mehehe - H.G.M.W.S.¹⁰¹

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 217 217 Cargo Transfer

While they sat in the isolated meteor station, cargo ships came and went, picking up raw materials to bring to the nearby manufacturing systems. But today, they werent empty, nor were they the civilian mining shuttles that usually made the run.

Today they were military freighters in disguise, bringing in loads of mecha and gear to outfit Abraham Kepler for an extended mission.

Five battalions of three Companies each meant that they were receiving a total of twenty Super Heavy Mecha along with the hundreds of other Mecha.

Other than the Comor Pattern Corvettes they were all new designs and highly classified, so Central Command had determined that bringing Abraham Kepler to the source was too much of a risk and instead had it dock here under the pretense of restocking the raw materials for combat repairs.

Just watching them being rolled aboard on their transport racks was impressive, and Max could only imagine the horror on their enemys faces when such a force actually landed on a populated planet for a pacification effort.

Many colonies dont even have five major cities, much less the twenty that would be needed to spread out a force like theirs.

It took two days for all the Mecha to arrive and get checked over in their hangars, but finally, it was time for the Pilots to say hello to their new homes in person. Max and Nico were the only ones who had ever actually seen one in person before, all the others were trained on simulators, so the atmosphere aboard was incredibly exhilarated.

Colonel, I heard you and Major Nico were on the development team. Do you have any tips and tricks for using the new Fast Attack Crusaders? A captain named Booth asked as he stared in envy at the four X137 Super Heavy Mecha that belonged to their Battalion.

Talk to Nico, Im sure she would happily hold a training simulation for anyone who would like it. That fast attack Mecha is her baby, designed specifically because she and a select few others could operate faster than the standard Crusaders could react. The full capabilities of the Mecha are incredible. Max explained.

Thank you, Colonel. I will grab the others and go talk to her. Once we find her that is. Captain Booth agreed with a fist to the chest salute.

If you knew Nico, where she was wouldnt be hard to guess, but these troops were all new, so Booth didnt realize that Nico was right in front of him, in technicians coveralls and wearing the Tech Adept Exoskeleton while she tweaked and checked over Maxs new Command Mecha.

Fortunately, some of the others were already aware of her personality and knew to look for her on the Mecha.

Major Nico, could you give us a crash course in close combat tactics for the X109? One of the Pilots called up as she finished her first round of modifications to Maxs new Mecha.

No problem. The design and mobility favor very aggressive piloting, so it might take a bit of adjustment. Nico agreed, using the exoskeletons gravity control to float down from the Mecha.

The ten Pilots who were in the Fast Attack model X109 all quickly assembled at the training simulators in bay A1, the primary training facility assigned to the First Batallion.

I will set everyone up for individual training, but first you wall should watch and see how I do it. Run the mission through, and then exit to ask questions and we will go again until you all have the hang of things. I would hate for the Mecha to get a poor review just because the Pilots werent really familiar with how to use it properly. Nico instructed them, before logging into the simulator.

The scenario that she created was a familiar one, an attack that she had previously trained many Pilots on. The attack on the tech facility on Planet Belmont.

Once everyone was loaded in to spectate the scenario, Nico engaged thrusters and rushed straight into the base, hitting the Mecha Hangar with the shoulder-mounted Disruptor Cannon, while using the Fusion Flamer in her left hand to melt the infantry and light Mecha in the courtyard. Crusaders began to pile out of the warehouse, and she hit the back ranks with the Disruptor Cannon, before charging the front rank with her sword, cleanly cutting through the cockpit before the Pilot could even react.

She then flooded the warehouse with Fusion Flame and used the Mechas thrusters to fly away as the building went up in a crackling cloud of cooked-off explosives and fuel.

That had eliminated all the military targets in the area, and the shield on the X109 that Nico was Piloting never even suffered a breach, only a few glancing blows from the Crusaders and some light arms fire.

[Did you all see what I did there? Log out and we will have a proper conversation, then you can try yourselves.] Spectator mode didnt allow them to interact with the Pilot in the simulation, so Nico exited the simulator and used the whip arms on the Tech Adept skeleton to stand herself up out of her seat and face the other Pilots.

Well, who is first? She asked as they tried to form proper questions for her.

The Fusion Flamer, what is the effective range at full spread? One of the pilots finally asked.

Seventy-Five Meters to the end of the flames. You can sneak a bit more against infantry, but anything beyond seventy-five wont melt Light Mecha armor anymore. Nico explained.

Is there some optimization trick to speed up your control inputs? I didnt think that a Cyborg hand could move fast enough to exceed the Crusaders input responses. Another one asked.

Not really, I use a System Function to speed things up, you all will have to do things your own way, but the controls are more customizable, so you can set them up just how you like them for better responses with minimal inputs. Nico couldnt well give them the ability to directly control the Mecha the way she does, so that much was up to them.

They would also have to practice to get more skilled in close combat since the Fast Attack Mecha was a close-range machine, but that would take time, and it was more important that they mastered the basics first before trying to learn new combat styles in a new Mecha.

Everyone back in the simulation, and remember: Be Aggressive. Its the most survivable route with short-ranged weapons. In a Company sized attack formation the rest of the squad will cover you from ranged attackers, so just focus on what is close and what is targeting you directly. Nico directed the team, who eagerly logged in and began running the same scenario that Nico just finished.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 218 218 Familiarization

For the next four days, learning and becoming comfortable in their new Mecha was the goal of every Mecha Pilot on the ship. They were securely in their storage racks, so there wasnt much for the repair team, or the researchers to do, though the research team did spend a great deal of time preparing data tables and comparative studies, just waiting for the data sets to come in so that they could get to the main part of their work.

The task was surprisingly time-consuming, and Max only managed to spend a few hours a day with Moonie, who had accepted that soon Max would be in the field and they would have to go their separate ways, but for now they were enjoying each others company and the games of chess.

The speed of Abraham Kepler was greatly improved with their new faster-than-light drives online, and they were going to be approaching Rae 3 in only one more day. That meant that it was time to start getting all the Mecha loaded and prepared for combat.

They needed ammunition, rations, water, final checks before deployment, a review of the Landers functionality, and finally the Pilots personal items to be loaded before deployment.

The final checks brought Max to a familiar face for the first time in a while. Sergeant Fritz, formerly a Corporal from Mecha maintenance, was in charge of operations in the First Battalions section of the Cargo Bays. He would be supervising their preparations and making sure the Mecha had everything Max had requested for them.

With the new patterns, that would be easier than usual, since only the Super Heavy Mecha used a solid projectile main weapon system. Both the Super Heavy X137 and the Comor Pattern Corvettes used a variety of projectile secondary defense systems though.

None of the units had names yet, and they wouldnt for at least the first few missions until they had been deemed suitable for long-term service, but more than one Pilot had already started thinking of names for their new Mecha. It was customary that the first Pilot got to name it if the unit wasnt a replacement for a destroyed unit, so this was a prime opportunity for the Super Heavy Mecha Pilots.

If development returned to the status quo, these units would be in service for a century or more, going through a half dozen pilots before being replaced by an upgraded model. Some of the previous Citadel Pattern Phalanx Class Mecha had served for almost a thousand years, due to the stagnation of development, but Max couldnt see that happening again. The other Nations had already started moving forward, and the cold war of progression wouldnt stop as easily this time as it did previously.

Much of that could be blamed on the System. It had increased intelligence, and the capabilities of everyone, not just Pilots, so new developments were inevitable, and the old generation of politicians was dying out. Whether it was of old age or hubris turning them against the Empire didnt really matter, for most of the powerful nobles their days were already numbered, and they had ruled as long as they could before turning over their power to the younger generation.

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Max went back to his dorm and dug through his duffel bag, pulling out the collection of pictures that he liked to post up around the view screen in his mecha. This time there would be much more room available, so Nico could put up all she wanted as well, but from what he remembered she only ever had one picture up inside the Mecha, plus that bright pink blanket.

Major Miller was helping the unit prepare for deployment and had already prepared his own Mecha, living up to the reputation as an efficient Logistics Officer that had earned him the position in the first place. Nico was over with the technicians, tweaking a weapon system on one of the X104 replacements for the Redemption Pattern Crusaders. It had one of the new pattern Dual Ion Destroyers in its right hand and a pair of Plasma Shotguns on the shoulder packs that doubled as both heat dissipation for the reactor and adjustable thrusters for mobility.

