors Valery had heard.

“It was great. I was even able to interact with another core while there: the Russian core Valery Akalov,” Hugh told them, the system allowing for that bit of information to be passed along.

“Great. I don’t know how that works, but were you two able to discuss anything about the battles?” the admiral asked.

“Yes, a bit. Our time was limited, but he did give some good advice on how to build my core as I level. He recommended I initially focus on two things: some economic upgrades and one of the combat lines,” Hugh said.

“Cool,” Maddison started. “Games are all about controlling resources. The more efficient you can gather them, the better your chance of winning. Units come second. You don’t want to have a great economy only to fall so far behind in unit upgrades that you never get to take advantage of the resources you gather.” Unlike many of the other times he had interacted with his gaming advisor, this time, Maddison was giving the room her complete attention.

The CIA analyst, Smith, jumped in next. “Good advice, Maddison, but you have to remember that these battles aren’t video games. Games give us good insight, and many of the battles often do resemble the mechanics of modern video games, but you need to remember that games function within the limitations of the technology of our time. The GCA-created battles can be very different, and what works in an RTS game may not have the same results on the battlefield.”

“Yeah, we get it, but overall stuff is fine. Some of the cheese strategies can be a bit wonky. I’ll get into that later in my one-on-one session with Hugh,” Maddison said.

“Good, let’s get back on track. I’m assuming you leveled up after your last battle. We should discuss your upgrade options, if the GCA didn’t force you to choose already,” the admiral said, taking control of the meeting before it went off on too many tangents. It was a skill all good senior officers possessed.

“This time, we actually get to discuss the upgrade before I’m forced to make a choice,” Hugh said. “I have the usual perk for winning the battle and another one for winning the overall campaign. Let me list out what’s on offer and you can tell me what you want to drill down into.”

The connection to the conference room now included a large screen where he found he could display text. With a thought, Hugh was able to copy over the upgrade options he had been given.

Select a category of perk:

1. Unit upgrades
a. Air units
b. Land units
c. Sea units
d. Space units

2. Structure upgrades
a. Durability
b. Efficiency
c. Defenses

3. War core upgrades
a. Reconnaissance
b. Resource
c. Construction
d. Communication

4. Opponent penalty options

“Opponent penalties are new. Open that one up,” Maddison said, leaning forward in her seat to get a better view. Hugh pulled up his options, displaying them for the group.

Opponent Penalty Options: Select a penalty path and initial restriction. Once a path is chosen, as you gain levels, new upgrades along that path will be revealed. Only 1 path can be chosen. New paths may unlock as your level increases.

1. Resource Sabotage: Your opponent will receive 5% fewer resource crates on their area of the battlefield.

2. Unit Sabotage: Your opponent’s units will randomly face either a production speed reduction of 0.5% or a weapons malfunction chance of 0.005%.

“Not too exciting, but I suppose at higher levels the penalties could be significant,” Hugh said.

“Yeah, this could be a viable build option for the long run, but you wouldn’t see much of a result until you reach a higher level,” Maddison added.

“Wouldn’t you just be better off improving your own war core instead of sabotaging the enemy? If you somehow boost production with an upgrade, that will surely cancel out any of these penalty options,” Smith offered.

“Good point,” Hugh said. “I think we’re better off going with straight core upgrades, focusing on resource gathering or construction benefits rather than trying to penalize our opponent. I also want to get started on upgrading some of our units, but which type of unit should we focus on?”

“As far as units go, I’m sure nobody would be surprised that I’d say infantry,” Captain Tran said.

“Strangely enough, I agree with him,” Captain Tremaine offered. “My air units can turn the tide of battle and having them upgraded can be critical, but air units, space units, naval units, and higher-level mechs aren’t always available. Infantry has the highest chance of being present in a battle, and any upgrades you do to them will nearly always be useful.”

“Heavier mechs will have a greater impact as battles progress, so I’d say go with armor,” Captain Cartwright offered. It was a good option, and Valery had apparently done very well with a heavy-mech focus.

“Even though I’m an admiral, I’ll admit naval and space units are the least utilized in the battles we’ve seen. Go with a ground unit and either a structure or core upgrade path of some sort,” the admiral said.

“It’s your choice, Hugh,” Smith said. “We’re here to advise, but as the war core, you make the final call. Your counterpart on the east coast—yeah, there is another U.S. core out there—he’s gone with a wider variety of upgrades, but I can see that focusing on a particular line could be more powerful.” His mention of the other U.S. core was good to hear. Hugh wanted to believe that their failure to tell him about the other guy was more due to lack of time on their part rather than some kind of subterfuge.

“Who is the other core, and can I talk with him at some point?” Hugh asked.

“We can arrange that,” Smith said. “His name is Reggie Clay, and he was a retired police officer in the NYPD before he was selected. It can be a challenge to line up your schedules. It seems one of you is typically in a battle most of the time. I’ll do my best to get you guys communicating. We should be sharing any knowledge we can.”

“Good, I’d like to get his take on all this. Now, before I get sucked into another battle, we need to decide on upgrades. I think I’ll start on the infantry line to begin with, and let’s look at the other upgrade path we want to focus on. I started on the resource chain, but with only one perk selected on that line, now would be the time to change our minds.”

“Keep with resources. They’re always important,” Maddison offered.

“Any objections?” Hugh asked the others, who either seemed to agree with her decision or didn’t feel strongly enough about another option to object. With no objections, Hugh opened the resource upgrade tab. This time, he was offered a pair of choices.

Resource Upgrade Paths: Choose 1 path to focus on. Once a path is selected, the other paths under war core upgrades will not reopen until level 10.

1. Reprocessing Efficiency: Gathering up the detritus of the battlefield is often a critical element of resource gathering. With this upgrade path, more resources can be gathered from each destroyed mech brought in for salvage. The chance of finding old wreckage to harvest on the battlefield will also increase.

2. Supply Crate Boost: The random supply crates found on many battlefields will now contain a bit more salvage than before. In addition, more resource crates have a chance to spawn randomly in your initial zone of control.

Hugh had hoped the choices would be easier—or that at least one would improve the natural resource gathering rate of his command post, like what had happened with his first upgrade. It looked like going deeper into a single line locked out the others until he reached a higher level. The other U.S. core must have just been selecting the first option of each path to prevent any lockouts. Hugh would be interested to see what level this Reggie Clay was and how each of the upgrades affected his core.

The two paths offered to him for resource upgrades were similar, and he could see them evolving in several different directions as the perks continued to flow in. Supply crates were a big boon when he found them on the battlefield, but they were limited in number, and once he and the opponent had gathered them all up, no more would spawn. The upgrade made it seem there was a chance more would spawn inside his area of the battlefield, but searching for them in the middle of a fight could be a distraction.

Destroyed mechs would always be around in a fight, and even though they gave a puny amount of salvage, there were always new ones to be found as his units and those of the enemy were destroyed. There was always a chance that he would be pushed back during the fight and the enemy would recover more of the destroyed mechs than him, but the way the perk was worded led Hugh to believe they wouldn’t get extra resources from the wrecks unless they also had the same perk. He also liked finding the remains of old battles; the debris fields were more plentiful and usually not near the focus of the battle, allowing him to harvest them with little risk.

Reprocessing efficiency upgrade perk has been selected.

“Good choice. Now, what unit do you want to start focusing on?” Maddison asked.

“I think infantry is the way to go. After selecting the second level on the resource path, other options under that whole category of core upgrades are locked out until level 10. I suspect that going into the unit trees will face the same restriction, but I don’t mind digging into infantry upgrades until level 10 if nobody else has an objection.”

“I think that’s wise. We can revisit if we want to pursue another unit option when you get to level 10,” Admiral Nix added.

“Oh, don’t forget about the upgrade lines being individual,” Maddison said. Hugh was a bit confused, but Smith jumped in to explain.

“Yeah, that’s another quirk of the GCA system. As you level up, your options for an upgrade will evolve. Say you go three levels deep into infantry selections. You’ll find your choices there are different than what other cores will have. It seems the GCA will tune the upgrades to fit your fighting style while occasionally throwing out some curve balls. Sadly, that limits how much benefit we get from looking at other cores and their builds.”

“Sure, it wouldn’t be like the GCA to make things easy for us to understand. Let’s go with infantry and see where it leads. I suspect the first level will be something pretty basic, and the more unique upgrades will be deeper into the research tree,” Hugh said. He selected land units, and the following options presented themselves.

Land Unit Upgrades:

1. Infantry

2. Light mech

3. Medium mech

4. Heavy mech

5. Support weapons

Support weapons were intriguing, and Hugh wondered if it would upgrade things like the machine gun teams or if it was a whole new category of mech. While it was tempting to dig into that path, he stuck with infantry. The confirmation display gave a bit more insight into what the upgrade entailed.

Infantry unit upgrades selected. Your infantry units will now be produced 1% faster, and when the armory is constructed on your barracks, you will be granted a level 1 upgrade of your choice for free. Further investment into infantry perks will open new options and improve the ones you have already selected.

“That’s fine. I didn’t expect you would be given anything too powerful considering this is the first level of the upgrade path,” Captain Tran offered.

“I think your production efficiency percentage for this choice will improve the more you delve into infantry perks,” Maddison added. Hugh had figured the same thing, and any build efficiency upgrades were welcome. If the enemy went a different route, he could eventually out-produce them with cheap infantry units, making an early rush strategy a more viable option.

“Good, with all your upgrades done, we can move on with more training,” the admiral ordered. “I’d first like you to get together with each of your liaisons for some one-on-one time. Start with Captain Tran since we’re going with an infantry focus.”

Hugh was glad to work with his subcommanders, relishing a chance to get to know them and learn how they could work together better.

“Any other questions before we leave you alone with Captain Tran?” Smith asked.

“I’m sure there’s a million of them,” Hugh said. “How many you can answer, or will be allowed to answer, is a different story. For now, the only thing that springs to mind is which aliens I’ll be likely to fight. I know the Krixnas were the first aggressors, but I doubt they would be the only ones bordering our sector of space.”

“Good question. Let me pull up the star chart again,” Smith said. An image of the Earth and the territory still controlled by it was displayed. Instead of the clean globe of controlled space around the planet, the borders were jagged and irregular where enemy forces had made inroads into human territory. Smith highlighted the United States and the territory the two cores were responsible for. Hugh’s territory changed to a different color as Smith populated known alien locations. A rainbow of colors splattered the display, showing every potential foe that bordered humanity’s territory.

“Let’s zoom in on your defense sector,” Smith said. The screen zoomed in, removing some of the confusing jumble of information.

“So it looks like the west coast butts up against four races. Why have just the Krixnas attacked me so far?” Hugh asked. Of the four alien races, the Krixnas had about sixty percent of the territory bordering Hugh. They were supposedly a new race added by the GCA, just like humanity.

“Yeah, the Krixnas have only been active a short time, and before that, the area was a neutral, non-accessible sector,” Smith advised. “There are still a few of those out there, areas where an intelligent race lives but hasn’t developed enough by the GCA’s standards to be included in the galactic conflict. The others that border our territory are the Madrix, the Ximkas, and a single sector controlled by a race called the Ssath.”

Hugh could see that the Madrix territory overlapped with what the east coast core was responsible for. The Ximkas, whoever they were, were driving deep into Canadian territory but had taken a couple of systems from Hugh’s sector. The Ssath was a race Hugh wouldn’t forget anytime soon. Their territory only touched a single system in Hugh’s control, one on the original boundary of human space, showing they hadn’t been attacking Earth at all. Maybe at some point he would get a chance at some payback for being eaten.

“What’s up with the other races? Why aren’t they attacking right now?” Hugh asked.

“The Madrix are. They’re just attacking a sector controlled by Reggie Clay on the east coast. When that campaign is over, I would expect one of their cores to make a move on our territory. See this area?” Smith asked, pointing out the system the Madrix were currently fighting over. If they won there, it placed them only a few systems from what was labeled as a critical system. When Hugh selected that system, he could see it contained a world that had the potential for terraforming. If the other human core held off the assault, the path to that valuable system would lead through Hugh’s territory.

“What are these Ximkas? They border a lot of territory with me, but it looks like they’re not making many moves to push in,” Hugh asked. The race had pushed back the Canadians but had left Hugh’s border alone.

“Yeah, they’re an odd bunch, a race that resembles a cross between a turtle and a scorpion,” Smith advised. “They’ve pushed mostly into Canadian territory, driving toward the habitable world they have under their control. I would expect you to see an incursion into our territory whenever the Canadian core stops them. They use our space to get around any protected systems that are successfully defended.”

“The Ssath are the dinosaur-looking people, right?” Hugh asked, surprised his question wasn’t filtered.

“Yeah. How exactly did you know that?” Smith asked. “Don’t worry about answering that. It’ll probably just get blocked. Well, the Krixnas are relatively new. The Madrix and Ximkas are tough opponents who have been at this longer than us, but the Ssath are in a whole other league. Take a look at this.” He pulled up where Ssath space touched Hugh’s area. It was a single system out there in the middle of nowhere. Red filled the star map, showing the overall spread of the Ssath. The territory they controlled was immense, easily thirty or forty times the size of what Earth controlled.

“I take it they’re the big dogs, but why not take out a small fry like Earth if they’re so powerful?” Hugh asked.

“That’s likely because their cores are too busy with other battles to worry about our sector of space. We hold a few good systems, but there are much richer pickings out there. The territory they cover is likely many times larger than what you see. The map can only display what we know, and our intel is limited beyond the area we control. We’d best leave them alone and try not to even appear on their radar.”

Now you tell me, Hugh thought. “So for the immediate future, I can expect another attack from either the Madrix, Ximkas, or Krixnas.”

“Correct. I suspect the Krixnas will attack again shortly. You’ve blocked them out of the system they attacked earlier, but they still have several other points they can jump at us from,” Smith said, highlighting seven other systems that bordered Hugh’s territory, as well as another two that bordered the Canadian core’s zone.

“What about a counterattack? We beat the Krixnas once. Why not take a shot at expanding our territory by taking what they have?” Hugh asked.

“That’s the eventual plan,” Smith said. “For now, the world’s cores are focused on stopping the assaults, and the governments have agreed to just retake lost territory before putting too many cores on the offensive. The more we take, the larger our border becomes and the potential to encounter new and more powerful races increases. Just look at this.”

The screen zoomed back out to show all of Earth’s territory. A date was displayed at the bottom, and Smith ran forward from the time Earth was first added to the GCA’s control. Hugh had seen this before, but this time, the individual colors denoting each race were displayed. As time moved forward, the colors became a blur when territory was won and lost by the various aliens. The enemies bordering Earth’s territory shifted hundreds of times as they fought not only against humanity but against each other.

“I think I get it. If we push back, we don’t know who will come at us next,” Hugh said.

“Yes, while I’m confident we could start to eat into Krixnas territory, it might only serve to open us up to new conflicts with deadlier races. For now, we focus on stabilizing our front, holding the line before offensive operations begin. Once they do, we’ll counterattack to take back what we’ve lost, but only up to the previous borders we were granted. Once we achieve that, the various governments will decide if it makes sense to pursue taking new territory.”

While speaking, Smith highlighted several of the larger bulges in human space where invaders had made a lot of headway. Arrows from the various cores showed where plans had been made to retake the lost territory. Hugh had several leading from his space into the divots carved out by the Madrix. In his zone of control, they had made the most headway. The Ximkas would also be a focus of his eventual counterattack; the efforts would aid the Canadian core immensely.

“That’s probably enough detail for now. I don’t want to eat up your training time,” Smith said. The others got up to leave the conference room. It was time for Hugh to get to work.

★

Chapter 29

Hugh had a good understanding of tactics based on his previous Army work, but things with these infantry mechs and combat pods ran a bit differently than with live troops. Captain Tran had Hugh run through several scenarios, teaching him what to do with his troops in various terrain and how to counter the mechs of known adversaries. Ambush, advance to contact, static defense, and others were all covered.

