Chapter 52: Grinding Battle Begins
Of course the night was never going to be truly peaceful. Only an hour after they had finished setting up their defenses another air raid came for their position.
Fortunately, they detected it long before it arrived, relying on a combination of visual and thermal imaging instead of the unreliable radar and satellite feeds.
With the three anti aircraft equipped vehicles plus the Tarith's Rage, the raid was easily repelled, in fact, almost too easily.
[Everyone on Full Alert. Light Mecha check the extended perimeter of our position. An attack that easily repelled is guaranteed to be cover for something.] Max instructed the unit as soon as the plants were downed.
That pulled everyone into immediate readiness, and various sensors began sweeping the area. The Mecha patrolling the outer area stopped to scan for anything out of the ordinary.
[Movement in Sector 3. Rebel infantry attempting to flee the city.] One of the Line Mecha reports, grabbing Max's attention.
[Lieutenant Becki, take two fast units and go deal with them. Watch for ambush attempts.] Max instructs, linking their targeting sensors to his own.
It is a feature commonly used by Commanders to get a good overview of the battleground, but for Max it has a double purpose. The Battle Cannon is an artillery piece, firing heavy shells on a curved trajectory. With his Targeting Skills, he can use it at longer ranges as an indirect fire weapon, lobbing shells into the air to land on targets from above.
If they should come across an ambush, he can engage on their behalf and provide cover to keep them from being pinned down.
The light mecha squad corners the traitors in a former Residence, so Max sends one single Battle Cannon round into the building, the explosion destroying the fragile brick structure and killing everyone inside.
[Sensors detect all clear. Thanks for the assistance Stalwart.] Lieutenant Becki calls over the radio before returning to base.
Now that they've eliminated the last defenders of this position, the enemy is most likely going to send Mecha in to attempt to clear them out and regain control of the area and the munitions storage bunkers that the infantry has claimed.
That means they're going to have to dig in for a nasty battle, but fortunately, they've gotten an infusion of firepower. Max orders camo netting and rubble be spread over the vehicles, as well as Tarith's Rage and a number of the burned out tanks.
Nico took that as a hint to hide herself better, tearing through the basement of a building and shielding herself in the ruins, then placing a door from the lander over her carapace and covering everthing in netting and broken bricks.
With her Mecha hidden like that, and the thick alloy door as a lid, thermal scans would never detect that to be a mecha. The thermal signature looks far more like a makeshift bunker with a fire lit in back for warmth during the cold nights here on Belmont.
Her top guns are still functional, as are the guns on the vehicles they covered, so they're not losing out on defense, but by the time the sun comes up their numbers are fully obscured.
No more Mecha patrols are sent to the edge of town, only a half dozen infantry scouts, well hidden inside buildings and waiting for the inevitable counter offensive.
They don't have to wait too long, the first strike comes just before noon. A full combined Mecha Patrol. Three Crusader Class Chassis and twenty light mecha.
[They're splitting up. Light mecha coming from the east and west, Crusaders from the North.] a scout whispers into his radio.
[Stalwart is positioned to fire East. Infantry assets, find me a target lock with the laser scopes. Tarith's Rage, take out the Crusaders, and Lieutenant Becki has the West.] Max makes sure everyone is clear on the plan.
Their pilfered tanks are also facing north, and the infantry have set up dozens of small bunkers around the ruins. With luck, the enemy won't make it that close but if they do, Bravo Company has a number of anti armor rockets and other heavy weapons with them.
The laser targeters have two options, either identifying a target directly, or firing a sticky locator beacon. Mecha can sometimes track those targeting beams back to their source, so the first choice is usually to attach a beacon and return to hiding inside a thermally shielded nest to avoid detection.
The scouts do an excellent job of it, getting four of the ten light mecha in the East and two Crusaders. The light mecha in the west swung wide of their position, and nobody was going to reveal themselves and ruin the trap this early.
Tarith's Rage makes the first move, Her Ion Destroyer and all three Rail Guns lighting up the leading Crusader the second it comes into sight. The Ion blast was a direct hit to the cockpit, followed by three rail gun rounds punching through the weakened armor.
The unit goes dark in the middle of a step, simply collapsing as it loses power, causing the other two giant Mecha to retreat back around the corner of a building.
Unfortunately for them, that building held one of the Infantry bunkers, and the brave soldiers of Bravo Company put a volley of rockets up into the vulnerable rear structure of one retreating mecha, causing it to explode and creating a burning wreckage that hid their escape through the heavily damaged building.
The sudden attack has made the light mecha rush their advance in order to offer support, putting the ones approaching from the East squarely in Max's line of sight.
The Battle Cannon thunders as the Gatling Battery spins up and the approaching light mecha find themselves caught in a shooting gallery between buildings. They have only an instant to flee before a hail of Gatling Battery rounds tears into them, and Max begins to hear the signs of battle behind him, from the Western front.
The remaining targets are in full flight now, and Max orders his unit to stand down.
[Do Not pursue. They won't be back anytime soon, and we can hold this point as long as we need to. Intelligence says the front line battles are going well.]