The Ion Destroyers werent linking right when they did the system test, but somehow the defect hadnt been caught before today or had only just started. Max expected more than a few such incidents would pop up during combat, which was why he planned to send out twice the forces he thought necessary for every mission.

If something broke down, or they found a glitch, the extra manpower would allow the unit to be taken out of service for a while without jeopardizing the mission.

The enemy was supposed to be no smarter than the average beast, but thinking of the Guard Dogs on Comor, that didnt mean they werent smarter than some of the people Max knew. Most of the Company and Battalion Commanders thought the same way, caution first to test the new units reliability, since they had solid theoretical numbers for the firepower.

The defect turned out to be a manufacturing defect that wasnt detected, so the technicians were going over all 120 units that were equipped with the weapon, forty of them per Company. Only a few more defects were found, none of them as severe, and all of the other weapons were likely to have remained functional until taking damage and overloading the weakened circuit, but it was a good reminder that this was an experimental unit.

The message was passed to all the other Technicians serving the other Battalions, who raced to check all their Mecha before deployment. This final day was always hectic, even with proven and battle-tested units, so Max didnt expect anyone in the technical team to be getting any sleep tonight.

The checks also provided the first set of manufacturing quality data to the research teams, so they would be hard at work for the foreseeable future, leaving Max in a bit of a limbo state, surrounded by competent people who really didnt need his input at the moment.

Occasionally missing content, please report errors in time.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 219 219 Rae 3

[All Personnel are advised, that the first round of drops to the Rae 3 Construction Zone will begin in precisely 6 hours.] The announcement startled almost everyone who was still awake and off duty.

None of them intended to be awake at this particular hour, as it didnt fit with the schedule of either school of thought relating to Drop Preparations. One group maintained that dropping in the middle of your shift was best, so you could finalize any issues before the drop and have the soldiers awake long enough to establish their base of operations. The second, which Max preferred, was to sleep late and begin his shift an hour before the drop so that the unit was fresh and had more energy for whatever was waiting for them on the surface.

The second group made up most of the first wave forces, and those used to being on the front line, who understood that setting up a base is no easy feat when you are the first forces on the ground.

So, Max and the First Battalion mostly didnt hear that announcement, and woke up four hours later, rushing their morning schedules to get to their Mecha and do a final readiness check before they were loaded into the Landers.

The landers were going to be crammed today, as they always were for a Heavy Mecha Company drop, and it would take some time to get them loaded and balanced. Not only was it the first time these mecha patterns would be dropped into combat, but it was also the first time a crew had loaded them for an actual drop.

Virtual Reality gave the crew confidence in their methods though, and the units were quickly loaded. The only strange part that Max found was that even when all units reported ready, his lander was basically empty, with only his Mecha, Major Miller, one more X109 Fast Attack Mecha, and most of the units spare parts and raw materials loaded into the hold.

It was a strange arrangement, but looking through the data that Nico had pulled up, the Battalion Command Mecha couldnt go in with a regular Company, the two Super Heavy Mecha together with a Heavy Mecha Wing would put the Lander overweight.

The creatures on the planet werent expected to have any anti-Lander capabilities, since the flying creatures werent strong enough to damage the Landers themselves, so in theory, the drop was going to be low risk, with Max and his Command Lander dropping last into the middle of the pattern formed by the rest of his Battalion.

Once they had that accomplished, they would establish a base camp, and begin to spread out and eliminate all hostile life forms in the area.

Max had seen the population data, and sending Super Heavy Mecha here was pure overkill. The most dangerous native inhabitant was an eight-meter-tall ape. There were many creatures that were deadly to humans, and a reasonable number that could challenge Line Mecha or Corvettes, but ones that could challenge a Heavy mecha were few and far between.

Pants on you lazy fethers, gogogo. You have five minutes to get to your Mecha. Nico was shouting in the hallway, making the Pilots laugh. Until that very moment, this felt like a training assignment to most of them, low risk and controlled, but that shouting felt so much like home that it reminded them that this too was a battlefield.

Boots started jogging down the hallways since everyone was nearly ready anyhow, and First Battalion quickly assembled around their Company Commanders for their final orders.

They werent fresh recruits from some backwater planet, these were all experienced soldiers, so the process was smooth and painless, getting everyone loaded and ready a full hour before their scheduled drop even before the transition from faster than light back to standard speeds.

[ALERT ALERT. Klem Incursion has been detected on Rae 5. All Troops will be diverted to defend the Empire against the alien incursion.]

Rae 5 was a binary star system only five light years from Rae 3, a difference of under fifteen minutes at full velocity, but suddenly the ship was decelerating, sending a lot of unprepared troops stumbling, while the Pilots of the First Battalion were securely locked into their seats.

[Our approach vector was set to take us past Rae 5 on the way to our destination, they must have done an emergency translation to get us in position faster once the threat was identified.] Nico informed the Battalion, settling frayed nerves, and getting the hangar staff back on track.

The Klem populated worlds by pods shot into space from their organic vessels, much like deadly data probes that grew into enormous monsters in a matter of hours. Rae 5 had no intelligent life, and nothing that was a threat to humans, but it had a lot of plant life, and that is what the Klem invasion was after.

They only attacked two types of worlds. Those with a lot of biomass, and those with an extreme threat. Their space-faring vessels harvested the rest of the resources their species needed to survive by ingesting small asteroids.

[So much for a relaxing working vacation. Get your game faces on everyone. Company Commanders, find out who in your unit has fought these evil insects before and form a new battle plan before we drop. The pattern will be the same, but after that, we will have to adjust to the situation on the ground.] Max ordered.

They didnt have enough information yet. Max didnt even know if the infestation had taken hold or if the pods were on their way to the planet. If they hadnt landed yet, things would be easier. They didnt hatch until they had cooled down and after that, they needed to eat to gain strength before they were a real threat. If they were already entrenched on the planet, it would be a nightmare to dig them out.

[Updtated Drop times are ready. The first wave drops in eighteen minutes.] Sergeant Fritz called from the hangar, and Max prepared himself for the very worst.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 220 220 Not So Gentle Landing

[Launch in T minus 10 minutes] The standardized announcement came and Max made an announcement of his own.

[Get your wagers in with Command, to the second. The closest bet to actual drop time gets this drops prize. One Can of Comors finest Apple Pie filling, and a carton of cigarettes.]

The Pilots all quickly sent in their messages, in case the Lander dropped much earlier than expected, but the mood became much less tense.

At seven minutes and forty-eight seconds, the Lander shuddered and then went into freefall, marking their official launch time. Max would check who was the official winner later since the satellite data had finally started to come in and he could see the situation on the planet.

The Klem had already landed, but from the looks of it, they hadnt had time to spread very much yet. He also got the targeting data for the Five Battalions arrivals. One on each flank of the Klem invasion, and one exactly in the center.

A Hammer and Anvil deployment, where the enemy would be driven back against an immovable stone in the middle of their ranks. It was a highly efficient strategy, but it relied on the center force holding out for the entire battle and not getting overrun by the enemy, a virtual impossibility when fighting the Klem.

Given a few days, they would have spawned thousands of warriors the size of Line Mecha, with long, spiked front appendages that could tear through the sturdiest of armors and the strength to pull limbs off the Light Mecha. Given a week, the infestation would move to the second stage, with creatures larger than Super Heavy Mecha that could overrun the best-defended fortresses.

They had much more firepower than a previous generation force their numbers, but this battle was going to be a very ugly one.

Did you perhaps get the Regimental Commanders daughter pregnant on your last shore leave? Maybe his wife as well? Major Ivanov asked when he saw that the First Battalion would of course be the center of the force, the anvil for the others to hammer the enemy against.

Look at it this way. At least you dont have to march anywhere. Just stand there and the enemy will come to you. Plus, this is Colonel Maxs favorite deployment. A strategic bridge, a Uranium mine, no matter where he is sent he gets to stand there while the rest of the continent tries to kill him. Nico responded, then sent data on their landing point and potential defenses to the Company Commanders.

With five artillery-capable Super Heavy Mecha, they werent helpless, it just wasnt going to be fun dealing with waves of giant insects. From what Max heard, the bipedal ones werent too bad. They were among the deadliest, but the crawling ones and the centipede-type ones were much more disturbing for the troops and were often equipped with innate corrosive bodily fluids that would eat through armor even if you killed them at close range.