Some of the basic concepts had remained the same, such as the difference between cover and concealment. The strange weapons their forces used also required a bit of different thinking when planning a battle. Unlike conventional human weapons, the plasma-based firepower the GCA used meant that even a lowly infantry mech with a rifle could eventually destroy the biggest, meanest mech out there. Combined arms were still key to victory, and building a balanced force that could handle a variety of situations was the goal.

They worked out some scenarios and gamed some different battles with all the various military advisors, each one giving him more insight into fielding and fighting a cohesive force. His core allowed him to make preset groupings. After some tinkering around, Hugh settled on a standard buildout for his infantry forces. Similar conversations were had with the armor and air elements. Admiral Nix was helpful with naval and space warfare, which resembled naval warfare to a large degree, but the battles involving those forces didn’t lend themselves well to cookie-cutter builds. When he thought they had the right mix down, Hugh pulled everyone back into the conference room.

“Here’s what I came up with. Any objections?” Hugh said, pulling up his display.

Infantry Unit Structure:

Squad: Infantry squads will consist of 10 infantry mechs.

Platoon: A platoon consists of 4 infantry squads supported by a pair of weapons teams when available.

Company: A company consists of 4 platoons supported by 5 weapons teams.

Light, Medium, and Heavy Mech Unit Structure:

Platoon: A platoon consists of 4 mechs.

Company: A company of mechs will consist of 4 platoons.

Air Mech Unit Structure:

Flight: A flight will consist of 4 aircraft.

Squadron: A squadron consists of 4 flights.

“That’s a good framework. We can scale up into larger formations when needed, but for now, based on your typical battles, this should help keep things organized for you,” Admiral Nix said.

Hugh found he was able to preload these formation sizes into his core, allowing him to order the construction of an entire formation instead of just queuing up individual mechs. He could also set his build priorities to automatically create replacements for active units. While he would want to tinker around a bit in the field, this would make things easier when fighting in larger conflicts.

“Are you guys done with Hugh yet? It’s my turn to fill his mind with stuff,” Maddison said. She had waited impatiently as Hugh went through the training cycles with the other advisors.

“He’s all yours, Maddison,” Admiral Nix said. The others exited the conference room, leaving Hugh alone with his game advisor.

“So you weren’t a big gamer, I take it?” Maddison asked.

“No, I mean, I did play some video games but wasn’t all that into them,” Hugh admitted. They had already covered this ground before; Maddison knew he wasn’t familiar with the real-time strategy games that seemed to resemble war core battles.

“Yeah, we’ll start with some of the easy stuff,” Maddison advised. It wasn’t too easy for Hugh. She pulled up videos of various game competitions, showing him how several tactics worked.

Many of the tactics wouldn’t directly port over to what he was doing, given his units were controlled by real soldiers and his actions per minute didn’t matter since he didn’t need to directly control each unit. There were some easy enough tactics for him to incorporate, like when he rushed the enemy base with large numbers of cheap units early in the fight. Some options wouldn’t work because of the way battles took place, like a turret-rush type thing where you built defensive turrets near the enemy base to close him off from expanding. Hugh had a pair of defense turrets he had purchased on leave, but once those were used up, he couldn’t build more, at least not yet.

There were several methods of harassment that might work, such as a focus on getting some early units to attack the enemy’s unprotected workers. The downsides to many of these tactics were too big for Hugh to ignore. Most of the ones Maddison told him about led to an early victory or a quick defeat. He would rely on tried-and-true methods of battle but let Maddison know he wasn’t afraid to try something out of left field if it might earn them a victory. With lost battles meaning dead soldiers, Hugh wanted to be wise in his choices.

“So, any questions?” Maddison asked, yawning. A quick check of the clock showed it was already past midnight. Hugh didn’t get tired but had to remind himself the humans around him still did.

“Just one. How did you get roped into this? Everyone else is military, so just how did they find and recruit you?” Hugh asked.

“Heh, they got me during a tournament. It seems the military keeps tabs on several RTS tournaments, and they happened across the channel where I discuss game tactics. The government guys gave me an offer I couldn’t say no to. I help them out, and after my two-year tour is done, they pay off my student loans and pay me an annual consulting fee.”

“Aren’t they going to wipe your memory when they’re done? How do they go about paying for all that stuff when you won’t remember what happened?” Hugh asked.

“They don’t just wipe your memory. They replace it. I’ll remember the last two years as a job helping the Army develop new wargaming opportunities. I’ve always been kind of a loner, so other than the few fans of my channel, nobody will notice I’ve been gone,” Maddison said. Hugh could detect something in her demeanor, a sadness lurking just below the surface of this kid.

“I hope they do right by you,” Hugh said, not sure how to respond.

“They’ll do what they agreed to. I may not remember, but at least I’m not stuck in a box like you are.” Maddison’s expression changed from one of sadness to one of worry; she was thinking she had offended him in some way.

“I think you’re right, you know, about what you said earlier,” Hugh said. “This is likely all a big game for the GCA. Just look at the RTS games you showed me and how similar some of those are to the battles I fight. The limited battlefield space and the strange parameters for each fight make me think we’re doing this not to settle differences but for someone else’s amusement.”

“Bingo, Hugh. You’re catching on,” Maddison said, giving him a thumbs-up.

“Don’t count me out yet. I’m going to beat this thing, but to do so, I’ll need your help and advice. Now, before you dig back into gaming tactics, go get some sleep. We can finish up tomorrow,” Hugh said.

“Sure. Thanks, Hugh. I hope you do beat this game somehow.”

Hugh watched her leave, realizing there weren’t any of his advisors still around. They had been going at it all day and late into the night. Hugh didn’t quite know what to do with himself. He worked for a while, reviewing footage of his previous battles as well as some of the gaming information Maddison had shown him. He also tweaked some of his unit builds, preselecting several different ones that he could fit into various scenarios. The work he had done with the advisors helped fine-tune his choices. The base got quiet at this time of the night, but there was always some activity. A soldier, along with one of the technicians, was working on a combat pod, drawing Hugh’s attention to their task.

“Hey, it’s late. Don’t you need to get some rest? What if a new fight starts tomorrow?” the tech said to the soldier, the man not at all interested in doing whatever the soldier was trying to get him to accomplish.

“No way. Admiral Nix says this war core looks like he’s going to stick around a while. Because there’s not going to be much changeover, we can all get a specific combat pod assigned to us. I want this one, and I want everyone to know it’s mine,” the soldier said. With a sigh, the technician got back to work, securing a name tape along with a unit patch.

Corporal Duncan Blix, First Armored Division, Old Ironsides

Combat pod z144, Thunder Chucker

“Nice. Thanks, dude. I’m totally going to get some nose art for my pod painted up, like the Air Force guys do on their planes. I’m thinking a picture of a super-ripped Zeus throwing a lightning bolt,” the soldier said.

“That would be pretty cool. Specialist Martin is a pretty good artist. You should see if she can paint it for you,” the tech replied. The pair finished up and left the combat pod area, working out the details.

So based on what Hugh had overheard, the admiral figured he would stick around for a while. It was a vote of confidence he sorely needed. Hugh had resisted the urge to talk to the soldiers working on the pod, not sure if he would freak them out and not quite sure if he wanted to get too close to any of them. Inevitably, no matter how good he was, some of them wouldn’t make it, and becoming close friends would make that loss even worse.

The Krixnas have initiated hostilities on system es1423. Pre-battle negotiations will begin in 30 minutes.

The prompt flashed into view, startling Hugh. It had happened: the Krixnas were invading another system. Pulling up his star chart, Hugh could see the system was directly next to the previous one they had tried to invade. It didn’t hold anything critical like a habitable planet, but like every other system, it was on a path that would eventually lead to Earth.

“All command staff, report to the briefing room.”

The announcement sounded out over the base speakers. Someone besides Hugh had gotten the message. So at least he didn’t have to try and hunt anyone down. Within five minutes, everyone had assembled, most looking like they had just rolled out of bed. Hugh could also make out activity near the main barracks; the officers there were rousing their troops in case they were immediately needed for the fight.

“Are you with us, Hugh?” the admiral asked.

“Yes, sir. I’m here. Is there any additional information you can give me?” Hugh asked.

“No, nothing new. Intel is still doing a workup on the Krixnas, trying to put together some cultural information and a psych profile on how they operate.”

“Can they do that?” Hugh asked, not sure how the intel section would figure out cultural information based on a few battles.

“The war core isn’t the only one connected to the GCA,” the admiral advised. “Civilian leadership gets some interaction, and when we win battles, they can even earn rewards. Some of our biggest tech leaps have been due to those rewards. They call the rewards influence points, and the leaders of our world can spend them on various things. One of those things we can purchase happens to be intel directly from the GCA. It’s not cheap, so they weren’t going to use it until they were sure you were fully committed to the fight.”

“Do we really need to spend points on Krixnas intel?” Hugh asked. “I mean, can’t we save them up and like find a cure for cancer or something?” Sure, he would love any advantage he could get over the foe, but being able to buy tech upgrades for Earth was huge.

“No, stuff like intelligence on another race or recon information on other sectors of space are easy enough to get. Other things, like the tech advancements, are a bit of a crapshoot. You can only purchase a random advancement and never know for sure what you’re going to get. It could be that cure for cancer you mentioned or something minor, like a better syringe design. It’s a gamble, but the leadership still sees a need to dump influence into purchasing tech rewards when they get the chance.”

“Fine, none of that helps us with the coming fight. Any thoughts on what we should do?” Hugh asked.

“We’ve done what we can. There’s not much we can do until you see the battlefield type and parameters. By then, it’ll be too late for us to give input,” Maddison replied.

“You’ve done a lot of work in a short time, Hugh. The training and organization we’ve developed over the last few days should give you an edge in the coming fight,” the admiral said.

Hugh could tell they were all wracking their brains to come up with some sage-like advice. Their time to help was over. They had given him the basic tools he needed to fight more effectively. Now it was up to him to execute. Earth needed another win, and Hugh was determined to get it.

The Krixnas invasion of system es1423 has begun.

★

Chapter 30

This battle will be a checkpoint assault. As the instigator of this conflict, the Krixnas core will be allowed to choose whether they wish to be the attacker or the defender for this battle.

The Krixnas core has chosen to defend.

New battle format detected for the human war core. As your core has not experienced this type of battle format before, a short overview will be provided before the battle starts. Given the nature of the battle type, no negotiations are required.

With that, Hugh found himself hurtling toward another conflict world. This time, while he was traveling, the GCA played a quick tutorial explaining this type of battle. He watched a replay of a fight between two alien races, one of which, he was interested to see, was the Ssath. The battle began with the Ssath as the aggressor. A pair of large airships dropped down toward a small valley. The Ssath airship looked like the spitting image of a flying saucer, and once it landed, troops began to pour out. The system explained what was happening.

In a checkpoint assault, the attacker is given a preselected force to fight with. At each stage of the battle, you will face not only defenders placed there by your opponent but also randomly generated forces that are hostile to both factions. Each stage of the battle will have an objective. Meet the requirements of that objective to proceed to the next stage.

Hugh watched as the Ssath infantry emerged. They looked like he expected: mech versions of a velociraptor. The head of each infantry mech had a mouth full of jagged teeth, and their arms had been replaced with plasma weapons. These looked like higher-level units, given the extra armor plating and the grenade launchers mounted on their shoulders. The weapons were already coughing out rounds toward the distant defenders.

The opponents were hovering infantry mechs that looked like someone had taken a chunk of steel and melted it. In the real world, these things must have been some blob-like creature; he had seen similar aliens while on leave. The entire surface of the blob mechs glowed, charging up before unleashing a beam of destruction at their foes. Despite the extra armor, the Ssath moved quick and closed in on their outnumbered foe. The last few opponents were taken down in melee; the tooth-filled Ssath mouths had proven more effective than Hugh would have thought. When the dinos bit down, the teeth began to whirr like a chainsaw blade, easily cutting through the blob aliens’ armored shells.

At that point, the battle fast-forwarded, Hugh barely catching that the Ssath were able to occupy an abandoned command post, where they pumped out some replacements. The Ssath were victorious, blowing through the blob people with ease at each stage of the battle. Hugh looked closely at the fast-moving video, trying to figure out how the Ssath and their opponents fought. One thing was clear: the dinos knew what they were doing. The last stage found the defenders hunkered down near their command post. Hugh watched as the Ssath overran the position, destroying the command post and winning the match. The system gave a quick recap, not bothering to provide much in the way of details.

In this example, the final challenge was to destroy the defender’s command post, but that may not always be the case. As the attacker, you will need to manage your resources and fight smart if you want to preserve enough of your forces to face whatever the final challenge may be. The defender will also face limited resources and must decide how much to commit to each stage of the battle.

Hugh had a lot of questions, and the only way he was going to get answers was by fighting. When the replay ended, he was hovering over a dark world, the surface devoid of any life. Furthest from the sun, and way outside the Goldilocks zone, this planet likely never supported life. Just like in previous battles, as he zoomed in, a small patch on the surface was bright and heavy with vegetation. If the GCA could do this on a lifeless world just to have an interesting setting for a battle, why didn’t they help the various races create their own safe worlds and eliminate the need for conflict? He didn’t think he would get an answer anytime soon.

Initial force calculations are being made. Your first challenge will be to land your assault force and restore the damaged command post to a functional state. When you are ready, move your forces to the designated extraction point to complete this stage. There is no time limit, but understand that your opponent has a command post up and running, slowly feeding them resources. Since you are the attacker, the normal resource flow for a command post has been canceled. You will only have what you find on the battlefield. Your initial attacking force will consist of the following:

Infantry mechs: 40. Your infantry mechs will start at level 3.

Machine gun team: 1

Construction drones: 2

War core, prepare for battle.

Hugh found himself inside a large transport aircraft; he could shift his point of view at will. Not being bound to a command post felt a bit strange, and he could not monitor the entire battlefield at once. Focusing inside the craft, he could see the rows of his infantry lined up and standing on glowing blue pads. His two construction drones also stood on glowing pads near the front of the aircraft. Hugh zoomed out his view to get a look outside the aircraft.

The oversized air mech was making good speed, flying over a dark ocean as it approached the bright mainland in the distance. If he had to guess, Hugh would estimate it was relatively low, only a couple of thousand feet over the calm sea below. He tried to see if there was some device or visible means the GCA used to generate bright sunlight over the battlefield, but the secret of their technology eluded him. When he tried to focus on the barrier between the light and dark sections, Hugh’s vision blurred. Whatever created the phenomenon, the GCA wasn’t going to show him. He also received warning prompts when he tried to move his view beyond a certain distance from his forces. He would be tied to his troops until they took the command post.

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

“I’ve got you, Captain. We’re in something called a checkpoint assault and we’ve got to take an abandoned command post to pass the first stage of the battle,” Hugh replied.

“Roger that. It looks like we’re on a level 10 transport craft, so when we’re over the drop point, our forces should be automatically teleported to the surface. No chutes to worry about on this jump. We’re getting close. I’m going to make sure the men are ready,” Tran said.

Hugh listened in as the captain confirmed the combat pods had connected to all the infantry mechs aboard.

“Sir, we’ve got a new unit driving the combat pods for the infantry,” Tran told him. “The men would like to advise you of something, if you don’t mind.”

Hugh was a little concerned, not sure what was wrong. They were nearly to the jump point, and he didn’t need any trouble before the fight even started. “Go ahead,” he responded.

“Sir, this is Sergeant Landry,” a new voice said as Hugh linked into the unit-wide channel. “We would like to inform you that today’s jump and all of your infantry support for this battle will be provided by the 325th Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. We would like to ask you to pass on our apologies in advance to the armor and air mech guys for the lack of targets. We’re going to hog them all for ourselves, sir.”

Hugh could do nothing but laugh as the men whooped it up. “Sergeant Landry, I’ll pass on your regrets to the other forces. Go get some, airborne!” he bellowed.

The light indicating that they were over the drop point blinked and the glowing circles under each soldier brightened. One by one, the circles flashed and the infantry mechs were teleported to the surface. While the men dropped, Hugh remained tuned into their channel, listening as Sergeant Landry led them in singing a song that airborne units had sung since World War II. “Blood on the Risers” seemed oddly appropriate, given the mechs’ resemblance to vehicles of that era, these men braving the same risk of death as their forefathers.

“Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die.

“Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die.

“Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die.

“He ain’t gonna jump no more!”

Hugh felt a burst of pride. It was an honor to lead men such as these, but he could think about that later. For now, he had a battle to win. Shifting his view outside the aircraft, Hugh watched as the last of the troops teleported down. They were on a grassy field just off the beach. The sea and the darkness were behind him, a direction he designated as south in his units’ interface so they would all be on the same page during the fight. To the east and west, the ground rose into rolling hills that gave way to impassable mountains. The terrain features that limited movement were now a familiar feature of a GCA battlefield.

The crack of plasma rifle fire sounded as Hugh’s forces engaged some Krixnas infantry charging down the slopes from both the east and the west. His level 3 mechs were up to the task. Accurate fire burrowed into the opposing infantry, taking them down before the inaccurate fire from their face tentacles was able to do much damage. His machine gun team had finally been set up and got into the fight, coughing out rounds at a pace that seemed way too slow but was still much faster than that of his rifle-armed troops. When the firing stopped, three of his infantry had been destroyed, but they had shot to pieces a score of Krixnas. Hugh was more than happy with this exchange rate.

While there were few visual cues on the Krixnas infantry, Hugh began to suspect these were merely level 1 units. He had jumped in with level 3 infantry, but how long would it take the Krixnas core to match or surpass his unit level? His opponent had a command post to work with and upgrade, while he only had what he could scrape together from each stage of the battle. Of course, that might be part of the GCA’s balancing efforts: giving him an early advantage in unit quality to get things rolling but allowing the defender to slowly improve until they had a chance to become the superior force.

Hugh didn’t want to rush things, but every minute he delayed would equate to another point of resources for his opponent. He held the troops in place while he took some necessary time to survey the battlefield. The beach area led into a small valley. Hugh could make out some partially demolished buildings up on the hills in the northeast. This was likely the ruined command post he had been tasked with reclaiming. It was too far away to see the extent of the damage, but it didn’t look too good from here. To the west, the hills gave way to a small plateau before the mountains blocked them off. Hugh could detect some movement on the plateau. There were mechs up there, walking around in the random pattern that usually indicated AI-controlled forces.

First things first, Hugh ordered his forces forward. His unit was essentially a platoon in strength, so he designated all his forces as the First Platoon. When he did so, a new prompt appeared, allowing him the option of assigning any newly built mechs to this formation until it was brought up to strength. He approved the task, leaving the priority level highest for drone replacement, then infantry, and finally other unit types equally. He didn’t think the command post he’d ordered his force toward was functional, but there had to be some way to replenish his losses in this crazy battle.

Setting the ruins as his objective, Hugh watched as Captain Tran moved his troopers into formation and began the long advance up the hill. Three squads led the way, with the final squad and the machine gun team placed slightly behind and formed up to protect the valuable construction drones. To spot any trouble, Tran pushed a few infantry ahead of the main body as an advance guard.

Hugh couldn’t open his normal interface since he wasn’t connected to a command post, which left him unable to access any resources he might have started with. It was one more reason to take the objective quickly. His troops had only lost three infantry mechs. A few others had some level of battle damage that hampered their efficiency, but they were still functional. Once he had access to his resources, he could patch them up and make sure they were operating at one hundred percent.

“Contact! Enemy hiding under the dirt!” one of the soldiers controlling an advance guard unit shouted as his mech was dragged down to the ground. Glowing Krixnas tentacles were already burrowing into the mech, destroying it as the soldier tried to bring his rifle arm to bear on the ambusher.

The soldiers were well-trained and lost no time in reacting to the threat. Another advance guard mech was pulled down, but the others had already sighted the suspicious bulges in the earth that held the Krixnas ambushers. The enemy attacking his two infantry were torn apart by accurate fire, but not before they destroyed their victims. Three other Krixnas were uncovered when the rest of the platoon blasted their hiding places. The enemy tried to return fire, but there were only a half dozen ambushers in total and nearly forty human mechs attacking them.

When the shooting stopped, Hugh was down another three mechs. Captain Tran wasted no time in carrying out Hugh’s orders, quickly reshuffling squads to balance out the losses and pushing toward the command post. With the battle just underway and this being the first checkpoint, Hugh doubted the Krixnas would have risked much more here than he had already faced. That theory proved false when his mechs came under fire during their final advance toward the ruined command post.

Heavy beams shot forth from a pair of Krixnas light mechs that were scuttling their way out from behind the damaged structures. Another handful of infantry supported the light mechs, all of which were trying to close into melee range. Hugh was having none of it; he ordered his forces to fall back while staying at the far end of their weapons’ range. The Krixnas light mechs were faster, but with his troopers walking backward while firing, the closure rate slowed. His machine gun team wasn’t very effective here; they had no time to deploy their weapon, and if they tried to stop and do so, they would be overrun.

Rifle fire peppered the hulls of the enemy light mechs, burning into the armor and weakening it with each strike. Captain Tran had three squads targeting the light mechs while the fourth squad took the enemy infantry under fire. Hugh ordered the pair of construction drones further back from the fight, not willing to risk them being bit by a stray shot when they might be the key to victory.

One of the light mechs crashed to the ground as the armor was finally burned through and something critical inside was destroyed. Four of Hugh’s infantry were down, destroyed in one hit by the powerful weapons on the light mechs. As they closed into melee range, where the Krixnas had the advantage, his troops spread out. While he couldn’t prevent them from overtaking his forces, he could make it hard for them to take down more than one or two before he stopped them.

The second Krixnas light mech went down as it paused to lash one of Hugh’s infantry with its plasma-charged face tentacles. With the larger threats down, his infantry had little trouble finishing off the last of their Krixnas counterparts, the lower-level enemy infantry falling easily to his superior firepower. With the immediate threat eliminated, his forces pressed on toward the ruins of the command post. No further attackers showed themselves, but Hugh’s infantry had been taken from forty soldiers down to twenty-eight and a machine gun team. When the first infantry mech stepped next to the command post, Hugh received a prompt.

Take control of command post: Y/N?

★

Chapter 31

Hugh accepted command, noting there were four buildings in various states of disrepair under the control of his command post. There were also no resources, which would delay any repairs to the structures or his existing units. Taking stock of the damage, Hugh tried to decide where to focus his efforts.

Command post, level 3 (unit points: N/A): There is no unit point restriction for this battle. The only restriction you will have is limited resources on the battlefield. Structure durability is at 3%. Repairs are required before this building will be fully functional.

Barracks, level 3, with armory addon: Structure durability is at 2%. Repairs are required before this building can be used.

Light mech factory, Level 3, with machine shop addon: Structure durability is at 4%. Repairs are required before this building can be used. This structure is slowly deteriorating. Repair it quickly to prevent further damage and eventual collapse.

Airfield, level 3: Durability is at 6%. Repairs are required before the building can be used.

Just as he had been advised earlier, the command post was not producing its normal stream of resources. Repairing the building wouldn’t help that, so he would just have to gather what was available. The priority would be the light mech factory; it was slowly collapsing, and Hugh would need something other than infantry if he wanted to win the battle. Looking over the structures, he couldn’t tell why the mech factory was deteriorating and the others were not. It was another quirk of the system the GCA had in place to govern these battles.

When Hugh took over the command post, there was no initial batch of resources like he normally received. He would have to gather every bit of scrap if he wanted to build or repair anything. He ordered his two drones to begin gathering up the mechs destroyed in the earlier fight, highlighting the area closest to the command post. He needed some quick resources in order to stabilize the mech factory. Once that was stabilized, he would focus on repairing the command post. His pair of drones went about their work, scuttling over to the nearest casualty, the first Krixnas light mech destroyed in their last skirmish. It took two drones to drag the oversized mech back to the command post.

While Hugh waited for the drones to finish their task, he ordered a squad of infantry to do some recon on the plateau to the west. Some movement had been detected, and Hugh needed to know if he was about to be attacked. He might also find something he could exploit. Captain Tran had reshuffled the infantry squads, giving each seven infantry mechs to work with.

The selected squad would sweep past the northern boundary on its way to investigate the other plateau. Hugh was hoping they would locate the path leading to the next stage of the battle. They wouldn’t be able to leave until the requirements of this stage were complete, but once he repaired the command post, he didn’t want to waste extra time searching for the exit.

His construction drones dropped off the first destroyed mech. Thankfully, his damaged command post had no trouble breaking it down into resources. Typically, a light mech might net him anywhere from two to five resources, based on how much of it was left. This one gave him six, telling Hugh the reprocessing efficiency upgrade was working. One drone was pulled from gathering battlefield scrap and sent to try and fix the damaged light mech factory before it deteriorated further. During the time it had taken the drones to drag over the first bit of scrap, the building’s durability had dropped to three percent.

The little drone went to work, clearing debris and rebuilding what it must have judged to be the most critically damaged portion of the structure. His six resources dropped quickly as the drone worked, and by the time Hugh was out, the building’s durability had improved to nine percent. Sadly, the deterioration tag on the building was still active, meaning it would degrade while he waited for more resources to be processed. He left the two drones to continue with their task, turning his attention to the scouting force as it closed in on the unidentified mechs.

“Sir, we’ve got a weird one. It looks like some of those Frankenstein mechs are going to town on a debris field. I count one light mech and a dozen infantry. All of them are jacked up in some way,” Sergeant Landry advised.

Hugh had called them zombie mechs before: old, damaged things that plied the debris field in search of parts for their repairs and upgrades. He supposed that calling them Frankenstein mechs worked better. After all, in the old story, Doctor Frankenstein used body parts to create his monster, just like the mechs were doing to themselves.

The debris field was a good size, and the mechs there were a mix of Krixnas and human designs. A Krixnas light mech was the largest of the group. This one only had two tentacles for its face, and it was missing several of the small legs these mechs used to propel themselves. As Hugh watched, the light mech lashed out at one of the damaged Krixnas infantry mechs, destroying it and rooting around in its remains, searching for more parts.

“Creepy. Just keep an eye on them for now and don’t engage. We need to rebuild our forces before we take them on,” Hugh ordered, setting the limit line for the infantry’s advance well outside of weapons range.

Time ticked by as the repairs progressed on the light mech factory. When the structure’s durability finally hit fifty percent, the deterioration warning was removed. Hugh then focused his efforts on the command post. As much as he wanted to keep the momentum going on the light factory, he needed more construction drones, and to get those, he would need the command post repaired. Thankfully, it took a lot fewer resources to repair a building than it did to build one, because the supply of battlefield wrecks was being slowly depleted.

“Sir, we’ve got something strange going on with the Frankensteins,” Tran advised. Hugh looked over to see the light mech erupt into a flurry of activity. It had just trashed five of the infantry mechs, a mixture of human and Krixnas models. It was using the parts to make itself bigger, evolving into a medium mech complete with additional weapons systems.

“Do those claw things on its back look familiar to anyone else?” Hugh asked.

“Yes, it looks like those mortar launchers from the Krixnas landing craft,” Captain Tran confirmed. If their medium mechs possessed two of those launchers, they would be formidable in a fight. The Frankenstein version of the mech was a hodgepodge creation, and while it had mounting points for two launchers, only one of the claws appeared functional.

“Captain, I wanted you to have light mech support before we faced these things, but I don’t think we can let that monster get any bigger. I’m calling all your forces up and giving you orders to clear that field of hostiles,” Hugh said and issued commands for Tran and his airborne troopers.

“On it, sir. Okay, boys, time to show Major Logan what you can do,” Tran replied. When the other infantry squads rejoined the scouting party, the captain had the machine gun team take a position near the ridgeline of the plateau. It was barely inside range for the weapon, but the slope of the ridgeline was the only cover they would have from the plasma mortar mounted on the Frankenstein mech.

The other infantry spread out in a skirmish line, close enough to support each other but far enough to avoid too many being hit by a single blast. Other than the single medium mech, another five infantry-sized Frankenstein mechs wandered about. One squad was designated to handle the opposing infantry, and the other three would assist the machine gun team with the medium mech.

Machine gun fire signaled the start of the attack. The heavier .30-caliber rounds started to connect, the gunner doing a skillful job of landing hits from extreme range. The infantry marched forward, and once in range, they dropped prone and began to fire. Too bad they didn’t have any grenades; they would probably do well against the larger mech. The Frankenstein mechs responded immediately, lurching toward the soldiers firing at them. Hugh wasn’t too concerned. These things were slow enough that he doubted they would do much damage before his forces gunned them down.

Fire stitched down the side of the larger mech, the .30-caliber rounds penetrating on every shot. The rifles from the infantry had a harder time, but the hodgepodge armor of the Frankenstein mech was being worn down quickly, allowing more and more damage to get through. The accompanying smaller mechs were easy enough to destroy; the squad assigned to the task was cutting them down without suffering any losses. A blob of plasma launched from the mortar mounted on the back of the medium mech. It was going to miss. Those types of weapons weren’t really meant to be fired on the move, making a hit on his machine gun team unlikely unless the monster stopped to stabilize its firing platform.

“Big boy is down. Light them up some more to make sure and then recon the battlefield,” Hugh ordered as the larger mech fell to the punishing fire. A few seconds of additional firing made sure none of these creepy mechs were going to reanimate, and a squad of infantry patrolled the field to give Hugh a better look at what was out there. The ground was littered with wreckage, and enough was scattered around that he should be able to repair his structures and replace his losses.

“Well done, Captain Tran,” Hugh said. “Let’s get most of the troops back to the command post, just in case there are any surprises. I also want a squad posted here at the debris field and one assigned to escort the construction drones as they gather everything up.”

It was easy enough to assign a squad to hold and defend a position, but escorting the construction drones took a bit more effort. In the end, he just assigned a squad to patrol that sector. The soldiers controlling the infantry understood what he wanted and would “patrol” next to where the construction drones were working. At about the same time as he finished the makeshift workaround, Hugh found a new branch in the orders tab; it allowed for a covering force to be assigned to a unit or location. He adjusted his orders, giving the squad assigned to protect the construction drones a bit more flexibility in how they carried out their task.

While he waited, Hugh organized his construction drones into units, something he had neglected to do when he was working on the combat formations. The drones were less unit-point-intensive than his combat units, but they worked best in smaller teams. He ended up selecting five drones as the size of a standard team, allowing him to build them or assign them tasks as a group.

He hated wasting time getting the structures back in order, but this stage of the battle wasn’t going to flag as complete until he was done with the task. One by one, the drones brought in the destroyed mechs to be reprocessed. Once he had at least ten points of resources, he would pull a drone from salvage operations and have it work on repairs. It ended up taking nearly seventy resources to complete repairs on the command post. As soon as the building was completely repaired, the ability to construct more drones was unlocked. Hugh queued up five groups, giving him a total of twenty-five to work with.

The first four drone squads were tasked with gathering up salvage while the final team, once it was constructed, would resume repairs on the other structures. By the time the last drone squad was built, hopefully the others would have gathered enough resources to prevent any delay in repairs.

Two prompts appeared as Hugh finished up his plans.

You have completed the requirements for stage 1. The path to the second objective is now unlocked. A bonus objective has been achieved. Rewards are now being deployed.

A strange disc-shaped aircraft streaked overhead, dropping several supply crates. Parachutes deployed, and they drifted down toward his command post. When the supply crates landed, Hugh ordered his nearest construction drone squad to gather them. It turned out that each crate held fifty resources, and with five crates in the drop, it would really jumpstart his repairs. Thinking of repairs, Hugh set a second task for the drone squad gathering up the crates. When they were done with their gathering, they would make their way around the infantry squads and perform any necessary repairs. It was a whole lot cheaper to repair a mech than build a new one from scratch.

“Sir, we’ve got a new path that just appeared along the northern border,” Tran called in.

Hugh shifted his view and saw that a mech escorting one of the construction drones had found a wide and winding path leading through the mountains in the north. It hadn’t been there before, and Hugh figured it must have appeared when he completed the stage. He was anxious to move on and hit the next stage of the battle; he wanted to give his opponent as little time as possible to prepare. Despite his desire to get the fight moving, he couldn’t just let all the resources lying around here go to waste, so he would wait until he had gathered everything and built up his forces before moving on.