Having no infantry in their ranks was a small blessing on this mission.

The Landers began to shudder as they entered the atmosphere, on a slightly steeper approach than usual, since the opponents current abilities were unknown.

There were no sounds of impact or warning lights that would indicate that the Lander was taking damage as it hurtled through the atmosphere until the last thirty seconds. Ϻ∀ᏞΕϺҎΥᎡ.ϲⵔᎷ

[Warning, severe electrical storm ahead] The lander announced.

Lightning strikes often made for very rough landings as they overloaded circuits, or prevented the Anti Gravity plating from engaging, and today was no exception. With a bang, all the interior lights of the Lander went out, leaving Max in the dark until the emergency lights kicked on a half second later.

Power and guidance are still up, but gravity control is running at sixty percent, Nico informed him, making Max sigh.

That was a survivable landing, and they were unlikely to take any injuries, but the crates containing raw ore and spare parts would not be so lucky, and the interior of the lander was going to be a mess when they got to the ground.

How are the other landers doing? Max asked, checking the sensor data of their landing site to make sure they were in fact landing in a clear field and not in the middle of an ambush or a rocky landslide.

Minor damages, all systems marginally operational. We should have our full force when we reach the ground. Nico informed him, so Max sent out the orders to form an encirclement around the landers and clear the area of any hostile presence.

They were close enough for thermal imaging now, and it was obvious that just clearing the Landing Zone wasnt going to be an easy task. There were hundreds of Klem Warrior and smaller signatures in the area. The smallest of them were known as the Klem Worker Drones, or simply Drones, and individually they were no threat to a Mecha, but in a large group they could be deadly, eating through hoses, armor, and even structural supports as they swarmed over the Mechas chassis.

[All Units, beware of the Drones and dont let the unit get overrun. Lets see how much they like the Fusion Flamers.] Max instructed, getting the final response just before the first lander touched down.

The Mecha stormed out in a furious wave of gunfire, mowing down all the Klem who were unfortunate enough to be near the landers, and then spreading out to clear the area. The pattern repeated with each Companys lander with Max and his command group being the last out.

There was nothing left nearby for him to shoot at, so Max activated the sensor link between himself and the other Super Heavy Mecha, which gave him indirect fire solutions all over the map.

That was a new feature the old generation didnt have, and Max hoped that the others enjoyed it as much as he was going to. The extra sensors were an incredible upgrade to his targeting abilities, letting him see anything that the Company Commanders could see without having to rely on the satellite data.

[Area Clear, Sir.] Pippin reported, finding no more heat signatures or movement within range of their sensors.

[Excellent work everyone. Send any damaged units to the repair racks and get the men to work building fortifications. Build them tall and strong, we expect to be here for a while.] Max ordered, then looked over at Nico, who had a small smile on her face as she sorted through sensor logs and began making the updated blueprints for the positions defenses.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 221 221 Forbidden Barbecue

[All Companies set three shift rotations. Defense building, guard duty, and rest. I want this position dug in before night falls. There are adequate shovels for the Corvettes in the Landers.] Max ordered, wishing he had thought to bring a trenching machine on this mission.

It wasnt that the Landers couldnt create one from the raw materials that they brought, but that material would be needed very soon to start repairing damaged Mecha. For that same reason, they wouldnt build anything too elaborate, at least not yet. Most of what they found here in the core of the infestation was swarm and warriors, with none of the Heavy Mecha-sized behemoths in sight.

Not that they wouldnt be there eventually, but not today.

For now, the plan was to transport the material removed from the trenches to the landers, using the Materials Printers to create huge rockcrete blocks that would create the primary wall around their position. Though not as hard as armor, the reinforced concrete would stand up to a large amount of abuse, and could easily be constructed from the loose soil and rocks that were removed from a trench.

Each of them was a standardized two meters high and thick by four meters long, easily moved by a Crusader Class Mecha, but they would securely interlock when stacked, to create a durable defense.

The Battalion got on the job as quickly as they could, knowing that the better they did now, the less they would suffer later, once the Klem realized that they had intruders inside their territory. The likely wouldnt take more than a few hours, so the Pilots were wearing themselves out, digging the trench and hauling the blocks back to place inside the line.

Once that was finished, a liquid polymer would be created and poured into the trench, making it more difficult for the Klem to tunnel under the wall.

[Colonel Max, we have a wave of Klem warriors approaching from all directions.] Major Ivanov, Commander of the First Company called, and Max immediately moved into a position where he could defend the fourth quadrant, leaving the Super Heavy Mecha evenly spaced.

[Avoid projectile usage during the first wave. They are still too scattered, and munitions are limited.] Max ordered, waiting for the Klem to get within an optimal range for the Ion Bombard Arrays and light up his targeting skills firing solutions.

At five thousand meters, targeting squares began to fill his screen, and Max opened fire over the heads of the Mecha who were working frantically to finish up the walls.

The other three opened fire a few seconds later, bringing the advance to a halt as the Klem stopped to reorganize outside the expected range of the Kepler weapons. They werent truly sentient, but they had a very good memory, and they would stop at that point in the future, building up their force density for an attack, but leaving themselves vulnerable to the Mass Drivers on the X137 Command Units.

For two uneasy hours, more and more Klem gathered in a ring six kilometers away from the Kepler position, and the defensive wall was completed, with the trenches lined in fast curing polymer.

[Any signs of Behemoths?] Max asked, making sure nobody had seen anything that he hadnt.

[Negative, we have a high density of warriors but nothing larger yet.] All the units reported the same, and Max watched as the flow of Klem into the area slowed to a trickle.

They would only migrate so far to deal with a threat, and it looked like they had already assembled all the forces that they thought would be necessary.

Do you want me to send out the scouting drones? Nico asked, showing him their supply of ten weaponless drones on the secondary view screen.

No, I think the first attack should be straightforward enough that we wont need to look for additional threats. Save them for when things start looking suspicious. Max disagreed, then sent out the order to begin the attack.

[Full Area Bombard with the Mass Drivers. Start in the back of the cluster and roll back toward the base in 3, 2, 1.]

The air filled with the thunder of artillery, and explosions lit up the sky in the distance, slowly closing in on them. The Klem quickly realized the threat that was coming from behind them and began their charge on the First Battalions position.

When the front ranks reached three kilometers they were at a comfortable distance for the Ion Destroyers on the Crusader Class Mecha, and bursts of white energy joined the red and yellow explosions. The Klem ranks were starting to get thin in a hurry, as the warriors were unable to survive a hit from the Heavy Mecha, but that didnt slow them. At two thousand meters, the Corvette Class Mecha joined the fusillade and the attack nearly vanished under the barrage of energy blasts.

[Cease Artillery. Save ammunition for the next wave.] Max ordered and the torturous thunder of four Super Heavy Mecha ceased in an instant.

The silence was deafening, leaving a lingering ring in the ears, despite the sound dampening of the Mecha, but still, the last remnants of the attack rushed for the walls, only to be met with the Fusion Flamers of the X109 Fast Attack Crusaders just before they could reach the trenches.

The smell of burning chitin filled the air, filtered from the Pilots noses by the rebreather systems of the Mecha, but the lingering haze of burning bodies and vegetation remained in the air, hiding the base camp from sight to anything more than a kilometer away.

[First Full engagement reported. First Battalion has eliminated a Klem Warrior wave with a zero failure rate. Data is being sent to the analysis department.] Regiment Commander General Yaakov reported from his position in the observation bays of Abraham Kepler, forwarding the data through to the scientists.

See, he will be fine. They wiped out the first wave before it even reached their defenses. They can handle this. Sister Lilith assured Moonie, who had been in a state of mild panic ever since the Mecha dropped.

She thought she was ready for this, but knowing Max was in Combat and analyzing the data from his battles was proving harder on the nerves than the small blonde researcher had anticipated.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 222 222 Klem Bait

The flamers turned out to be both their best friend and worst enemy in close combat. They were insanely effective, roasting everything that came near them, hot enough that they even partially melted the stone and earth outside the trench. But that effectiveness came with a price. The smell of roasted Klem.

The others seemed drawn to the smell, and after the battle groups of Klem warriors and Swarm would arrive to cannibalize the bodies on the outer reaches of the battlefield. What they needed the most at this stage in their invasion was food, and they werent above consuming their fallen comrades if it meant helping themselves grow.