The other structures were repaired one by one. The second to be completed was the barracks, and once it and its armory addon were one hundred percent fixed, Hugh received a prompt. It confirmed he was entitled to a free upgrade from the barracks as part of the infantry mech perk he had selected. He held off, waiting until the light mech factory was also completed, knowing it unlocked more options for infantry upgrades. It didn’t take long for the light mech factory to be completed, and just as he suspected, the newly unlocked options were added to his choices for the free upgrade.

Standard Infantry Mech Upgrades: The resource costs are waived for the first upgrade selected.

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

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

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

The following upgrades require an active light mech factory:

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

5. Plasma Grenades: These thrown weapons have an effective radius of 5 yards. Any mech or structure in the area of effect will take damage as a wave of plasma energy is released. This upgrade requires 100 resources and an additional 1 resource for every infantry mech produced or upgraded with these weapons. Replacement devices can be manufactured by your construction drones for 1 resource per pair of grenades. Please note that infantry mechs cannot carry more than 2 of these grenade types at any one time.

Hugh went with the plasma grenades first, since it was the most expensive upgrade. He didn’t get any free grenades with the selection, but saving a hundred resources in this type of fight was huge. He assigned the drones working on mech repairs to also produce and distribute grenades. He selected two grenades for each infantry mech, and when they were used in a fight, that drone team would distribute replacements if he had the resources to build them. The airfield was the last structure to be completed, and when it finished up, he received another notice.

Your command post has been upgraded. The Drop Beacon of the Vanquished can now be utilized.

Excellent. Hugh was excited to try out the drop beacon, but it would have to wait until it could make a difference. The drop beacon looked like a small radar dish that slowly turned atop the command post. Not the biggest visual cue, but it might give an opponent the idea he had some special upgrades to his force. Hugh made a note to look for any strange upgrades on enemy structures, but of course, it would be a while before he could recognize what was normal for a Krixnas building. Maybe the intel folks back home could figure it out.

His drones remained busy. The squad assigned to repair the structures had now shifted to gathering duty, slowly picking the Frankenstein mech field clean of any useable resources. With all his structures repaired, the option to upgrade them was grayed out. He couldn’t alter them past what he had already done. Now that repairs had been made, his priority was to replace his losses. Once that was done, he needed some heavier firepower, so he added a platoon of light mechs to his build queue. If any resources remained after the mechs were built, he would see about some more upgrades before moving on to the next stage of the battle.

★

Chapter 32

By the time the last of Hugh’s light mechs walked off the assembly line, he had 112 resources remaining. His drones had picked the debris fields clean, and there was nothing else in this little valley for them to exploit. He now had a decision to make: focus on upgrades or expand his forces. He really wanted the secondary machine gun for the light mechs, but doing that would eat up all his resources and only unlock the upgrade, leaving him an insufficient amount to refit his existing mechs. Instead, Hugh decided to boost his infantry’s performance, going with the heavy barrel and improved heat sink mechanism. That left only twelve resources, enough to at least print up some replacement grenades if needed.

“Major Logan, the armor has arrived,” Captain Cartwright said, taking control of the first mech to activate.

“Welcome to the fight, Captain Cartwright. We’re in a checkpoint assault fight, and we’ve just completed the first stage of the battle and are moving toward what we think is the path leading to the second stage. We have one platoon of infantry, a machine gun team, and your platoon of four light mechs at our disposal,” Hugh advised.

“Got it, sir. We’ll be ready to go momentarily once all my soldiers are connected.”

While he waited, Hugh considered scrapping some of his construction drones. He had needed the numbers to gather up the scattered debris, but now that the task was complete, he really didn’t need more drones. Scrapping a single drone netted him two resources. Not a bad return, given their low cost to produce. He kept one squad of drones active and scrapped the other four. That gave him enough resources to add the basic targeting package to his infantry. With only two resources remaining, it was time to move on and find out what stage two of this strange battle would entail.

Hugh gathered his troops and ordered everything except a single drone to move toward the newly discovered pathway. Leaving behind a single drone might give him the chance to continue construction if the enemy got lucky and all his other drones were somehow lost in the fight. A squad of infantry supported by a light mech led the way, with a squad assigned to each flank and the rest arranged around his vulnerable construction drones. He wasn’t sure what to expect when the first infantry mech reached the pass through the mountains, but a new prompt appeared.

Warning! One of your units is about to leave the zone. Once a unit leaves this area, you have 5 minutes to complete the withdrawal of all your forces. Once a unit leaves, there will be no option to return, and any units that do not make it to the next stage within the time window will be lost. Make sure you’ve finished building units and purchasing upgrades before leaving. Once you pass through, you will lose the use of any buildings, but upgrades will continue to have an effect throughout the battle. You will also retain any remaining resources.

The soldier who had stepped into the pathway quickly turned around and returned before the countdown could start. It looked like leaving behind a construction drone wasn’t going to be a viable option, so Hugh ordered it to hurry up and join its fellows. With one final look about, he saw no reason to remain behind. He ordered his forces up the narrow pass, really hoping there were no ambushes along the way.

While the Krixnas didn’t ambush him, something else did. Near the mountain peak, the path narrowed further. A quick shout and cursing were heard over the open comms channel. Moving his view around the long, strung-out column of troops, Hugh saw one of the infantry mechs at the end of the formation being dragged into a small cave that had opened in the side of the mountain. The stony arm crushed the soldier’s mech, disconnecting him from the fight.

“Anyone see what happened?” Hugh asked.

“I did, sir. That cave appeared like magic, and some rock giant guy stepped out and grabbed the trooper in the back of the formation. I can’t see him, but I can hear the monster rooting around in there,” a soldier replied.

“Want me to toss a couple of frags in there and clear that thing out?” Tran asked.

Hugh considered it. There might even be some rewards inside. No, everything they found wouldn’t be beneficial. Of all the options available to him, sending troops into a dark, unmapped tunnel filled with rock creatures seemed like a bad use of resources.

“No, we continue on. We’ll have enough on our hands with the Krixnas. I don’t want to lose forces fighting stuff in a cave that has no bearing on our mission,” Hugh ordered.

The other officers said a few words to remind the troops to stay on their toes. These were good soldiers, but even good soldiers could lose their edge after marching for so long on a winding trail. As they crested the peak, the second-stage notification appeared.

The second stage of the battle for control of es1423 is initiated. For this stage, the aggressor must successfully make it to the objective marker at the northern end of the zone. Beware hostile indigenous life forms that have been roused by your presence.

Hugh looked down the mountainside. The trail on this side widened out and was less steep than the narrow passage up. At the foot of the mountains, a canyon wound its way through the zone. The steep vertical walls were impassable to his forces. There would be no fancy maneuver here, just a march down what looked like the perfect chokepoint to bottle up his forces. They were once again in what he considered the south of the zone; the end of the canyon was far to the north, but the canyon wasn’t a straight shot and zigzagged all over the place on its way to the finish line.

With a squad of infantry leading the way, Hugh’s mechs descended into the canyon. There was no vegetation in this area, just reddish-brown rock and dirt that reminded him of parts of the southwestern United States. The ground and the walls of the canyon were irregular. Occasional large rocks required his troops to scramble over or squeeze around them. His units were level 3, but mechs weren’t known for their agility. The column came to a halt just as they started moving into the canyon.

“What’s up, soldier?” Hugh asked the infantry mech who had called the halt at the front of the column.

“They might have fooled us once, but not this time. Take a look at the canyon wall where my weapon is pointed,” the soldier said. Hugh looked at the area he was indicating. The rough eastern wall seemed normal enough at first, but upon closer inspection, he could see there was a gap around a large section. The area suspiciously looked like a passageway that had been purposefully blocked with a stone to disguise an entrance.

“I see it. Any suggestions?” Hugh asked. He relied on his knowledge and that of his officers, but often, the grunt on the ground had the best solution.

“I bet that as soon as we approach, another giant thing is going to grab someone,” the soldier said. “Why don’t we ruin his day first, before he ruins ours? Let’s have a couple of soldiers flank the opening, then have one of the light mechs pelt the rock with its .50-cal. Once the giant moves the rock to try and grab the light mech, the soldiers at the opening toss in a pair of plasma grenades.”

“I don’t have anything better. Make it happen, soldier,” Hugh ordered.

A pair of infantry moved forward, making way more noise than Hugh would have liked as they approached the hidden cave opening. The noise wasn’t enough to rouse whatever was inside, and the pair pressed up against the wall of the canyon, flanking where the opening would appear. A light mech then stomped forward, making more noise than usual. Shots began to hammer out of its main weapon, each plasma bolt chipping away and melting a small section of rock, but more importantly, it made a lot of noise while doing so.

Almost instantly, the rock covering the cave slid open like a garage door. The damage from the light mech’s main gun had chipped away part of the rocky facade, revealing it was there to hide a metal door. One of the rock giants stood inside the entrance. The monster was nearly twelve feet tall, and its oversized fist was already lashing out at his light mech. The pair of infantry were momentarily stunned by the speed of the attack, despite anticipating it would happen. They recovered quickly and lobbed their pair of plasma grenades at the monster even as the light mech tried to back away, its .50-caliber main gun opening up on the rock giant as it did so.

A pair of bright blue plasma blasts announced the grenades going off. At the same time, the giant’s hand grabbed the mech and began to drag it toward the opening. Rock blasted from the creature as the explosions at its feet released their energy. Hot plasma burned deep into the stone. The monster went silent as it collapsed dead to the cave floor. The light mech tottered over and landed on its side; the swipe by the giant had damaged one of its legs. Captain Tran ordered the rest of the infantry squad to join the two at the entrance, their weapons covering the dark opening, more grenades ready to go if needed.

“Can I get some repairs, sir?” Captain Cartwright asked. He had been piloting the damaged light mech.

“I only have a couple of resource points, but we’ll see if that’s enough to get you back on your feet.” It turned out it was; a single support strut needed to be replaced. The mech wasn’t a hundred percent, but it could still move and fight.

“Take a look at that, sir,” Captain Tran said, indicating the rock giant.

Under the veneer of stone was what looked like a simple metal frame, partially melted from the plasma blasts. Green smoke billowed from what Hugh assumed was the unit’s power supply, making him glad his troops weren’t physically here. Who knew what toxins that thing was leaking out? The oddest part was at the center of the giant. Inside the center framework was a humanoid creature. The thing was smaller than a human and clothed in a set of metallic overalls, with wires and tubes connecting it to the rock giant suit.

“Some kind of primitive mech, one that takes a live operator inside for it to function,” Sergeant Landry offered. The creature was dead, and this brought up a whole lot of questions. This world was normally lifeless, so were these strange humanoids brought here somehow, or did the GCA just print up bodies for them on-site? Were they self-aware and intelligent or just some kind of meat-based machine? Whatever their origin, they were attacking his soldiers, and while his soldiers might not be inside the actual mechs they were operating, they still had a chance of dying out here.

“Whatever they are, they better learn to back off if they want to live,” Hugh said. “Sergeant Landry, take a squad into the tunnel a short way and find out what the cave has to offer. Don’t go too far, and if there’s any sign of trouble, head back. Everyone else, form up a defense while we wait.”

“Are you sure you want to risk it?” Captain Tran said over a private channel.

“Yes, when it was just some monster living in a cave, I was fine with bypassing them, but these aliens are organized and intelligent. I’d rather not have a hundred rock giant mechs showing up behind us while we tangle with the Krixnas,” Hugh replied.

The officers set up as good a defense as possible in the narrow canyon. Given the tight confines of their battlefield, Hugh was glad to have gone with upgrades instead of more units. A larger force would have just clogged up the canyon even more since only a few could be on the front lines at any time.

“I’ve got some light ahead,” Sergeant Landry said. As the mechs proceeded deeper, the cave changed, the rough-hewn natural cavern giving way to purpose-built tunnels reinforced with bracing and equipped with light fixtures at regular intervals. His troops halted a bit further in, going prone as they spotted a larger chamber and movement ahead. The large chamber was the size of a warehouse. Inside were three more of the rock giant mech suits, as well as a dozen or so of the humanoids trying to prepare them for battle.

“They’re ugly, but not too different from us,” Captain Tran said, monitoring the feed.

The humanoids were about five feet tall on average and had only a small torso. Their arms and legs were elongated, with the hands having six fingers each. Their faces were flat, with only a slit in the middle where the nose would be. A peach fuzz of fur covered their head and face, which featured an oversized pair of eyes, likely designed to see better in the dim caverns. Three of the humanoids wore metallic coveralls with attachment points on them, indicating they were likely the pilots of these mechs. The others wore generic beige coveralls and tool belts. The tech support for the combat units. They had the somewhat jerky and uncoordinated movements of an AI-controlled mech, reinforcing the possibility these were just printed-up bodies being driven by the GCA.

“Sir, if you want to do something about them, I suggest you do it quick. It looks like the pilots are about to mount up,” Landry advised. One was already starting to climb into his mech, the others moving in that direction.

“Give them a bad day, Sergeant. They started this fight,” Hugh said. It was a bit strange, ordering his units to attack the living, breathing creatures, but all the evidence pointed to them being flesh-based machines, not real individuals.

“Assigning targets. Engage on my shot,” Landry called to his men. The wider passageway allowed seven of them a clear shot. After only a moment’s pause, Sergeant Landry’s shot rang out, the strange sound of the plasma weapons echoing in the chamber. The shot was a good one; the pilot that had climbed into his mech was hit right in the middle of the head. Whatever differences these aliens had from humans, they also kept something important in their noggins.

The other shots from the squad fired only a moment after the sergeant’s, their accuracy just as good as their NCO’s. Seven enemies were down, including all the pilots. Giving off high-pitched shrieks, the remaining techs ran toward their tool chests. They fell to the second round of shots before they did whatever it was they were trying to do. Sergeant Landry moved his squad into the chamber. They used what cover they could find as they swept it for any holdouts.

There was a large, rectangular machine in the center of the chamber, with six large cables leading from it. If Hugh had to guess, it was some form of power supply for the rock giants stationed there. If so, he could count on six opponents. Given the three in here and the one they took out to get into the cave complex, that left at least two more for his forces to deal with.

“I’ve got a passageway to the east,” one of the soldiers called out.

“One north and south as well,” another added. The cavern looked like a staging area. Hugh figured the passageways ended at more ambush points that opened into the canyon itself.

“These passages might actually be a safer route toward our objective. It looks like these creeps are dialed in to defend the canyon. If any are left, I doubt they would expect us to show up behind them. Any opinions?” Hugh asked his officers.

The lack of responses told him their advice was being filtered for some reason. Was there a flaw to his suggestion that he wasn’t seeing? Was the GCA just messing with him to get him to doubt his plan? There was no way to know for sure, and the one thing he did know was that all the defenses, at least from these so-called indigenous forces, seemed to be focused on the canyon.

“I think we risk it. Scout out each tunnel to make sure we’re not leaving any hostiles behind us, and then keep heading north toward our objective.” Scouts were sent out in pairs down each of the tunnels, while the rest of his forces waited here in the large chamber.

★

Chapter 33

It took some time for the scouts to do their work. As a war core, Hugh could at least monitor their progress. To the south, just as he suspected, they found a rock giant mech. This must have been the one they encountered earlier, given the shattered infantry mech that lay nearby. Hugh ordered a squad supported by a light mech to take it out. There was no reason to leave a threat behind when they could likely get the drop on it and destroy the mech with minimal risk.

To the east, the tunnel ran into what looked like a supply shop. Inside were replacement parts for the rock giant mechs and a trio of technicians doing what looked like inventory. His scouts took out the techs with no problem and returned to the main cavern. The scout team heading north halted when the tunnel branched to the west. Hugh sent them west while ordering another team to continue north.

The western branch of the tunnel led to another opening, where another rock giant mech waited for someone to pass by in the canyon. The squad to the south was able to take out its target, despite the rock mech hearing them approach. It only made it a few steps before a pair of grenades did what they had done to the first mech. Hugh ordered the squad to rejoin the main force. This was taking a lot of time, and he needed to get them moving toward the stage-two objective before too much longer.