[Well, thats disturbing. But we should do something about it before they start getting much stronger.] Pippin sighed over the Command Channel.

[The other four Battalions have already settled in on the outer perimeter and are spreading out by the company to begin pushing into the Klem in the morning. If we wait for the offensive we should have an easier time of it. We dont have any data on their organizational abilities, so waiting for a distraction is prudent.] Max informed him, quietly implying that they should make plans for when that happens.

Most Battalion Commanders didnt micromanage, they gave a vague directive and left it to their Company Commanders to get it done the best way they could. Max had worked under that sort of Battalion and Regiment in the past, and it was very refreshing compared to the horror stories some of the Test Pilots had told of their time on active duty.

Of course, ones like their current Regimental Commander, who viewed lineage as more important than competence were equally bad, but at least General Yaakov was willing to let them run their Battalions as they saw fit.

Max didnt realize that the General wasnt always like that, and that other than his aversion to talking to Commoners, his lousy attitude had been entirely due to having been thwarted in his attempts to recruit a new Personal Guard. For example, right now aboard Abraham Kepler, he was working on a plan to relieve the center of the fight with Orbital Fighter Drones if the Klem threat started to ramp up to levels that they didnt believe that the experimental units could handle.

Losing their first combat engagement wouldnt look good on his resume, or the new units, and he had high hopes for this new Regiment Organization that didnt rely so heavily on infantry. On his homeworld, the commoners were a valuable resource for the factories of the wealthy nobles, the loss of so many in an infantry battle hurt his wealth-minded soul.

Just after dark, the Klem started gathering at the seven-kilometer mark, one kilometer back of where they were last time, outside the ring of corpses left after the last artillery bombardment.

[They learn quickly. They are past the point that they think our weapons can reach.] Major Petrova of Charlie Company noted on the Command Channel.

[Hold fire until they have begun the rush and avoid pushing them out of sensor range?] Major Ivanov suggested, getting the men of Able Company ready.

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[Colonel, after the results last time, I think we can each cover a third of the zone if you want to take a backup role and reinforce the areas where the density is highest.] Major Petrova suggested.

An artillery zone that large was going to be hard to cover even with the terrifying force of three Super Heavy Mecha, but they didnt need to kill everything, they still had a full Battalion of Mecha with them to keep the base clear. This was a test of everything they brought, and not just the X137 after all.

[Agreed, Major. I will support the areas with higher density. During this rush, I recommend not having the X109 Fast Attack hold back so long. Put them up front with the Corvettes and let that Disruptor work its magic. The Klem army doesnt have radiation shielding, as far as I know, so the radiation should be devastating all the way out to five hundred meters.] Max directed them, much to the joy of the Pilots.

They hadnt had much chance to see the weapons in action since they mostly waited to use their flamers last time, but putting them in support of the Corvettes, for a combined fast attack line made good sense, with the less mobile units behind them burying the enemy in energy blasts.

For most of the night, they waited, as the Klem force built up to an astonishing level. The infestation was already moving into the middle stages, and the first Behemoth had been spotted along the outside perimeter, though the main assault hadnt begun yet.

[They must have cleared almost every bit of life from the area to build up this strong. The clouds are keeping me from getting a visual on the area, but the heat signatures are pretty intensely clustered out there.] Nico informed the Commanders, sending a still screenshot to the Command Channel.

It was within expectations for a mid-stage infestation, and the battle plans already existed, but the Klem had advanced to this stage a few days faster than expected.

Thanks to the rotation of the planet, the tightly clustered pods scattered across five hundred kilometers of the planet, which was now fully contained by the Kepler Military, at least in theory. The main attack was going to begin at first light when the change in light should make it hardest for opponents that rely on visual senses to fight, but from Maxs viewpoint, it looked like the Klem force was doing the same.

Nico had already sent the data to Command, along with everything they had recorded about the Klems actions so that the Generals could learn more about the opponent. The insects were notoriously adaptable, so it was always prudent to reassess their capabilities at the start of a battle and not just go by what you saw them doing on another planet.

[Colonel, it is almost dawn, should we bait them in? A little fire should refresh the scent that drew so many of them to us in the first place] Major Ivanov suggested, though the number of Klem corpses in the area that werent already ash was fairly low.

[Do it. We have waited long enough for them.]

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 223 223 Taunt

The Fusion Flamers light up a half dozen corpses and acrid black smoke fills the air, followed by enraged shrieking from the Klem lines.

They might not understand Mecha technology, but the smell of their own kind burning is unmistakable, and the entire Klem force begins to charge toward these offensive invaders.

Once they cross the six hundred meter mark the artillery Bombardment begins, blasting the thick brown chitin apart and adding a new layer of texture to the field of smoldering craters. This time the target doesnt change, as more and more Klem continue to charge into the target area, desperate to avenge the insult to their might.

[By the Emperor, someone should warn people about those Disruptors. That is absolutely disgusting.] Major Pippin complained when the fastest of the Klem warriors reached the five hundred meter line and the radiation weapons boiled their insides, causing them to explode.

The Ion Destroyers blow holes in them, but nothing like the violent explosion that the Disruptor causes.

When they reached the four hundred meter mark it became obvious that even with this level of firepower, they werent going to manage to eliminate all the Klem before they reached the walls. At least not when the Klem had corpses to shelter behind as they advanced, using the bodies of the fallen to keep themselves alive even a few meters further.

Using this strategy to push the dead in front of them was causing the corpses to pile up, giving shelter to the advancing tide from the direct fire Ion shots.

[Reduce Bombardment distance. Three Hundred fifty meters and roll outward to the five hundred meter mark. Clear those corpse walls.] Max instructed, sending updated firing solutions to his Mecha, targeting the spots where the piles were highest.

Nico, send up the drones. Im having trouble targeting beyond the interference. Max called over, and Nicos face went blank for a second before the sensor feeds off a pair of drones was added to the available sensor data.

[Appreciate the data, Pilot. Its getting hard to tell what is alive and what is dead.] Ivanov thanked her, not knowing who was operating the sensor drones.

[Shredder Class Klem detected.] Nico announced, having spotted the ten-meter-tall multi-limbed creatures joining back lines of the tide.

These were a different type of threat than the warriors. These Horrors could fire a barrage of spikes into their enemies, piercing steel and poisoning organic targets.

In close, their serrated claws were simply terrifying, and a single one was known to tear through an entire squad of Line Mecha with little difficulty.

[Keep up the clearing barrage, I will get to them in a moment.] Max decided, seeing that the firing lines were almost clear again.

Whats the status of the perimeter forces advance? They cant be driving the Klem to us already, can they? Max asked Nico, who could monitor all the radio chatter at once using her Innate Talent.

No, the Klem charged them just after we attacked. They are stalled near their base camps and still seeing new arrivals. These are all from the interior. Nico clarified.

That was both good and bad news. It meant less resistance when the others began advancing, but it also meant that they wouldnt be seeing any relief in the near future.

The spikes that the larger Klem were firing like artillery, arcing them up through the sky, began to rain down on the defense just as Max finished clearing the last piles on his targeting list.

The barriers of mecha shields began to flash as the projectiles were deflected, leaving the First Battalion mostly unscathed once the scattered barrage of organic spikes ended.

The off-duty Corvette Class Pilots, whose cockpits werent large enough to comfortably sleep in, had been sleeping in the Landers instead, but they definitely werent sleeping now, with the spikes sounding like a hail storm inside the armored shell of the box-shaped spacecraft.

Many of them moved back to their Mecha, preferring the safety of their cockpit until the attack was over, while others began making their way to where the logistics crew had hot food ready.

The logistics crews were also getting ready to send people outside the moment the Shredders were dead. The Super Heavy Mecha would be running low on rounds for the mass drivers after an hour of sustained Bombardment and they were already halfway there. They werent willing to risk running out in the middle of an assault wave and having to go out in even worse conditions to reload their primary defenders.

The data that was being relayed back to the ship was encouraging to the researchers though. Only a few damaged units after a volley of spikes, which would have caused heavy losses among the last generation force, and the cooling systems that they built into the Mass Drivers were functioning exactly as intended, allowing each Mecha to take the place of dozens of infantry crewed artillery pieces.

The sensors in the pilot suits had picked up some anomalies though. The air pressure changes from the ninety beat per minute artillery firing rate shaking the Mecha was causing the Pilots heart rates to synchronize with the Mass Drivers. It wasnt a health issue at this time, but if the firing rate increased it might be.

[Send a supply pod to First Battalion. Four Standard Shipments of Mass Driver munitions and ten gun drones.] General Yaakov ordered, seeing the tremendous expenditure that was needed to sustain the furious defense of the First Battalions position.

They had raw materials for the Materials Printers, but those were best used for repairs, and their supplies of extra munitions would be hard-pressed to last a whole day without creating more if this drop wasnt sent.

[Pod incoming. Mass Driver munitions mostly.] Nico reported when they got the data, and Major Petrova laughed over the intercom.

[Thats got to be a new record. Additional munitions two hours into the first day of the first offensive push.]

[At least for a mission where the initial supply allocation was correct, Ive seen some pretty messed up drops. Who knew that we would be firing artillery continually for hours at a time?] Pippin agreed.

Max noticed as he fired that the process was getting easier and easier. Not just because he was getting used to the Mecha, but his mental processing speed seemed to be improving.

The Klem Shredders quickly fell to the Ion Bombard Arrays of the four X137 Super Heavy Mecha and three minutes later the flames of an incoming supply pod lit up the sky above the First Battalion.

It was right on course to hand in the center of the base, and not a minute too early. Nicos drones had detected more large heat signatures, and the logistics staff had just moved out with their munitions buggies to reload the four X137 units which were all too busy to come to them.

The push began to falter, and the Klem retreated to a distance of ten kilometers but remained in formation for another attack.

[Let them wait. Cycle out the duty shifts, get everyone fed and ready for the next round.] Max ordered, then slumped in his seat, sore and tired from the strain of rapid targeting.

The standard Bombardment pattern could be done with a macro, but picking off specific targets was much more physically demanding.

His mind momentarily went blank and he just stared at the bowl of stew Nico handed him, brought over by the logistics crew when they arrived to reload the Mass Drivers.

Eat up while its hot. She said softly, pulling him from his reverie just as a System Announcement appeared in his vision.

[Perception] has advanced to Rank 2

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 224 224 Whistle While You Work

Keres Max

[Compatibility Determined] Rank A

[Primary Attribute] STR 2.5x modifier

[Secondary Bonuses] DEX 2x, SPD 2x

[STR] 3+140%

[DEX] 3+84%

[SPD] 3+84%

[Innate Talent] Mind Reading

[Additional Function Unit Optimization]

[Additional Function Multi Point Targeting]

[Additional Function Split Fire]

[Additional Function Perception 2]

Max stared at his system bonuses in shock. Very few Pilots ever made it to three hundred points of bonus, much less with a third base point in every stat. Just seeing the numbers in front of him made Max realize that he was likely one of the most physically powerful humans alive.

Not only that but inside the Mecha very few would be able to match him now. The increase in the [Perception] skill was more like a form of battle focus, allowing him to slow apparent time to a crawl when he needed.

Catch a couple of hours of sleep. The technicians can take over for a bit while everyone gets ready to go again. Nico told him, and Max could sense that she sent the same message to the other Commanders.

The technicians were all Crusader Class Qualified but had skills better suited to repair than the multiple weapon systems that the X137 fielded. If the worst came to pass and an attack started while the primary pilots were asleep, they could all at least manage an artillery bombardment and pick off high-threat targets, even if it wouldnt be quite as smooth or precise as usual.

Max was asleep only seconds after his head hit the pillow, and didnt wake up until Nico shook him four hours later.

Theres oatmeal. The Klem force is building up again, but not as heavily, so the consensus among the technicians is theyre waiting for something. The perimeter forces have begun making progress, despite meeting a large number of Shredders. Nico quickly caught him up in the situation, but it only made Max more curious about what they were waiting for.

Klem werent known to be patient hunters, they were usually ravenous and went straight for the kill.

Max could see that both his Battalion and the Klem were on edge, but he just couldnt understand what they were waiting for. At least not until the corpses began to shudder and move, being pushed up into windrows to cover the Klem advance.

[They had the swarm lay eggs in the bodies and theyre creating defensive walls to cover their approach. As soon as those walls are ready, they will charge.] Max called over the radio, unsure who was awake among the Command team.

[Closest row is two hundred meters, should we send the Flamers out to light it up?] Major Pippin asked.

[Do it. I will have Nico send up the drones so we can properly target through the smoke. Everyone Crusader Class and up should be able to link the data feeds to their heads-up display. The Corvettes can wait until the Klem are in closer, just dont burn the portion that is upwind of the base.]

As soon as permission was given, nine of the X109 Fast Attack Crusaders leaped out and turned their Flamers on the corpses, creating a wall of flames that engulfed three-quarters of the closest circle of bodies before the Fast Attack Mecha jumped back to avoid being overrun by the nimble cockroaches that were the Klem Swarm.

Major Pippin and Baker Company were upwind today, so they got a clear view, but they also got an influx of Klem, who had moved around the base to avoid the fires. Klem corpses were rather flammable but had a very high ignition point. Under normal circumstances, they wouldnt burn, but once they were lit with the Fusion Flamers the piles became a daunting inferno that even the bravest of the insects didnt dare approach too closely.

What they did do was rush toward the last row before the flames and get ready to attack the moment the flames died down.

[We have motion in the clearing, but the flames are spreading around to the upwind side.] Baker Company reported as the Drone feeds showed the Klem beginning to charge.

[Artillery, full barrage, I will assist Baker Company At the clearing.] Max ordered, and once again the Thunder Guns made the very air around them shake.

By the time the Klem realized their mistake it was already too late. The artillery shells were raining down among them, and the fires were still burning too hot for them to charge.

Pure chaos ensued among the insectoid aliens, and Baker Companys combined firepower began putting in work to prevent the Klem who had circled the base from entering the gap in the flames. It was creating a large pile of corpses, and the flames were inching closer as they consumed the initial pile that the swarm had created.

The fires are spreading. The artillery spread some of the burning bodies into the second pile, and it is spreading through the whole battlefield. Nico informed Max as she watched the Drones thermal sensor feed light up with more and more fire.

Thats fine. We needed to do something about them before they rotted anyhow. The Klem will create a new batch for us soon enough. Max shrugged, keeping up his rate of fire with the Mass Drivers while sniping the Shredders with the Ion Bombard Arrays.

Soon, the problem wasnt the fire itself, but the smoke. It wasnt long before thick black smoke covered everything, forcing the entire unit into their Mecha or inside Landers with the doors sealed.

That also killed their visibility, and the fire itself made thermal targeting nearly impossible. The Klem seemed to have fled, but if they came back now, they would be nearly on top of the unit before they could do anything about it.

Nico had two drones outside the fire area, showing no movement, but that black plume could be seen, and smelled, for hundreds of kilometers.

To the Mecha on the perimeter, the fire was clearly visible, rising high into the afternoon sky, a beacon to mark their destination.

Most units had already learned the drawback to the immensely powerful Flamers on the X109, that being their propensity to start forest fires and light Klem bodies if they were used for more than a short burst at a time. They were possibly too effective, but the nature of their ignition didnt allow for them to be turned down in intensity by very much.

The other Battalions were certain that the First Battalion, who dropped right into the thick of the infestation and therefore had seen the heaviest attacks, must have known as well, so the other Battalions Commanders took the smoke as a diversion tactic, confusing the Klem and keeping them from focusing on the Mecha Army that had surrounded them.

It takes some big brass ones to risk drawing an entire Klem infestation down on your own head to make it easier for your reinforcements. Lets get a move on and wipe them out before the bugs can get organized. Colonel Sanchez of the Second Battalion laughed, before ordering his entire force to advance.

They had hundreds of kilometers to cover before they would reach that smoke, and even in with light resistance, it would take them days to get there. But they were no longer being held at bay, as the Klem forces were in disarray thanks to the conflicting reports of Kepler Mecha threats, so this was the perfect moment to advance.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 225 225 The Push

Although the bodies burned hot and smoked heavily, they didnt burn for long, and a half hour later, black smoke darkened the calm skies above the battlefield, but very little new smoke rose from the smouldering remains of the Klem force.

[Group of three Shredders at 52 degrees]Nico narrated over the intercom, spotting targets for the technicians in the X137 units while the main Pilots rested in preparation for the next battle.