“Let’s get everyone moving down the northern passage,” Hugh ordered. “Worst-case scenario, we can come back here and jump back into the canyon from one of the ambush points.” The western squad had also taken out its target, albeit with one infantry mech lost. Hearing the approaching squad, the rock giant mech had enough time to get moving, charging its attackers.

The scouts out to the north kept going, and the main body held back enough so the noise of their movement wouldn’t give them away. Hugh kept his viewpoint tied to the scouts, seeing what their mechs were seeing. While the inside of a cavern could be a confusing place, Hugh had no trouble keeping track of their location. His war core came with an internal mapping overlay that made things easy. They were moving north and slightly east as the tunnel continued. When they were almost halfway across the zone, the scouts spotted some activity.

“Hold up. Scouts are onto something,” Hugh advised. Everyone stopped and he watched the pair of infantry creep forward. Their movements were smoother than those of some of the other infantry, and despite this not being their intended use, the soldiers piloting these mechs were able to approach in a crouch, going to the ground and doing a low crawl when they got close. Hugh was beginning to see the difference that highly trained soldiers made when piloting mechs.

“It looks like we’ve got another cavern full of rock giants, sir,” one of the scouts reported. Hugh looked into the cavern, which was even larger than the one they had already cleared. Getting off some easy shots on the pilots wouldn’t be an option this time. The seven rock giant mechs inside were already powering up and taking their first steps forward. A quick inspection revealed that this particular cavern contained two of the large rectangular power supplies, with a total of twenty power couplings, which meant a lot more than seven mechs could be close by. A tough fight in the confines of the tunnels.

Hugh could only hope these rock giant mechs were destined for another location. These must have been assigned to defend the rest of the canyon, but there was always a chance some comms check would go unanswered and he would have to fight off at least some of the rock giants going to investigate. In preparation, he moved up the rest of the army, keeping three squads with their attached light mechs and the machine gun team in the lead. The final squad and light mech covered the rear. Like before, his construction drone team was kept safely between the two groups.

“Do you hear that, sir?” one of the scouts asked. Hugh’s point of view focused on the scout, and he could see all seven of the rock giant mechs turn toward the northern tunnel and march forward. In the background, Hugh could hear the clanging of stone on metal, as well as the high-pitched whine of a weapon firing. The rock giants didn’t mount any ranged weapons. Could the Krixnas also be tangling with these new aliens?

“That’s a Krixnas face beam firing. You can’t mistake that for any other weapon,” Captain Tran added, confirming Hugh’s thoughts. The real question was, what to do about it? If his enemies were fighting each other, it was usually better to let them go at it. Each one that was killed meant one less opponent he had to worry about.

“Let’s hold up until things calm down. If these rock giants are fighting someone else, let them have at it, and we’ll clean up the leftovers,” Hugh ordered. The rest of the force arrived but stayed about fifty yards back from the scouts. He didn’t want to spook the techs inside the cavern and have them send for reinforcements.

The sound of the battle began to dissipate as the fight moved further away from the large cavern. It was time to get moving. Hugh wanted to let his enemies destroy each other but couldn’t sit around forever in the tunnel. If he attacked into the cavern, at least he would have more room for his forces to maneuver rather than being forced to engage with only a squad at a time inside the narrow tunnels.

“Move in. Take the cavern,” Hugh ordered, setting the new objective for his troops. The first squad nearly made it into the cavern when the alien technicians began to run about, raising the alarm. Unlike the other techs, the ones in this cavern were up for a fight, pulling weapons from behind their workspaces and firing at his lead troops. They were armed but obviously not trained well. In addition, most of their weapons consisted of handguns that did far less damage than his infantry’s plasma rifles.

More and more of Hugh’s forces pushed into the cavern, his highly trained troops taking down the lightly armed alien techs with little effort. Other than a few scorch marks on their armor, his forces came out unscathed. He set up defenses at each of the tunnels. The cavern had exits leading north, where the fighting was taking place, as well as one to the west, which Hugh assumed led to another ambush point in the canyon. Why there were so many mechs here and only six in the other cavern was a mystery.

“Send a squad out to see if there are any hostiles to the west. The rest of you will head north and engage any enemy you find,” Hugh ordered. Three squads headed north, and a single squad moved to the western tunnel. His light mechs had been doled out, one going to each squad. Normally, you wanted to keep your armor together to condense their firepower, but in these somewhat narrow passages, the mechs’ heavier guns were better suited to a support role.

Sounds of battle grew louder as they closed in on the rock mechs. Hugh kept his view on the lead squad, occasionally taking a look at what the squad to the west was doing. Coming around a sharp bend in the tunnel, Hugh could see the largest cavern yet, one currently engulfed in a chaotic battle between the Krixnas and the rock mechs. The Krixnas were pushing in from the north and had taken half the cavern away from the defenders. Hugh counted a half dozen Krixnas light mechs and at least thirty of their infantry. They were up against an unknown number of rock mechs, both sides content to close into melee range, where their units shined.

The only other exit from this cavern was a branch leading east, which was where the fighting seemed to be focused. Rock mechs clogged the eastern exit tunnel, hammering away at any Krixnas that got close. As he watched, a fresh pair of Krixnas infantry pushed in. Was his opponent operating a command post somewhere in this zone, slowly producing units, or were the Krixnas just down to the dregs of their forces? Hugh counted the casualties lying around the cavern. They totaled twenty-one rock giant mechs, along with thirty Krixnas infantry and a pair of their light mechs.

“Get into the cavern and engage from range. We’ll have the advantage,” Hugh ordered. The three squads began to pour into the cavern, forming up behind any cover they could find and waiting for the whole force to assemble before opening fire. As soon as the first squad entered the cavern, Hugh received a system prompt.

An optional objective is nearby. Capture the Makonar supply depot to unlock a bonus reward.

So it looked like the new alien race was called the Makonar. The system didn’t show him where the supply depot was, but given the battle’s focus on the eastern tunnel, Hugh figured it was in there somewhere. While his troops finished their deployment, Hugh checked in on the detached squad. They had uncovered another exit into the canyon, which was guarded by a single rock giant they were engaging now.

His three squads in the cavern were in position. Some fallen rocks and pieces of equipment could be used as cover, but it was mostly open. His infantry just found the best possible spot as the order to fire was given. Twenty-nine rifles, a machine gun, and three .50-caliber weapons opened up on the mixed bag of enemies. The hit rate was high, dishing out damage while the two forces reacted to the new threat.

The rock giant mechs between Hugh’s forces and the Krixnas took the brunt of the initial fire. A pair of the giant mechs turned and tried to make their way toward his forces, but anything approaching his firing line was given priority. The rock giants, though sturdy and well-armored, couldn’t stand up to the number of weapons firing on them.

Thankfully, both his opponents seemed unsure how to handle the human forces that had appeared at the worst possible time. The Makonar between his troops and the Krixnas were cut down, but instead of charging Hugh’s forces, the Krixnas redoubled their efforts to get inside the tunnel leading toward the special objective.

“On your feet. Close with fire and movement,” Hugh ordered. Keeping up fire, the squads leapfrogged each other as they closed in. The Krixnas were now between him and the Makonar giants, their mechs crushed between the hammer and anvil of the two armies.

“Watch the left flank!” Sergeant Landry shouted. Their movement had brought them closer and closer to the eastern tunnel, but now their left flank was facing the northern tunnel, from where even more Krixnas were emerging. It was only a trio of infantry mechs, but their laser weapons had hit one of his infantry, taking it out of the fight. Another of Hugh’s infantry mechs was grappled by the glowing tentacles of a Krixnas, the strange weapons burning easily through the thin armor. The remainder of that squad fought off the Krixnas, then moved to cover the northern entrance, hopefully preventing any further surprises.

While the move protected his flank, it also reduced the firepower slamming into the main mass of Krixnas mechs, about half of which now turned and charged toward his line, leaving only a few to continue pushing through the Makonar guarding the eastern tunnel. Hugh’s forces responded with a wave of grenades, the string of plasma blasts tearing apart the attackers and leaving only a few to be mopped up. Not holding anything back, the troops then tossed any remaining grenades at the blobs of mech fighting over the eastern tunnel entrance.

Rock giant mechs and Krixnas of all varieties were blasted apart, their armor melting under the incredible heat of the plasma weapons. The Krixnas were done; only a few of their infantry remained in melee with the larger Makonar mechs. Rock giants could kill a Krixnas infantry mech in one blow, but once a Krixnas latched onto a target, the tentacles would cause catastrophic damage. Hugh didn’t hold back, pushing units toward the mouth of the eastern tunnel. They shot down anything in their way, and in only a few minutes, the last of his foes were destroyed.

Hugh had managed to catch the enemy at the best possible time. If he had faced the full force of either enemy, Hugh was confident his troops would win the fight, but he would have taken significantly higher casualties and he doubted he would have enough remaining to push into the next zone. As it stood, he had thirty-four infantry and four light mechs. One light mech and nine of the infantry had suffered various amounts of damage, somewhat hampering their effectiveness. He was also down to only a few grenades, which were even now being redistributed so each squad would have a few to work with.

“Do we scout further north and east?” Captain Tran asked. His question shook Hugh from his observations.

“Send a pair of scouts north, but make sure they avoid any engagement with the Krixnas. Fall back if they spot anything more dangerous than one or two infantry. Give me a squad to the east. The Makonar were keen to defend that spot, so they might have held something back as a final layer of defense,” Hugh ordered.

The scouts left, and Hugh followed the squad clearing the eastern tunnel, curious to see what this other objective was. Wider than most of the other tunnels in this place, the stone floors of the eastern tunnel showed lots of traffic had passed through. Lots of giant-sized traffic. Hugh’s heart almost stopped when he looked at the chamber the tunnel opened into. At least fifty rock giant mechs stood in rows, way more than his squad could handle.

“Sir, I don’t think they’re operable. It looks like most of them are still in the wrapper, and while I see lots of techs, I don’t see any of those pilot guys,” the soldier in front said. He was right; most of the mechs were covered in a protective film that resembled a giant plastic bag. A baker’s dozen looked like they were in the final stages of activation, but there were no pilots, only a handful of techs who seemed to be slowly getting the mechs ready.

“You’re right. It’s only a few techs. Get in there and secure the chamber,” Hugh ordered. Like their counterparts, these techs tried using some small arms to fight off the soldiers, but they were no match for an infantry mech. Seven techs were taken down, and as the last one fell, Hugh received another system prompt.

You have completed a bonus objective and have secured the Makonar storage facility. While you cannot pilot their mechs directly, a few have been installed with a limited-range remote command interface that your core can use to give them simple orders. These mechs that your race has designated “rock giants” will function only within the confines of this zone. Once you complete your objectives here and move on, the mechs will remain behind.

He had some reinforcements now, strange rock-covered ones, but they were reinforcements, nonetheless. Hugh felt his core connect to nine of the prepped rock giant mechs. He thought about having his drones try to work on the others to see if he could get them into action, but it looked like they required more specialized knowledge than his workers possessed.

The rock giants could be ordered to follow, attack, or defend. That was it. Like the AI-controlled mechs he had used in his training missions, these would be of limited effectiveness, but limited or not, they would provide a good shield for his forces to follow behind as they cleared out the rest of this zone. He had taken out many of the Krixnas mechs, and with his new additions in tow, it was time to sweep away the rest of his foes and move on to the next checkpoint.

★

Chapter 34

“It looks like the Krixnas have stopped feeding their units in piecemeal, sir,” Captain Tran observed. Hugh pushed his troops north through the Makonar tunnels. At first, the Krixnas continued to send pairs of infantry into the tunnels every few minutes, but that stopped after his troops easily wiped out more than a few of the groups.

“I think our opponent is running out of resources,” Hugh said. “The Krixnas must have spent a lot of what they had to build the force trying to take the Makonar supply depot. I suspect whatever they have remaining is being gathered together for a last stand.”

They had moved another mile or so through the winding tunnel when daylight appeared ahead.

“Send a team of scouts up to see what we’re up against,” Hugh ordered. Two of his infantry rushed ahead of the main body, approaching the exit to the tunnel complex.

“Enemy command post in the distance. It looks like they’re digging in, sir,” one of the scouts reported a short time later. The tunnel exited at the end of the narrow canyon. Just beyond sat a small grassy plain, its gentle slope eventually reaching the mountains bordering the north side of this zone. At the foot of the mountains was a Krixnas command post. A couple of other buildings stood nearby. Two trench lines were being dug in front of the command post, the ends of which were anchored by the impassable mountains.

“It’s hard for me to get a good count on them. Some of the Krixnas are probably inside the trench line, below our line of sight,” Hugh said and ordered his forces out of the tunnel.

As bad as walking through the tunnels had been, the journey was far better than it would have been if he had tried to keep to the canyon. Rock giant mechs could have ambushed him at will, and when he finally made it through that gauntlet, he would have had to fight off the Krixnas, who would have likely been reinforced by units taken from the Makonar supply point. Because he took a risk, Hugh had been the one to add the rock giants to his forces—rock giants he would now turn against the Krixnas fortifications.

“It looks like their fortifications aren’t complete yet. We need to hit them before they finish,” Captain Cartwright added. As they watched, a Krixnas infantry unit marched its way from the command post and began to assist in the construction of the trench line. The command post must be down to only the trickle of resources; otherwise, it would be pumping out units a lot faster. Still, every minute he delayed now meant the Krixnas would amass more resources they could use to produce more defenders. Hugh had to strike—now.

“Move out,” he ordered. “We’re going to destroy the enemy command post. When we do that, I believe we’ll have finished this stage of the battle. Fall into formation while we’re moving. Give me a three-squad frontage with a fourth in reserve.” His forces moved forward, the professional soldiers expertly maneuvering their mechs into the desired formation.

Hugh slowed the troops down a tad, giving the slower rock giant mechs time to take the lead. He set the command post as the giants’ objective and used something Maddison had called “attack move” to direct them to the target. The giants would head toward their objective, fighting anything in their way. While a good way to make sure they didn’t ignore things attacking them while heading toward their objective, the maneuver could be easily exploited by a sharp enemy using a worthless unit to draw his giants away from the fight. Hugh wanted to set a secondary pursuit limit to the giants, but the interface didn’t allow for that.

The distance to the Krixnas command post lessened as Hugh relentlessly pushed his troops forward. Responding to the approaching threat, any Krixnas still working on digging the trench line gave up their efforts and joined the other defenders. Hugh still couldn’t get a good count, but he figured the enemy forces were limited, having likely been seriously depleted from the earlier fights. When they were still outside of heavy machine gun range, a pair of bright flashes erupted in the second trench line.

“Incoming. It looks like these Krixnas have mortars,” Captain Tran said. Hugh watched the balls of plasma drift down toward his advancing troops. He instinctively ordered his lines to spread out a bit; it would dilute their firepower once they were in range, but it would lessen the chance a single mortar round would take out multiple soldiers.

The first rounds exploded well in front of his advance. From the size of the explosions, Hugh figured the Krixnas mortars were about twice as powerful as a plasma grenade. He really wanted to unlock something similar, but it would likely require a level 4 barracks to do so. The mortars’ slow rate of fire told Hugh they were probably low-level weapons. It was a good thirty seconds before the next pair of shots landed, this time behind them. They were just about to enter heavy machine gun range when the mortars fired a third volley.

“They’ve got us bracketed now,” Captain Tran said as the mortar rounds arced toward his main line. The pair of explosions took out three of his infantry; the splash damage was much worse than he had expected. The T-7s now began to fire. Their rounds were unlikely to hit at this range, but hitting back at the foe made everyone feel better. Walking toward a prepared enemy position while under artillery fire was about one of the worst things a soldier could be ordered to do.

As Hugh’s forces closed to rifle range, the Krixnas began to rise from the trench, firing their tentacle lasers before ducking back down. A quick estimate showed they had only between fifteen and twenty defenders. The lead rock giants began to take hits; they presented the largest and closest target for the infantry mechs.

“What is that?” Sergeant Landry said as one of the rock giants stumbled. A glowing tentacle had emerged from the ground, burning deep into the giant leg it had wrapped around. A second and then a third emerged. Two of the new ones grabbed the same rock giant, taking the mech down and rendering it a mobility kill. The third one snagged and killed one of Hugh’s infantry mechs.