The technicians had it easy in First Battalion. The mecha had barely moved, hadnt had their shields breached yet, and none of the battles had dragged out long enough that they had to take over in the middle of an engagement.

The most they had to do was use the advantage of their height to target long-range opponents that the Crusader Class units couldnt see yet.

They were almost enjoying themselves, searching for movement and eliminating targets the drones found in their sector. They werent holding back to the short-range perimeter anymore and had switched to eliminating anything they saw before the Klem could organize another attack.

[First Battalion, this is Fifth Battalion Command. Our spearhead will be approaching your sensor range within the hour and then will hold position to prevent the Klem forces from circling within the containment zone.] The Colonel in charge of the last Battalion in the Regiment reported. Nico recalled he was a white-haired older man with ashen gray skin that had wrinkled to the texture of an old leather boot and seemed friendly, but she couldnt recall his name.

[First Battalion has drones in the sky. I will send you the encryption codes now.] Nico responded, sending the codes over so that the Colonel could see the situation in their area.

He would be stopping on their northern flank fifty kilometres away, but with artillery, that position was still in range if they needed to reinforce each other. The companies of the Fifth Battalion would be stretched thin with him moving this far inside the enforcement, though and would have to work hard to avoid being encircled.

But his assessment was correct. If the Klem were allowed to move freely, they could gather a force strong enough to overrun a Battalion and break out, infesting even more of the planet and making them nearly impossible to eliminate.

[You made an incredible mess of the area. How are your munitions holding out?] Fifth Battalions logistics officer asked?

[We got a drop pod earlier, so were still above the original values. How are your supplies?]

[Not great. Repair materials are at sixty percent, and munitions are at thirty percent of original.] The officer responded, and Nico could hear repair work in the background.

Being more spread out to maintain the line meant that they couldnt turn the full force of four Super Heavy Mecha against dense clusters of Klem, so they were inevitably forced into close combat, where the piercing and crushing limbs of the Klem were able to show why the species was a Class 1 Threat. By contrast, First Battalion had used under five percent of their repair materials.

[Let us know if you need anything. We have an entire maintenance staff if your spearhead is too far from your facilities.] Nico added.

Satellite data showed that the Kepler forces had cleared the outer third of the zone and were moving steadily inward, pushing the Klem in front of them. But the smoke seemed to have had the opposite effect to what everyone had expected.

Instead of rallying to attack First Battalion, they were desperately trying to rush past them and escape the containment. That wasnt like them, and high above the planet, the Generals were searching for a sign that there might be a behemoth active to guide their strategy.

Once the largest and most innovative of their force had matured, which could take weeks or even months depending on local conditions, fighting against these insects became a very different problem than just numbers and claws.

[Lines breached in grid F7. The Klem took advantage of a tunnel system to get behind its without alerting the sensors.] Someone, presumably a Company Commander, reported over the Secure Channel, waking Max up to begin his watch.

Great, thats just what we needed. The ground under us is solid, though. I checked. Nico told Max before pulling up a map on one of the side screens and moving out of the main Pilots chair.

F7 led into a mountain range outside the far western edge of the containment area, and if a large number of Klem had made it that far even a Mecha force wouldnt be able to find and eliminate them all before they multiplied.

[We have more movement in the East, coming in fast.] Major Petrova reported as the sound of her artillery filled the air.

[On it. They must be heading to join the group that escaped out the western edge. Dont let anything by us.] Max ordered, adding his Mass Drivers to the barrage.

The aliens werent even stopping for our trying to dodge the artillery, simply charging in a direct line to whatever they were going, which happened to be straight through First Battalions camp.

We need more forces on the eastern front. Flamers as well. Max told Nico, who had been on duty and awake long enough to know who should be available.

Theyre already on it, and Fifth Battalion is to our north, strung out in a line. Second Battalion should be to our east, driving this group toward us, as planned. Nico explained.

As she talked, she sent the gun drones to the East, giving everyone a better view of what they were up against while using the Laser Rifles to snipe the occasional target in an attempt to herd the mass of Chitinous bodies.

As they ran, the Shredders started firing barrage after barrage of spikes directly at the X137 units, trying to eliminate the artillery threat.Individually, they werent a massive danger to such a giant Mecha. Still, when it was hit with hundreds of spikes in a second, even the mighty layered shielding of the new Super Heavy units began to falter.

Weve overheated a capacitor. 5 minutes for it to cool down and regain that shield layer. Im going to head below and swap it out; try not to move the torso too much. Nico called, dropping out of sight through the hatch on the floor.

Maxs unit still had two of its five layers of shielding active, thanks to Nicos relentless modifications, but the three Company Commanders had all taken minor damage.

Max turned his Ion Bombard Arrays on the closest Shredders and blasted them to pieces, reducing the hail of spikes before any of the Super Heavy units took significant damage. At the same time, the Disintegrators and Ion Destroyers of the Crusaders tore the closest warriors apart.

It was just too many targets and moving too fast to keep them at a safe distance, but at two hundred meters, the missiles and Lasers of the X137s close defence system, as well as the primary weapons of the Corvette Class Mecha, would be in an optimal range.

Nico popped up fifteen seconds after she went below, giving Max the thumbs that the job was done. That meant he could safely move, so Max repositioned closer to the Eastern Front, beside Major Petrova, closing a little more distance to fire his shorter-range weapons.

[Fifth Battalion, cluster up on your Company Commanders, were taking too many casualties.] Max heard the other Battalion Commander call out as the bugs reached his defensive line.

His tactical judgements were spot on; if they were allowed to run free, these Klem would have joined the mass attempting to break out. His only mistake was underestimating how many Klem there would be when the Wave finally arrived.

They took the time to Claw and Rend the Mecha as they passed by, but most units were left only half-crippled, with the Klem ignoring them once they didnt look like a threat anymore. The only ones destroyed were the units whose weapons remained active to the bitter end.

As far as the eye could see, the skies were filled with flying dirt and debris from the barrage the Kepler Mecha sent out. However, the Fifth Battalion was still forced into tight defensive rings around their Commanders Super Heavy Mecha, using a wall of flames and Lasers to keep themselves safe as the survivors of the Klem force rushed between them.

[Central Command, Fifth Battalion now under 75 percent effective at delaying the Klem Advance.] Their Commander reported.

[First Battalion is still holding a 25-kilometre radius from the camp, but I estimate a similar breach rate near the edge of our radius in the next few minutes.] Max reported, watching the Fusion Flamers begin their job of defending the camp as the Klem nearly reached the wall.

With speed, the Klem were moving; they didnt have the rate of fire to hit them all before they made it past unless they ran straight into the fire. The best they could do was thin the ranks.

Nico, who had the direct feed of all the drone data, was the first to notice and report the oddity in the forces the Klem had deployed.

[Be aware, the Klem have left the Flood behind, the smallest bugs will be going into hiding until they think we have left, then they will repopulate.]

Above them, aboard Abraham Kepler, all that General Yaakov could do was a curse as his carefully laid plans fell apart. If the Battalions stopped and torched every possible hiding spot to get rid of the little bugs, the Big ones would escape. If they focused on the big ones, they would pass the little ones and let them run and breed more big ones elsewhere.

One Regiment was not enough firepower for the job, even with these new Mecha. The casualty rate had been astonishingly low, though, and he was very impressed with the Mechas performance under pressure, as were the research teams, but the cleansing was not going well.

[Sweep as thoroughly as possible. Sensors report that many Klem have disappeared into the mountain cave systems already.] General Yaakov ordered.

They would clear this zone and then make a plan to remove the Klem from the mountains.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 226 Unwanted Favoritism

[Battalions Two through Five, close the encirclement and rendezvous at the Location assigned to First Battalion for resupply and repairs.] General Yaakov ordered over the Command Channel.

There was no realistic chance of immediately catching those Klem who had escaped into the mountains, so the best course of action was to close the noose around the others and limit the numbers that they would be facing in the future.

The tunnel system was vast and well connected, with some areas being over thirty meters tall naturally. The Klem would also dig them out to create passable tunnels for their own kind, leaving room for the smaller Mecha to chase after them. That still left a major issue for the Kepler forces though. Most of the tunnels that the Klem would dig would be big enough for a Corvette Class Mecha, but very few would accommodate anything larger, and the most important ones were those that led to the incubation chambers, which would be under two meters tall, forcing even the infantry to crouch or crawl to explore them.