“I think it’s the Krixnas version of a minefield. Kind of creepy, but since they only affect a single target, I’d say they’re not as good as ours,” Captain Tran said.

“It’s probably a low-level weapon. I’m sure the higher-level versions are more trouble than these. Mines or not, we’re almost there. Keep pushing,” Hugh replied.

Another two rock giants were taken down by infantry fire. A T-7 and an infantry mech fell victim to continuing mortar fire. The rock giant mechs were now near the first trench line. The Krixnas occupying the trench rose to engage them in melee. Stone fists met glowing face tentacles as they fought. Hugh’s other troops continued to close the gap, gunning down the now-exposed Krixnas. Since he lacked the ability to take the rock giants to the next zone, he told his troops not to worry about friendly fire if they were in the way. A pair of grenades went off, clearing the Krixnas that hadn’t moved into melee range.

More mortar rounds landed as Hugh ordered everyone to press the attack. The second trench line wasn’t complete, and the Krixnas there had less cover. His light mechs moved at top speed, outpacing the rest of the advance as they homed in on the section of trench from where the mortars were firing. Heavy .50-caliber rounds punched holes in any Krixnas that tried to poke their heads up for a shot.

When they reached the second trench line, the T-7s looked down at the strange Krixnas mortar weapons. The claw-like weapon was bolted onto the back of a slightly larger infantry mech. With the added bulk, the mech housing the mortar couldn’t move very fast, allowing his light mechs to blast them down before they could defend themselves. More plasma blasts announced Hugh’s infantry arriving at the last trench line. The smattering of defenders fell quickly to his forces, and now the destruction of the command post could begin in earnest.

Fire from his mechs slammed into the building, blasting out chunks with each shot. A final Krixnas infantry mech walked out of the barracks, but it didn’t stand a chance on its own. Hugh had now observed the Krixnas building infantry at both the structure he assumed was their barracks and at the command post. The ability to produce combat units at the command post seemed very powerful and should have meant they could outproduce him in terms of infantry, but there didn’t seem to be that much disparity between their forces. It was another question for the intel team to investigate. If they could find out something helpful like that, they might be of some use after all.

The Krixnas command post has been eradicated. You have completed the second stage of the battle for es1423. Proceed to the designated extraction zone with all your forces to progress to stage 3 of the battle.

The rest of the Krixnas structures went dark with the destruction of the command post. At least he didn’t have to waste time knocking down each of the buildings. Their assault on the command post had been the costliest so far. His troops had performed well, but the enemy had been dug in with mortar support, not to mention the bizarre minefield. A few of his mechs were mobility kills, and since he had zero resources remaining, he couldn’t repair them. The final count showed Hugh with twenty-three infantry, seven of which had some level of damage, his machine gun team, and two light mechs. A light mech and four infantry were down with damage but not destroyed. When they moved to the next stage of the battle, the forces left behind would be removed from the battlefield. There was no way for Hugh to know if the removal from the battlefield would result in them being considered a casualty, forcing the troops piloting those mechs to risk a chance of death.

Just past the ruins of the command post, Hugh could see a patch of ground glowing faintly blue, just like the jump pads inside the aircraft they had taken here. It looked like they were going to jump to their next battlefield. The platoon was reorganized. There were too few units to support four squads, so he cut it back to three. Two squads had eight infantry and a light mech, and the third squad had seven infantry and the machine gun team. His construction drones grabbed some of the damaged infantry and the light mech. It required two drones to haul the light mech, and the others grabbed three of the damaged infantry mechs.

“Anybody have any ideas how to haul the last damaged mech out of the zone?” Hugh asked. He could order his drones to pick something up, but there was nothing in the interface that would allow his infantry or other mechs to haul a wounded comrade.

“Let me try something. I don’t want to leave anyone behind,” Captain Tran said. The final damaged infantry mech had lost one of its legs to a mortar hit. There was other damage, but the leg was keeping him from moving. Captain Tran had one of the light mechs walk over to the wounded infantry unit. The man piloting the damaged mech wedged the barrel of his rifle arm under the leg of the T-7 and pulled, bending the barrel into a hook. With a little trial and error, the infantry mech was able to sling the hook over the barrel of the T-7’s .50-cal, and with his other hand holding on for dear life, he was able to stay aboard as the pair headed carefully toward the extraction zone.

With everyone accounted for, Hugh ordered his forces forward. The extraction zone was a flat area the size of a basketball court at the edge of the mountains. As the first units walked onto the extraction point, the glow began to intensify under their feet, flashing rapidly as some power built up inside it. With a flash, units began to teleport away, but the pace was slow, only a single mech every ten seconds or so. Hugh shifted his view to the first mech that had been teleported, taking in the scene as several prompts flashed into view.

You have entered the third and final stage of the battle. Destroy the enemy command post to claim victory. This is the first time you have fought a battle of this type. Please observe the following familiarization guide. Once the guide has been completed, your forces will begin to arrive and the battle will commence.

Hugh’s view zoomed out from the command post he would be assigned to. A highlight was placed over the area, showing where his forces would randomly arrive once the guide was complete. Like in previous battles that involved the destruction of a command post, the battlefield itself was symmetrical. The two command posts were placed at the top of a slight incline, and the ground between them consisted of scrub brush and rocky soil. There weren’t a ton of terrain features, but the vegetation and rocks would provide some cover.

The enemy command post was in the north and Hugh’s was placed here in the southernmost portion of the battlefield. Overall, the shape of the zone was rectangular, and the same mountains used in the previous stages formed the battlefield’s borders. Hugh tried to take in everything, but his view was commandeered by the GCA, which wanted to highlight certain features of the battle for him.

While you have been completing the previous stages, your opponent has been slowly building up their command post and related structures. Much of the battlefield has been restricted for them, limiting access to resources and special locations. Now that the final stage has commenced, all of these access restrictions will be lifted. Please observe.

Hugh watched a time-lapse feed of the zone, noting that initially the Krixnas had nothing to work with, save for a pair of infantry that immediately began construction of a command post. Their starting resources must have been just enough to get the building completed, as their mechs went idle as soon as construction was complete. Around the area of the command post, it was a normal sunny day, but most of the zone was still dark. As time fast-forwarded, Hugh could see the Krixnas starting to build other structures and gather nearby supply crates. The darkness receded over time, gradually revealing more of the zone and unveiling hidden resources for the Krixnas to exploit.

His opponent built up a force of infantry and marched it over another of the blue teleportation platforms like the ones his troops were currently using. The units being teleported out must have been the ones he had fought in the other zones. If that was the case, the Krixnas must have started the battle before his troops had jumped into the fight. Things continued along, with more of the battlefield becoming accessible, revealing some resource crates for the Krixnas to harvest. As resources were gathered, combat forces were being created and shipped out to engage Hugh’s army. The light stopped halfway across the battlefield, blocking the Krixnas from approaching his side of the zone.

A small passageway opened at the base of the mountainside deep in Krixnas territory, allowing a small force of infantry through to investigate. The troops didn’t return, and a bit later, the Krixnas sent a larger force, including several of their light mechs. This did the trick, and as the battered remains of the attack force left the canyon, they were followed by a flight of five air mechs. The Krixnas air mechs weren’t that different from ones Hugh might field. They moved on a pair of engines mounted to the sides of the fuselage. Unlike his air units, these didn’t have wings but did sport a fuselage bristling with weapons. These mechs were medium-sized and looked slow, reminding Hugh of a ground-attack helicopter more than a fighter plane.

If the two sides of the battlefield were a mirror of each other, Hugh should have a similar objective near his command post. The aircraft would be tough to beat with his current forces, so gathering whatever bonus units awaited him would be a priority. Also, when he made his move to grab the bonus units, he better do so with overwhelming force, given the losses the Krixnas appeared to have taken in their initial efforts. The video ended as the ground near his command post began to glow; the first of his units was about to be teleported in. Hugh saw the Krixnas forces massing in the middle of the battlefield. They intended to assault him before he could get his production up to speed. Since he had a limited number of units and many of them were damaged, his foe had a good chance of succeeding.

This familiarization guide is now complete. The battle commences.

★

Chapter 35

Do you wish to assume control over the command post: Y/N?

Hugh hit yes as the second infantry mech arrived in a flash. His point of view shifted to the command post, and as he settled into his new home, he could feel automated processes beginning as they did at the start of a normal battle. The assembly line began to produce five construction drones, and in the queue after the drones were his defensive garrison forces, a total of fifteen infantry mechs. It wasn’t much, but with the Krixnas already making their way toward him, it was better than nothing, given how slowly his units were arriving. Hugh examined what he had for buildings.

Command post, level 3 (unit points: N/A): There is no unit point restriction for this battle, and you are only limited by the number of resources you can find on the battlefield.

Your command post has been upgraded with the Drop Beacon of the Vanquished.

Barracks, level 3, with armory addon

Light mech factory, level 3, with machine shop addon

Airfield, level 3

Resources: 150

Defensive garrison: 0/15

Construction drones: 5/10

Thankfully, Hugh had some resources to start with, and he activated production on the factories to bring his existing forces back up to strength. The Krixnas wouldn’t take long to reach him. At least their flying units were holding back, content to hover over the ground forces as they advanced. They had brought over sixty infantry and seven light mechs. All five of the Krixnas air mechs also accompanied the attacking force.

There was nothing resembling fortifications to fight from, so Hugh just highlighted the area around his command post and ordered his troops to defend it. His resources ticked down as the barracks and light mech factory began construction. It would be logical to produce some air units to defend against the enemy air mechs, but with the enemy only having five aircraft and the limited usefulness of air units in ground combat, Hugh felt he would be better served with just upgrades and reinforcements for his existing forces.

As the first construction drone walked off the assembly line, Hugh pulled up his purchases in his interface. He had bought some extra units and the two defensive towers while on Harmony Station, and now seemed like the perfect time to deploy them. The defensive turrets had to be constructed, so the first construction drone would be tasked with building them right behind the line of defenders that was slowly coming together.

“What’s the situation, sir?” Captain Tran asked.

“We’ve got a straight-up command post battle on our hands. Unfortunately, the Krixnas have built up a powerful force and are already on their way. I’ve got a couple of defense towers I can build, and I’m constructing them just behind your infantry. When they get closer, I’ll also be able to bring some allied forces online to help us.” Hugh had two squads of those Durhass medium mechs he had also purchased from the station. The interface acknowledged he wanted to deploy his purchases, and a timer began to count down from two minutes. Hugh was required to designate an arrival point for the Durhass, so he selected the area just in front of his defensive line.

“Two minutes for the allies to arrive,” Hugh said. “They’re medium mechs from a race called the Durhass, and they will be AI-controlled units. I have no idea what they look like, so just tell the soldiers to not shoot anything unless it’s a Krixnas unit.” The officers confirmed and Cartwright joined them as his light mech arrived. The second construction drone was almost complete. Hugh tasked that one with repairing his damaged units.

The next unit to arrive was one of his construction drones. Hugh instructed that one to begin construction of the second gun turret. His first drone was halfway finished with its turret. It seemed these purchased items built much quicker than something he made from scratch. The drone dropped the damaged infantry mech it had been carrying and got to work. More units teleported in from the previous zone as others walked off the assembly line and the enemy neared weapons range.

Hugh thought about using his Drop Beacon of the Vanquished but wanted to save something for later in the fight. If things got too difficult, he would use it, but for now, he would hold the drop beacon in reserve. Range overlays were activated, and Hugh watched the enemy close in. The first gun turret finished, and even though the weapon appeared to be the same .50-caliber one his light mechs used, this one had a bit more range.

The first turret fired, its round missing the target at maximum range. A check on the second turret showed it was nearly complete and should join the fight shortly. As far as ground forces were concerned, he only had nine infantry and two light mechs so far. More were jumping in, and another infantry unit was leaving the barracks now. His last construction drone was being made, and after that, the defensive garrison would start being produced, but the AI-controlled units weren’t very good.

His light mechs joined the fight as the machine gun team teleported in. The units were arriving just behind the command post, and it took them a little bit of time to make it to the defensive line. The aircraft now surged forward, their weapons spitting bolts of plasma toward his forces as they bypassed the defensive line and made straight for his command post. Hugh shifted the turrets to engage the aircraft, and the machine gun team did the same.

A green flash announced the arrival of the first squad of Durhass units. Their medium mechs walked upright and were roughly humanoid in shape. Four arms jutted from their torsos, each equipped with a crushing claw. Hugh found the summoned units had been added to his interface, and he ordered them toward the defensive line. They were slightly taller than his light mechs but were much more heavily armored, which he supposed fit their melee preference. Despite being melee-focused, they also brought some ranged firepower; heavy machine-gun-caliber weapons on their shoulders began to fire at the attacking aircraft.

The incoming aircraft didn’t try to dodge, which led Hugh to believe the Krixnas had received AI-controlled units as their reward for doing whatever they had done in that mysterious passageway that opened up in the mountainside. His second squad of Durhass mechs arrived just after the first. They were grouped in squads of four mechs each, making eight weapons that were trying to hit the incoming aircraft. Some of the flyers shifted fire to the new threat, both sides exchanging rounds, with the flyers having a much higher hit rate.

Despite the higher hit rate, the Durhass were well-protected. The first hits fizzled against a green shield. The shields could handle three or four shots before collapsing, but even after that, the mechs’ heavy armor kept them in the fight. Unlike his mercenary units, the air mechs were much more lightly armored, and each infrequent hit easily punched through their skin. The Krixnas commander must have overridden the orders on the air mechs, as they once again shifted their fire to the command post, hovering just overhead.

Pain wracked Hugh with each hit, and the durability of the command post began to drop. A drone started to repair it, but the damage was accumulating much more quickly than repairs could be made. Hugh hit the point where the pain became everything, and he was unable to focus on the fight going on around him. He didn’t recover until nearly a minute later, when the pain started to recede. A single damaged air mech remained, trying fruitlessly to destroy his command post as the Durhass and other units at his base riddled it with fire. The air mech went down, adding to Hugh’s woes; in a final effort to destroy him, it crashed itself into the command post.

His durability was down to twenty-eight percent, way too close for comfort, and it was a struggle to overcome the pain enough to survey the fight going on around him. The defensive line had broken; his forces were being overrun by the superior numbers of the Krixnas. More units were being produced, but they and the units still jumping in weren’t arriving fast enough to change the tide of battle. Hugh ordered the Durhass to attack, using his purchase to plug the hole in the line long enough for him to reorganize things.

The defenders on the line fought hard, making the Krixnas pay a steep price for every kill. As Hugh watched, one of the last infantry units on the line charged a Krixnas light mech. When he was close, he detonated a plasma grenade, taking himself, the light mech, and a nearby Krixnas infantry unit down in the blast. His soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division were living up to their reputation. This was the unit that had faced down three of Hitler’s SS Panzer divisions late in the war, eight thousand men against over forty thousand of the best Germany had. The division stood strong in the face of overwhelming odds then, and today, their namesake was upholding that tradition.

Numbers finally overwhelmed the last of the units on the defensive line, but as the Krixnas reformed to finish off Hugh’s command post, the Durhass hit them. The Krixnas lived for this kind of fight, one where their plasma-charged tentacles would tear through the foe. Human mechs wouldn’t have lasted long, but the Durhass units were also built for this kind of fight, and even though they were AI-controlled, they were medium mechs, able to stand up to immense punishment compared to the infantry and light mechs they tangled with.

While the fight went on, Hugh began to gather the forces coming off the assembly line and jumping into the zone. A final defensive line was created just behind the short wall protecting the command post, and while the Durhass mechs battled, Hugh’s numbers increased. A pair of drones were dispatched to the arrival zone to begin repairs on the damaged mechs there, while the others completed repairs on the command post. Both his gun turrets were down, overrun as his defensive line had fallen.