And, as Max had been grateful for earlier, there were no infantry troops on the planet at the moment.

That almost certainly meant that there were going to be reinforcements, even if it meant that the First Comor Regiment needed to retreat back to Abraham Kepler to keep their firepower a secret until the opportune moment.

It would be a great shame if they did have to leave early, instead of holding the planet alongside their allies, but Max totally understood that there were politics at play, and keeping the new Mecha a secret until they were ready to be used against human enemies was paramount to those who were in the highest echelons of Central Command.

How are the munition stocks and repair materials looking? Max asked Nico, who already had the data tablet in her hands.

We have enough to supply everyone back to full, but with no reloading and depending on the level of repairs, we should be able to get most of them. The calculation says we have enough for 200 moderate or lower level armor patches. Nico informed him while going over the data.

That would change as the Klem army was forced toward the center, as the original plan had called for, forcing his unit to use up their reserves, but it was a good sign that they wouldnt have to wait long before they could start moving again once the Perimeter forces made it to them.

[Weve got incoming. An awful lot of incoming.] Pippin reported, setting a pin on the map where he noticed a huge group of Heat Signatures.

[Hold up, that doesnt look like a Klem cluster. The temperatures are too high. Let me send the Drones to verify] Nico called, concerned that they would end up shelling their own allies.

The drones sped toward the heat signature, finding that the Fifth Battalion was closing in on them, no longer attempting to stop the Klem force from rushing past.

[First Battalion, please prepare for our arrival. Fifth Battalion has been ordered to reinforce your position now that the line is shorter.] The Fifth Battalions executive officer, a Major named Melody informed them.

Maxs own XO, Major Miller, was busy keeping the maintenance and reloading on schedule. The sustained fire had found a minor design flaw in the Disruptors, in that they would slowly lose calibration if they were overheated, and then would need to have a technician mechanically adjust them back into spec. It was a small thing, but somehow, self-adjustment had been overlooked. Only one unit had needed it so far, but the Major was a Logistics veteran and understood very well that where one case existed, others soon would.

So, while other Battalions relied on the XO to pass messages, or assist with battle orders, Major Miller took care of the Logistics side while Max and Nico took care of the combat side.

Overall, this was more efficient for everyone, since nobody was overloaded during battle or when preparing for a large movement or shift change. The Central Command might view it as inefficient on a large scale, but on a Battalion scale, especially with experimental Mecha, it took a lot of mental stress off the officers.

All of the Company Commanders had come to rely on Major Miller, since he kept the meals on schedule and set alarms to wake up Pilots who were about to be late for their shift, taking the burden off their direct superiors, who were also exhausted from continual combat.

Logistics staff from the First Battalion enjoyed the luxury as well. Instead of reporting to a veteran combat officer who didnt really understand what the Logistics side was doing, despite the mandatory courses almost all pilots slept through, they got their own former supervising officer.

[Fifth Battalion, report to the outer trench, standard formation. Keep your men evenly spread and send me through the report on munitions levels and damages.] Major Miller called over the Command Channel, preparing to add the new troops to his responsibilities.

Their own logistics staff were back at the landers, sending buggies back and forth with what they could, and hauling damaged Mecha back for repairs since the Fifth Battalion was too stretched out to have them come back to the landing zone for their off shifts.

That was the situation most pilots were used to. Stretched and strained supply lines, and dragging the disabled and damaged Mecha with them as much as possible until they reached the next depot that could get them up and running again.

In a way, that made Max and the First Battalion the only forward operating base on the planet at the moment, though once the others reached him the Battalion who landed in the west, closest to the mountains would become the new forward position, while Max held up the rear, waiting for new orders.

Why would they order an entire Battalion to our position? If they spread out through the perimeter forces we could finish this up much more quickly, instead of having the advancing forces grind to a crawl, while they try to force the Klem to flee in front of them. Max complained to Nico, the only one who could hear him.

Likely one of the Generals was worried about our potential casualty rates. The satellites show the Klem have gotten wise to our games, and they are building up in huge numbers using the no mans land between us and the perimeter. If they turn our way, things will get more than a little hectic. Hell, we might even get to make a bigger better bonfire next time. Nico laughed, then pulled a small bag of chips out of a storage cabinet to offer them to Max.

It would be hard to beat that fire. The blaze was pretty impressive with the way the Klem piled up the corpses for us. Im not sure they will do that again, even if it does allow them to get much closer before they begin taking losses. Max waved off the chips and focused on where the Fifth Battalion was positioned.

[Move the Super Heavy Mecha back inside the defenses. You will need the extra range to keep the Artillery going when the Klem tide reaches the walls. The Thunder Guns are great, but they can only aim downward so far without unbalancing the Mecha.] Max ordered, making the new arrivals move their deployment a little.

They had taken pretty heavy losses among the Corvette Class Mecha, nearly a quarter had been sent back for repair and refurbishment and hadnt returned by Maxs count. They were only down a few Crusader Class units though, and the Fast Attack Crusaders, the X109 were all still functional, though many of them sported battle damage.

[The massed Klem are starting to move our way. ETA 30 minutes.] Nico reported over the Command Channel, opening it to include Fifth Battalions Commanders in all messages so their staff didnt have to relay information.

They were halfway through a shift, so keeping them active shouldnt be an issue. The current rotation only kept a third of the force active most of the time, with the rest either sleeping or eating. That way, in a case like this, the next unit to come online could be called early and double up the defenses without significantly exhausting anyone.

Fifth Battalion was simply all in for the battle, having not had time to set up a rotation after the last battle where all hands were needed to prevent themselves from being annihilated, so Max could only hope that the System Enhanced Physiques of the Pilots were up to the task.

[New orders are in. All Perimeter forces are ordered into full advance. This will be the final battle of the encirclement, and we wont be stopping until the Klem are eliminated from our zone.] Nico reported, watching the Central Command Messages come in.

[Klem advance at 30 kilometers. All Artillery Units, begin area bombardment of your assigned zone. Lets show them what the Thunder Guns can really do. Logistics, prepare for intensive reload requirements.] Max ordered, picking targets by area while Nico sent drones forward for more precise data.

The roar of eight sets of Thunder Guns shook the ground with a shuddering wave of continual noise. Even with the noise dampening of their environmental suits, the vibration was making some of the Logistics staff nauseous. Like they had been put in a paint shaker and ordered to work as one Corporal described it.

[So eight in close proximity is the limit for infantry. Note that down Moonie, these vital signs are incredibly unexpected.] Sister Lilith ordered from her lab aboard Abraham Kepler. Never during all their tests, had they thought about what sixteen rounds per second in close proximity to a minimally defended human body would do. But now they knew, and they could input that data into the system to help develop new battle tactics that were better suited to the new models of Mecha.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 227 227 Klem Incoming

With three Battalions of Heavy Mecha at their backs, the Klem began to charge for the center. In their minds, since breaking free of the confinement didnt distract these hateful metallic monsters, and their attacks didnt draw more defenses to any particular spot, that meant that the leader was clearly the one in the center. Once Fifth Battalion was reassigned to Maxs position, it cemented this notion in the minds of the Klem.

If they could overrun the position in the center, the Klem were certain that the Mecha organization would crumble and they would be left leaderless and weak. In the past, they had fought enemies that had turned even more vicious when the leader was killed, but going by the way these Mecha were organized by size, the Klem had decided that they were a Caste-based enemy, so their leader should be very important to them.

What they hadnt counted on was the fact that the X137 had been hiding the true range of their artillery. From the moment they began to charge, the high explosive shells rained down among their ranks, killing indiscriminately and tearing apart the forest they had hoped to hide in.

If they had known how much discomfort the barrage was causing their allies, the Klem would have seen it as much less than they deserved for this cowardly tactic of attacking blindly at an area. The Klem were smart enough to understand that it was the Mecha force in the center of their territory that was attacking them, but what they couldnt understand was how they knew where to find the Klem army.

All they could do was increase the speed of their charge, hoping to get within range of the enemy leader as fast as they could.

[Two Kilometers to the front ranks of the Klem charge] Nico called over the Area Channel, working as the station intelligence officer.

[Prepare for close contact, bring the flamers to the ready positions in front of the other Crusaders and prepare to repel the first wave.] Max ordered.

Their compound wasnt large, made for one company of Mecha, not two, so even the sixty-five Fusion Flamer equipped Mecha that were on duty right now would make a dense wall of searing flames once they engaged the Klem.