The Durhass mechs fought on. Between shields and reinforced armor, they could usually get ahold of and crush any Krixnas before they did too much damage. But as the shields failed and the armor melted away, the medium mechs began to fall. One by one, they were brought down by the superior numbers of the Krixnas, but for each Durhass mech that fell, three or four Krixnas fell as well. When the last Durhass had fallen, the Krixnas force had been depleted to twenty-eight infantry and three light mechs. The attackers seemed to hesitate, as if unsure whether they could overcome the growing numbers of defenders, especially given the ferocity of the humans and their allies.

Someone must have given an order, and the Krixnas continued their advance. Between new unit production, the last of the platoon jumping in, and repairs on the mobility-damaged mechs, Hugh had assembled nine infantry, two light mechs, the machine gun team, and all fifteen of the defensive garrison. The defensive garrison was outside Hugh’s direct control, but the limited AI controlling these defenders recognized the threat and gathered them behind the short wall surrounding the command post, their fire joining that of his other units. A battle at range favored the human mechs, and the attackers were whittled down as they approached. Before they entered melee range, freshly replenished plasma grenades were hurled by the pod-controlled units, his garrison troops sadly lacking those weapons.

Using a trick he had learned from Maddison, as the Krixnas closed, Hugh ordered his human-controlled forces back, sacrificing the garrison to gain the range advantage. While the Krixnas tore through the garrison units in melee, Hugh’s infantry hurled a final volley of grenades, blasting apart Krixnas and garrison mech alike. The tide turned as Hugh’s forces opened fire again, the backs of their mechs scraping up against the wall of the command post as they fought.

The Krixnas commander must have had enough, and he ordered his units to pull back, trying to preserve some of his forces from the failed attack. Hugh had his troops pursue a short way, cutting down all but five of the Krixnas infantry by the time he recalled them. He had some breathing room now, but the battle was far from over. While he had an impressive number of destroyed mechs to harvest for resources, the enemy was getting a trickle of resources, and he was not. In a long, drawn-out battle, Hugh would eventually lose the resource race. For now, he had more to work with than his foe, and he needed to build up and go on the offensive, using everything he had for a single push.

His drones started harvesting wrecks and repairing damaged units. Hugh thought about producing more drones, but in the end, he just kept the squad of drones that had jumped over and the squad that had initially been produced at the command post, opting only to replace casualties from the fight. More construction drones would speed up the gathering of resources, but with all the wrecks being fairly close, the bottleneck was production speed, not gathering speed.

“Sir, what’s our next step?” Captain Tran asked.

“We need to take the fight to the enemy, but before that, I want to find out what’s in that passageway behind our command post,” Hugh said, highlighting the opening in Tran’s map.

“What do you think is in there?” Cartwright asked.

“Before the battle started, the GCA showed me an overview. The Krixnas had the same passage in their territory, and they sent troops to investigate. Something fought them inside, but when they emerged, they had received the five air mechs as a reward. Those things almost did me in, so hopefully, we’ll find something just as powerful. Now that we know there’s probably trouble waiting for us in there, we go in with guns blazing and limit our losses.”

“Roger that, sir. As soon as the platoon is reformed, we’ll head out. Are we going for any further upgrades or reinforcements?” Tran asked.

Hugh thought about it for a bit. If he assumed the Krixnas had already picked clean anything on their side of the battlefield, they would gather resources slowly. That meant they were likely to only deploy cheaper infantry mechs. Hugh would have an advantage with his light mechs, but why not expand on that advantage and get the secondary armament upgrade? It had a steep initial cost, but the upgrade greatly improved their firepower at range, where his units fought best.

“We’ll upgrade the T-7s with the coax .30-caliber weapon. After that’s done, we’ll build a second platoon of light mechs. When that’s finished, we’ll see what resources we have left, but I think there should be enough salvage lying about to go ahead and add another squad of infantry.”

“How about any additional machine gun teams?” Tran asked.

“No, we’ll be on the offensive, and they take too long to set up. We’ll just keep the one we have,” Hugh replied.

Machine guns were typically useful for both offense and defense, but the ones he had available at this level were more like something from early in World War I, heavy and bulky. Maybe higher-level weapons would be more portable, and it would then make sense to include them with every squad. For this fight, given his command post and other buildings were capped at level 3, he would push resources into building his other mechs. He also considered the armor upgrade for his infantry mechs, but the reduced mobility was too much of a downside.

His drones and factories were working away, and it wasn’t long before his forces had been replenished. While the extra platoon of light mechs and squad of infantry were being produced, Hugh ordered his force to investigate the mysterious passageway. With a squad of infantry in the lead and the newly improved light mechs backing them up, they pushed forward. The passageway led to a narrow canyon, barely wide enough for three infantry or one light mech to fit through.

The canyon went only a short distance, giving way to a small open area where three rock giant mechs waited. Without hesitating, Hugh ordered his forces into the fight, wanting to get them out of the narrow canyon as quickly as possible. The rock giant mechs responded as soon as the first infantry moved into the opening. These were a foe Hugh and his commanders knew how to deal with. The first squad met the charging giants with a volley of plasma grenades. Ten explosions bracketed the giants, dropping two of them from leg damage and leaving the last one to stumble into his infantry. Rock-covered hands grasped two of his infantry, crushing them with a powerful grip even as the light mechs emerged, machine guns blazing away at the target. The combined firepower from the four light mechs and the surviving eight infantry quickly brought down the damaged rock mech.

Congratulations! You have completed a bonus objective and have received these mechs as a reward.

Hugh watched as four mechs walked out from a cave on the far side of the clearing. They were larger than his T-7s and were obviously of human design.

“Captain Cartwright, are your men piloting these?” Hugh asked.

“Negative. They must be AI-controlled, but I do know what mechs they are. Those are our M4 Sherman medium mechs, and they look like the fully upgraded E8 variants. These have good mobility and a powerful main gun.”

Hugh could detect the disappointment in his voice; the man would much rather pilot one of these bad boys instead of the light mech he was currently operating.

The new arrivals were AI-controlled, as the captain had predicted. They were also fully maxed out with upgrades, which Hugh appreciated. In addition to a powerful main cannon, each mech had a .50-caliber machine gun mounted above the turret. A .30-caliber machine gun was mounted coaxially along with a second .30-caliber weapon mounted in the hull. A light shield generator would provide some protection before the mech would be required to rely on its moderate amount of armor. These mechs walked on four legs, giving them an almost spider-like appearance. He ordered his forces back to the command post. It was time to launch his all-or-nothing attack.

★

Chapter 36

When Hugh’s attack force returned to the command post, the remainder of his forces were built and ready to go, along with replacements for the casualties he had taken while securing the bonus objective. He had fifty infantry mechs, a machine gun team, eight T-7 light mechs, and four of the AI-controlled M4 Sherman medium mechs. It was an impressive force; the only question now was how many forces the Krixnas had available to repulse his attack. The AI-controlled Shermans led the way. Hugh had limited control over them and was forced to use the simple attack move command, designating the Krixnas core as the objective. Opening up his interface, Hugh activated the hypervelocity ammo he had acquired. One crate of ammo was allocated to the medium mechs and one to his T-7s. As the ammo activated, a counter appeared near each unit, showing that each mech had four shots with the upgraded ammo.

A pair of enemy light mechs shadowed his units, giving Hugh a bit of concern that they might have a force hidden away, waiting for him to leave his command post unguarded before they struck. It was probably paranoia, and he needed everything he had to push the attack on the enemy core. Just in case, he had his barracks produce infantry until the remainder of his resources ran out. It would only amount to five infantry mechs, but it gave him at least a little extra firepower to help out the garrison units left to hold down the fort.

They reached the midpoint of the zone with no indication of any Krixnas forces. The enemy command post was visible in the distance, and like in the previous zone, they had dug a pair of trench lines to assist in its defense. As the range closed, Hugh could spot some movement along the trench line, but the distance and cover made it too difficult to gauge numbers accurately. He activated the range overlay, glad to see the main guns on the medium mechs had double the range of his T-7s. Hopefully, the enemy didn’t have anything that could compete with their range and he could pick off foes from a distance.

Just before they reached main gun range, one of the medium mechs halted and began to lurch to the side. A blue glow flickered over the mech as its shield fended off one of the Krixnas tentacle mines. The mech to its side fired a burst from its coaxial machine gun, taking out the mine before it could burn through the shield. Hugh ordered the line to halt, allowing the mech a few seconds for its shield power to recharge. It was taking too long, though, and he needed to keep moving.

Hugh continued the advance, smiling a bit when he realized the coax machine gun had fired an actual burst, not a single shot like his weapons had been doing previously. That was a huge improvement and confirmed his forces would become quite deadly as the battles expanded into higher-level engagements. It would also mean adjustments to his strategy as enemy abilities improved alongside those of his units.

Twice more, the medium mechs were attacked by mines. One of his T-7s was a mobility kill as it stepped on a mine the Shermans had missed. A pair of infantry were the final casualties before Hugh was free of the minefield. Whether due to a lack of resources or a lack of time, the minefield was relatively thin in front of the first trench line. The sharp crack of the main guns drew Hugh’s attention. They were firing at a trio of Krixnas mechs that had risen from the ground to engage his advance units. The shots glowed a brighter color than normal as the hypervelocity ammo went to work.

The new Krixnas mechs were just slightly larger than his M4 medium units, and Hugh realized this was what passed for a medium mech in the Krixnas army. Unlike the Frankenstein mechs he had faced earlier, these were fully operational and possessed weapons unlike any of the other Krixnas units. A pair of mortars were mounted on the mech’s rear abdomen section, and they were already lobbing plasma shells toward his forces.

Looking like scaled-up versions of their other mechs, these medium mechs had face tentacles that didn’t wave around wildly. Instead, they were placed inside a helmet-like device. Hugh could still see the individual tentacles glowing away, but they were funneling their energy through the helmet and into a pair of short tube-like openings. Bright laser beams emanated from the openings, each beam representing the focused power of several face tentacles.

The focused beams were more accurate than the frantic blasts of the other units, but the range was long, and only one pair of beams connected with a Sherman. Blue energy glowed briefly before the Sherman’s shield overloaded. The beams then burned into the hull. His AI-controlled units were too stupid to sidestep to avoid the damage. Rather, they stood still and returned fire, and his return fire was just as devastating as the focused lasers of the Krixnas.

A main gun plasma shell slammed into a Krixnas mech. The enemy medium mechs didn’t seem to be shielded, and the upgraded round had enough oomph to punch through the armor, exploding deep inside its target. Stumbling a few more steps on its multiple legs, the Krixnas medium mech collapsed to the ground, the hole from the main gun hit in its frame smoking as something burned inside.

The other Krixnas fired on the wounded Sherman, avenging the loss of its comrade as the Sherman melted down under the combined fire. Hugh’s other medium mechs continued to send rounds at the Krixnas, accuracy improving as the two forces closed in. A second Krixnas fell, followed closely by a second Sherman. The final Krixnas medium mech went down to a pair of main gun hits, but not before dropping the shields and severely damaging one of its attackers.

While the battle had been going on between the medium mechs, the rest of Hugh’s forces caught up with the fight, pushing toward the two trench lines even as mortar shells from the trenches and the backs of the Krixnas medium mechs landed among them. The fire was much more intense than Hugh had anticipated, and Krixnas popped up from the first trench line, where they began to employ a new weapons system.

Heavy beams lashed out from the trench line as the Krixnas got their version of a machine gun into the fight. Mounted on a tripod was a smaller version of the helmet used by the medium Krixnas mechs. Instead of two beams, the Krixnas support weapons only had one, and while it was less powerful than the ones mounted on the medium mechs, it was deadly to any infantry or light mechs it managed to hit. The weapons were also more accurate than the normal Krixnas face weapons, taking down infantry and light mechs one after the other.

“Sir, I don’t know if we can break through that firepower,” Captain Tran said, the advance further frustrated by another minefield just in front of the first trench line.

Hugh did the math. The Krixnas had to have sixty or seventy infantry in the first trench line and at least a couple dozen covering the mortars in the second line. Four of the beam weapons were deployed, but as he watched, a T-7 took one out. His Shermans were all down; they had attracted the lion’s share of the enemy fire. There were just too many enemies. No matter how good his troops were, they weren’t going to break through these defenses, but pulling back now meant a slow death of attrition as the enemy rebuilt their forces while he waited to defend, completely out of resources.

“I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve. Do you see any defenders by their command post?” Hugh asked his commanders.

“There’s about a squad’s worth wandering around the command post,” Cartwright advised. It must have been their version of the garrison force. Hugh needed to draw them away from the command post for his plan to have a chance.

“We need to punch through their lines and draw their garrison into the fight,” Hugh said.

“I’d advise against that, sir. To advance into their trenches is suicide. Our best chance is to stay at range and try to wear them down with our more accurate fire,” Tran warned. Hugh considered his argument. His troops were better shots, but the enemy outnumbered them and was fighting from prepared defensive positions. Now was the time to disclose his Drop Beacon of the Vanquished.

“I have a new ability I can use to drop a small unit directly on top of their command post. For that to succeed, we’ll need to draw away the garrison. Without them, the forces should be able to destroy the command post on their own,” Hugh said. There was quiet, and just when Hugh was about to assume the GCA was filtering their conversation, Captain Tran replied.

“Roger that, sir. We’ll grab their attention away from the command post.”

“I’ll lead with my mechs. Push your infantry through the gap,” Cartwright added. Hugh felt relief; his commanders had pushed back on his plan but hadn’t tried to usurp his authority, which was something he was concerned about, given the risk he was about to take. The GCA had filtered attempts to mention the drop beacon back at base, but out here on the battlefield, he was given extra flexibility for some reason.

The troops took a few moments to reorganize. The six surviving T-7s surged forward, guns blazing, the infantry following directly behind them as they charged toward the first trench line. Instead of attacking over a wide front, the mechs moved in a wedge formation only twenty-five yards wide. It concentrated their firepower, sweeping defenders from the trenches immediately in front of them, but the further they progressed, the more the enemy fire would tear them apart from the flanks and rear.

Another T-7 went down to a mine, along with a single infantry mech. It appeared the Krixnas had placed a second belt of the weapons right in front of their trench line. The narrow front did give the advantage of reducing the number of mines in the path of their attack. As they reached the first trench line, grenades swept away the last of the defenders in front of them. Instead of occupying the trenches to reorganize for the next push, his forces just continued the assault, ignoring the fire now coming in from all directions. Mech after mech was falling to the enemy fire, but his troops were also scoring kills, most notably on the forces in the second trench line directly in front of them.

The gap between the two trenches wasn’t seeded with mines, making the approach a bit easier, but Hugh was horrified at the losses his men were taking. As the first grenades exploded in the second trench line, the garrison force finally reacted. It turned out there were nine of them, and they moved with the lack of coordination that let Hugh know these were AI-controlled units. Not knowing how long it would take, Hugh selected the enemy command post and activated his Drop Beacon of the Vanquished. A glow appeared in front of the command post, indicating where his force would arrive, but nothing happened at first.

He was down to two T-7s and sixteen infantry, all of which were taking shelter in the second trench line, their primary objective complete. The Krixnas now surrounded them, their troops moving closer and closer with each passing second. A sonic boom shook the battlefield and what looked like a flaming meteor dropped from the sky, barreling directly toward the marker the beacon had placed. Hugh didn’t know if the Krixnas could see the marker or if it was showing only in his interface, but they could see the approaching meteor-like object. Krixnas began to scuttle back toward the command post once it became obvious the object was heading there.

“Keep their attention. Focus fire on any Krixnas heading toward the command post!” Captain Tran shouted over the open comms channel. Captain Cartwright was off the net; the last T-7 had been brought down, cutting him from the feed. The infantry mechs rose in the trench, ignoring the closing Krixnas as they expertly shot down any enemy that tried to go toward the command post.

The ground shook as the drop pod crashed to the earth. Hugh would have thought anything inside the teardrop-shaped metal container would have been crushed to death due to the force of the impact, but when the sides of the container dropped down, seven Krixnas infantry emerged. These were showing as friendly units in his and hopefully his soldiers’ interfaces. Wasting no time, the allied Krixnas began to shoot and tear at the command post. The building had been partially damaged by the crashing drop pod, a bonus of the powerful ability Hugh had purchased.

The entire Krixnas force ignored Hugh’s troops and now tried to reach the command post and the attackers that were tearing it apart. If the appearance of units exactly like their own shocked them in any way, the Krixnas didn’t seem to care. His own forces were now free to reap a terrible harvest on the Krixnas, who gave up all thoughts of defending themselves as they charged to save their command post.

“It’s an old-fashioned turkey shoot, boys. Rack up the kills,” Sergeant Landry shouted. Hugh was glad to see his mech was still in the fight, leading the efforts of the eleven still-functional units. The Krixnas were falling in droves as even the mortar crews joined in the rush to defend the command post. Hugh figured there were around forty or fifty surviving Krixnas, but the number was dropping fast as his troops serviced targets like it was a pleasant day at the range. Hugh had counted on this; damage to the command post inflicted horrible pain on the war core, and his opponent shouldn’t be able to do much more than shout for help.

The drop pod forces ignored the incoming Krixnas and their fire. Luckily, the drop pod protected them from some of it, allowing them more time to tear into the enemy command post. The damage looked extensive, but the defenders were closing in. As the enemy got closer, Hugh’s forces exited the trench and charged forward while still firing into the backs of the Krixnas, who now numbered under thirty.

A pair of his drop pod troops were cut down by inaccurate face tentacle fire. Another fell as the main body of enemy troops entered firing range. Continuing to damage the command post for as long as they could, his drop pod troops didn’t even try to defend themselves as the Krixnas tore them apart. They had almost done it, but despite the holes ripped in its structure, the building was still functional. It was then that a fresh string of plasma explosions erupted among the massed enemy. They had foolishly piled onto the drop pod forces as they tried to prevent losing the battle to Hugh’s new trick.

Rifle fire tore into the surviving Krixnas as a few more plasma blasts from the last of the grenades added to the carnage. Of the thirty or so Krixnas that had reached the command post, less than a dozen remained. They tried futilely to engage Hugh’s troops, but he now had the advantage in both numbers and firepower. The remaining Krixnas troops were operating strangely, just like AI-controlled units, leaving Hugh to wonder if they had subcommanders to help out as he had with Captain Tran and the others.

His men took out the last Krixnas and turned their weapons on the damaged command post. A final Krixnas mech emerged from the barracks, but the fight was over before it could even do anything.

A very welcome prompt appeared as Hugh watched the enemy command post collapse in upon itself.

Congratulations! You have emerged victorious in the first phase of the battle for system es1423. You have 1 of 2 victories needed to defend this system from the Krixnas invasion. War core post-battle calculations are commencing.

Reward Point Calculations:

Base reward: 25 points

Victory bonus: 100 points

Extended battle length bonus: 50 points

Observation bonus: 25 points

Total points awarded: 200

War Core Termination Calculation:

Base chance for termination: 0.0001%

Victory bonus chance: active

Failure penalty: none

Multiple loss penalty: none

Effectiveness rating: above average

Observer rating: average

Bonuses to survivability: victory enhancement active

Combat pod lethality: reduced lethality active

Please note that all allocated reward points have been used to reduce the debt on your loan.

Major Hugh Logan, War Core, Level 2:

Reward points: −265/1000

Congratulations! You have received a random victory bonus that grants you an additional minor perk. Please make your selection within 24 hours or before your next battle begins, whichever occurs first.

He was still in the hole as far as reward points went, but he was at least moving in the right direction. Hugh waited as his core flew through space on its way back to Earth. He didn’t know how long he had until his next battle. The Krixnas core had to be frustrated. Would his opponent’s frustration manifest as a rush to battle or more time to calculate their strategy? The familiar and very welcome sight of Earth greeted Hugh as he headed toward the oil pier just off the coast of California, where his core was housed. He experienced the typical momentary disorientation of returning home, but once that abated, it was time to get back to work.

★

Chapter 37

“Major Logan, welcome back,” Admiral Nix announced as Hugh’s focus returned.

“Thank you, sir. How many did we lose?” Hugh asked. The battle had been a long one, long enough to have the GCA grant him a small bonus in reward points. There was always a cost in these battles, win or lose. The only thing Hugh could do was try and keep the price as low as possible by continuing to win.

“Three. It could have been much worse, but we lost three, all from the 82nd. Join us in the briefing room. There is a strange development to this campaign,” Admiral Nix advised. Hugh wasn’t so sure if he liked any strange developments.

“Roger that, sir. Can I take just a moment first?” Hugh asked. The admiral looked like he was about to object but then realized what Hugh was wanting to do.

“Sure, join us as soon as you can,” the admiral said.

“Thank you, sir.” Hugh looked out over the rows of combat pods. The surviving soldiers had formed up, waiting for their fallen comrades to be removed from their pods. Medical and tech staff did their best to give the fallen some dignity while hauling them out, draping each with a blanket as they placed them on a gurney that would take them from the room. The assembled soldiers held a salute as the fallen were taken away, Hugh waiting for the surviving soldiers to leave.

“Well done, brothers. Well done,” Hugh whispered before moving his view to the conference room. The usual suspects were inside, but everyone looked more excited than normal.

“Hurry up and show him,” Maddison whined, looking a bit like a kid ready to open some presents at Christmas.

“Hold on,” the admiral said. “We’ll do this properly. First off, Hugh, you did well in your battle. It was a long one, but you persevered and brought us another victory. Before we move on to other business, take a look at the report on the Krixnas we received from intel. It looks like their efforts have borne fruit. I’ll give you a moment to review it before we continue.”

Maddison squirmed in her chair as one of the tech team downloaded the report into Hugh’s core. A lot of it was pure speculation and didn’t look like it was based on anything other than a hunch. But two passages, in particular, were interesting, and Hugh took some time to review them.

The Krixnas social structure is hive-like, with large groups controlled by a central king or queen. It appears that gender does not play a role in their selection of leadership. Conquest points spent on intel have confirmed that a Krixnas war core is always someone from their elite leadership. The forces they command are controlled by underlings of the lower castes, who are skilled in warfare but lack individual initiative. The use of flexible tactics is recommended, as the Krixnas cores are not known for flexibility of action. The total number of war cores under Krixnas control is deemed to be low, based on the limited number of eligible leaders that can be converted. Unlike in our society, where cores can be chosen from many different options, the Krixnas leadership caste are the only ones with the necessary ability to handle complex decision-making.

Hugh could confirm that the enemy’s ability to fight suffered when the war core was hurt and unable to issue commands. Instead of other officers or senior NCOs taking over, they seemed to revert to the hive way of thinking, guarding the command post at the expense of everything else, including their own survival. Had they not acted rashly, Hugh very well might have lost that fight. The next section of intel was even more important. Whoever had spent the points on Krixnas intel had gotten lucky in the results.

The Krixnas control an area of space much smaller than that of humanity. It’s unknown how the GCA divides up territory, and the current theory is that the Krixnas lack a leadership base to exploit that many worlds, resulting in a lower allocation based on the GCA’s algorithms that control the process. Intel has confirmed that the Krixnas are being pressed hard by another species, the Ssath, who are driving directly toward the Krixnas homeworld. Expansion into human territory seems to be a response to the threat, an effort to secure some other life-giving world they can move their population to, giving them a chance to survive as a species.

“That’s actually some good intel from our people. They did better than I thought they would,” Hugh said, finishing up his review.

“Indeed. It also dovetails into the next order of business. The Krixnas have reached out to humanity, announcing their intent to sue for peace,” Admiral Nix said with a big grin on his face.

“What does that mean? How can they even communicate with us?” Hugh asked, a bit confused; he didn’t think diplomacy played a part in the GCA’s game.

“Other than mercenary contracts, diplomacy is rather rare, but I hear it does occur at times, and the leadership of the various races has their means of contacting each other. The Krixnas offer is this, and the world leaders are voting right now on accepting it,” the admiral advised, pulling up the star maps showing the borders of the two races.

Hugh could see that Krixnas space had been captured almost up to a point that was highlighted as their homeworld. If the Ssath conquered two more systems, they could strike directly at the Krixnas homeworld. Given their aggressive nature, Hugh didn’t think the Ssath were merciful and would probably just use the Krixnas as a food source. Half of Krixnas space, including their homeworld, had been offered to Earth. The remainder turned gray, and Hugh didn’t know what to make of it.

“Peace sounds good to me, but what will we do with their homeworld? It’s not like we have any spaceships that can transport them or us anywhere. Also, what’s this gray area?” Hugh asked.

“Their world would be taken into human territory as a protectorate,” the admiral said. “We would defend them and fight to prevent any other races from capturing their home. In return, they cede all the territory they can to us, with the only stipulation being that we allow them to keep and rule their home system without interference. As for the gray area, we’re not sure, but the big brains at intel think it’s territory the GCA will allocate to the Ssath, given their current campaign against the Krixnas.”

“So we get victory over the Krixnas, but in return, we now share a border with a strong and aggressive power. I don’t see this ending well,” Hugh said, not looking forward to tangling with the Ssath in battle—or in the flesh.

“I agree, but the politicians desperately need a victory, one they can hang their hats on when they reveal the existence of the GCA and our war cores to the world. This is a chance to lessen the shock of revealing what has been going on for years. It shows hope that we are on the path to victory,” Admiral Nix said.

“Not that my opinion has any influence, but I think it’s past time we’ve told the truth to everyone,” Hugh said. “The only problem now is that the Ssath will be our new neighbors, and with them on our border, I’m not sure we’ll have very much in the way of peace in this sector of space.”

“I agree, but the alternative is to let the Ssath continue their advance through Krixnas space. One peculiarity of the GCA system is that once the Krixnas ceded their territory to us, it’s protected for a time, just like when you successfully defend a system. The Ssath will likely attack, but we’ll have some breathing room before that happens—time for you to learn and grow as a core. I don’t know how long we’ll get since it seems to vary with each campaign, but intel is thinking we’ll have anywhere from six months to five years.”

“That’s good. We’ll need all the time and help we can get. So what happens now?” Hugh asked.

“Until the agreement is signed, we continue, as usual, preparing for another battle with the Krixnas. Did you gain a level this time?” the admiral asked.

“Not just yet, but I did gain a perk as a victory bonus. We have twenty-four hours to select it so we should probably start on that in case another battle begins and we lose it. I say our plan should stay the same. We’ll place the point into something resource-related this time and then go further into infantry upgrades with our next perk.” The others around the table nodded in agreement, so Hugh pulled up his interface, sharing the display to the screen in the room.

Resource Upgrade Options:

1. Reprocessing Efficiency, Rank 2: The chance of finding old wrecks on the battlefield increases slightly. With this rank of the upgrade, you will now be able to reprocess your own fallen mechs from the battlefield remotely. This only works for your units, not any captured, allied, enemy, or neutral mechs. Mechs on the battlefield can only be reprocessed remotely after 30 minutes have passed. If your opponent or any neutral party interacts with your destroyed mech during this time, remote reprocessing of that unit will be canceled.

2. Improved Initial Allocation: This upgrade grants an additional 50 resources at the start of the battle. In scenarios where there are no starting resources or when starting resources are reduced, the upgrade will still function but may be reduced by up to 50%.

3. Construction Drone Prospector Upgrade: This upgrade allows you to enhance your construction drones with the prospector feature. A prospector drone functions as a normal drone but has a chance to discover untapped resources deep underground as it moves about the battlefield. The option to build a resource extractor over these locations will be unlocked once a resource deposit is discovered.

“Those all seem pretty good to me. Any suggestions?” Hugh asked.

“Hitting rank two of reprocessing efficiency would lead me to believe there are further ranks with even more powerful abilities down the line,” Maddison said. “I say you ride that option until it ends, if only to see what we might unlock. The other two options are good, but since there was no restriction placed on their selection, there’s a good chance they’ll be available next time. Who knows how many times the system will open up a new rank in an ability?”

“That seems like solid reasoning to me, and I’d love the chance to gather up resources without having to risk my drones to go get them. The time and interaction restrictions may be a problem, but I can also see those decreasing or being removed at higher ranks. Does anyone have another opinion?” Hugh asked.

“I think the initial allocation one seems like the worst of the bunch, but the prospector upgrade could be very powerful,” Agent Smith said. “While rank two of reprocessing efficiency seems good, who knows what battlefield conditions might be or if an enemy knows about this ability and can sabotage us by interacting with our wrecks?”

“But battlefield conditions could also interfere with prospecting for resource deposits,” Captain Tran said. “Since we know there are nearly always casualties in a fight, I say go with rank two of reprocessing efficiency.” The others agreed. Smith was also fine with the reprocessing option; he just wanted to explore the others before they were dismissed.

You have selected reprocessing efficiency, rank 2. The upgrade will take effect during your next battle and will require the construction of a remote processing facility addon to your command post. The cost of the addon will vary based on the mission-specific parameters for the battle.

“It looks like there’s always a catch,” Hugh said, pushing the information on his selection to the main screen.

“As long as you don’t have to spend too much for the addon, it’s still the best choice,” Maddison assured him.

“With that settled, tell us about this new dropship upgrade you used in the battle. Why didn’t you tell us about it earlier and how did you get some Krixnas mechs?” the admiral asked, looking a bit upset over Hugh’s lack of candor after his return from leave. He was kind of embarrassed about going into debt and slowing his leveling process. Hugh tried to explain, and for the first time, he was glad the GCA blocked the information. This restriction stuff wasn’t all bad, it seemed.

“I’ll take your silence as a sign the GCA is censoring that answer,” the admiral said. Before they could continue, Hugh received a new system prompt. He pushed the information to the room, the place going silent as they all began to read.

The humans of Earth have taken control of all claimed Krixnas territory. Their homeworld is now a protectorate of Earth. Any remaining non-claimed Krixnas territory has been allotted to the respective interested parties.

The second part of the message was sent to Hugh, and the information was blocked from the others. It looked like the GCA really wanted the lesser races to fight, given the reward for a diplomatic solution.

Congratulations! You have successfully defended system es1423 via diplomatic efforts. This peaceful settlement entitles you to 25 reward points. All points earned have been applied toward your debt. Your current reward point balance is −240/1000. Since the conflict was settled by diplomatic means, no additional leave will be granted.

“Well, it looks like we have some room to breathe and a chance to get more training in,” Admiral Nix said. “We’ve held the line, people, and even taken some ground from our foes, but we’ve got to work harder than ever because our enemies are only going to get stronger.”

Hugh agreed. The fight with the Krixnas was over, but he could feel in his core that a new fight with the Ssath was just about to begin.

★

Afterword

It was 1994. I had recently graduated college and started my first “real” job where I was earning enough to finally buy a computer with enough specs to run the latest games. One of the games I was playing—I don’t remember which one—had a sample for another game on one of the discs. The style of the new game was unusual and something I hadn’t played before. The game was Blizzard’s Warcraft: Orcs & Humans, and it was the first real-time strategy game I ever played. I was hooked. I’m horrible at them, but that doesn’t stop me from playing various RTS titles even today.

While working on my other LitRPG and Dungeon Core books, I began to wonder if something could be done to try and capture the fun and excitement I felt the first time I played an RTS game. Several versions of War Core were tested, adjusted, and refined, leaving us with what you’ve read today. I hope I’ve done the genre justice and you’ve enjoyed fighting alongside Hugh as he learns how to operate his core. There is much more to come in this series. The fight with the Ssath is inevitable, and there are other, greater threats out there waiting for our war cores to battle.

I want to acknowledge those who helped me with this book. My editor, Bodie Dykstra, continues to gain experience points by killing off my grammar mistakes. He’ll be at max level in no time. The cover art was done by Piero Mng (Gianpiero Mangialardi), and his work did an outstanding job at capturing the various mechs on the cover and illustrations. His efforts really helped bring the story to life. A big thank-you to my family for always being supportive of my writing. I couldn’t do this without your help.

If you’ve enjoyed this book, you may also be interested in my LitRPG series Limitless Lands, as well as its spinoff Limitless Seas, my space dungeon core story Derelict, or my dungeon core story Cat Core. You can find them all here on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087GH66WS>
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07G7GWFFL
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08RNY2XQ2
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WQ5VFLC/

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