The throbbing roar of artillery was making it hard to even think, but for the moment all they needed to do was obey. Just get into position and roast everything that came close enough.

Seconds later, the front ranks of the charge came into sight, and the Mecha opened fire. Every energy weapon they had unleashed its full might against the Klem, struggling to thin the wave before it crashed down on their outer defenses.

The wall wasnt large enough to contain a full second Company of Mecha, so most of the Corvettes from Fifth Company, as well as all the active X109 Fast Attack units with their Fusion Flamers, were currently in the trench outside its questionable defense. It was never intended to hold the enemy at bay, only to slow it down long enough that they could roast the bugs more efficiently.

The bodies quickly began to pile up, torn apart by the fury of three hundred Heavy Mecha, but it wasnt nearly enough, and the tide simply rolled over their bodies, never slowing in its advance. This was the true horror of the Klem. As they consumed everything on a planet, their numbers would swell to an unimaginable level, and they would simply drown their enemies in chitinous bodies. Ꮇ√ᏞƎϺР¥Ꭱ.ϲОƜ

[Enemy at eighty meters. Flamers in 3, 2, 1 NOW] Nico announced, and the area around the landing site turned to an inferno of superheated air and burning bodies.

[Corvettes, close combat formation] Both Max and Colonel Meek of Fifth Company ordered at the same time, instructing their lightest Mecha to get their swords out and prepare to repel the Klem that made it through the flames.

They were burning, but that wasnt enough to stop them, and the survivors slammed into the Corvettes at a full-on run, impaling themselves on blades, and knocking dozens to the ground as the next wave of Warriors followed closely behind them.

Mighty blasts from the Crusader Class X104 in the rank behind them destroyed the seared bodies of the Klem Warriors, and flew blindly into the flames, tearing apart more of the Warriors that were so desperate to make it through to engage the Mecha forces.

The first of the Shredders were close behind them, firing a thick wave of spikes into the Crusaders, wearing down shields and damaging vulnerable joints. The Ion Bombard Arrays of the Super Heavy Mecha had been decimating them since they came into sight, but through pure numbers, they still had the power to disable many of the Crusader Class units on defense.

The Shredders only regret was that they couldnt target the units with flamers in the front. The heat was too intense, and the wall of spikes would have been turned to ash.

[Change Bombardment targets. Grid Ring 2, wipe out everything that is in attacking range.] Max ordered, setting the bombardment coordinates to obliterate everything from one to two hundred meters away.

That would mean a heavier wave of enemies later, as they were no longer thinning the ranks of the main force, but if they didnt their defenses would be breached early and the shields wouldnt have time to come back up.

With eight Super Heavy Mecha, clearing the zone only took a few seconds, adding a wall of explosions to the ring of fire around the base.

That led to a moments rest for the outer ring defenders, who kicked the remains of Klem corpses off themselves and stood back in formation as they waited for their shields to come back online after the damages they had sustained.

[Casualty report.] Max ordered, preparing for the Klem he could see on the radar nearing the two-kilometer point, where they could be directly targeted past the hills and remains of the forest that once stood here.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 228 228 Tide Rolls In

[Zero losses so far. Nine units are lightly damaged but still functional.] Major Miller reported, having already organized a squad to resupply the Thunder Guns with munitions.

None of the technicians really wanted to do it, as outside was a nightmare of artillery fire and noise, but the option was being overrun with Klem, so the Carts were loaded, the Tech Adept Harnesses were equipped and they were out the door.

Fortunately, the design team had been prepared for this sort of situation, and the guns could be reloaded without ceasing fire, unlike their predecessors, who needed to be moved to a repair rack, or have a munitions magazine swapped in the field to reload their projectile based cannons.

The process took a bit of time, as the rounds rolled down a roller conveyor and into the Mecha, but in only two minutes they would be done.

It wouldnt be a peaceful two minutes though, as the Klem Warriors had amassed another charge in the distance that they could see from the tall shoulders of the X137s, and the attack was about to begin again.

The Klem werent stupid though, they had a new tactic for the second attempt. While most of the force charged, they also sent a large number of shredders forward. Not to fire spikes from in close, but to leap over the wall of flames.

They couldnt do this alone, but with the assistance of two others, a Shredder could be hurled over seventy meters, landing near the front ranks to tear into the defenders.

The method still had a downside though, being in the air, they couldnt dodge, and many of the flying Shredders were torn apart by heavy weapons fire before ever reaching the ground. Those who werent killed in the air launched a devastating assault on the Corvettes, easily punching through shields and tearing off limbs before succumbing to attacks and being replaced by the next group.

This time there was no break, the Klem tide kept coming, ignoring the artillery fire and charging into the flames to reach the front ranks of the Kepler defenses.

[All remaining Corvettes, pull the damaged units to safety and take point. All off-duty Mecha to the front lines for the final push. Allied forces are at the fifteen-kilometer mark.] Max ordered, pushing the Battalion Commanders to commit their reserves to the battle.

The Klem army wasnt going to give them a days-long war of attrition, where they could cycle out the tired and injured, they needed every gun they could get on the front lines to stop the advance, and it wouldnt stop until one side or the other was eliminated.

The Klem wave was now using the bodies as a barrier in order to get closer to the front, letting the Fusion Flamers burn through the corpses as they pushed the pile in front of them, getting within thirty meters before they needed to face the flames.

That was as close as they could get, due to the increasing heat incinerating the corpse piles faster than they could build them up, but it was enough. Most of the warriors were making it into close combat now, and the flames were beginning to falter as the X109 units engaged in melee.

[All Super Heavy Units, maximum firepower. Bring all the point defense guns online and push the tide back off the flamers.] Max ordered, and seven Technicians took a seat beside their Pilots.

From there they could effectively operate the four lightest defensive weapons against the Klem Warriors who had gotten too close, filling the sky with purple lasers that didnt match the color of anything else that the Kepler forces used.

[Incoming Drone Fighters. Abraham Kepler has deployed all fighters to join the battle.] Nico reported, an intense look of concentration in her mechanical eyes as she pushed her limits to operate four drones at once while relaying all the data she could to the other units and up to Abraham Kepler.

The extra targeting data was vital to the success of the bombing runs and attack of the drone fighters, who had no way to effectively determine the most important targets among the mass of bodies during the initial stages of their descent.

Where is all this data coming from? I dont recall having a recon team on the surface. General Yaakov muttered in the command room aboard Abraham Kepler, watching the progression of the battle.

That would be Major Nico. Her ability to control drones gives her a lot of flexibility in information collection. She has been doing the advance target scouting for the Super Heavy Mecha as well. General Tennant answered his counterpart with a smile. The man annoyed him to no end, being elevated from a political officer to Command due to his years of service and high-security clearance.

Given the option, General Tennant would have cut him out of the loop, but the Regimental Commander was relatively competent and hands-on, so there was no proper excuse not to have him involved in everything. What General Tennant could do though was insist that he was there in person, and eliminate that even more annoying adjutant of his from Central Command Meetings.

The man was some relation of his, raised purely through nepotism, and more than once General Tennant had considered Voiding him out an airlock for insubordination.

Arent the perimeter forces too slow in advancing? Theyre barely keeping up with the Klem advance. General Yaakov complained, making Tennant sigh.

Each centimeter on the map in front of you is two kilometers. Given terrain difficulties, combat, and the need to keep Mecha supplied, they are moving along much faster than expected. The Klem isnt a force that you can chase down and overrun on foot. General Tennant explained wearily, checking the updated damage reports from the Central Position.

They were still holding strong for now, but they were running low on Corvettes, and the rest of the Mecha werent well suited to fighting the Warriors, who could swarm the larger units and avoid their close combat blades.

Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

Chapter 229 229 Anvil

As the Drone Fighters screamed down from orbit the Super Heavy Mecha stepped forward into the gaps left by fallen Crusaders, giving their defensive weapons a clear line of sight to engage the Klem. The number of missiles that they carried was limited, but the four sets of Gatling Lasers were free to fire at full capacity.

With his Ion Bombard Array set to maximum dispersion, creating unstable, exploding energy balls that raced into the Klem lines beyond the fire, Max did his best to repel the enemy from his small slice of the defensive lines.

Using his System Skills let Max target the Shredders that were in range and most likely to attack his Mecha, which meant that he was taking far less incoming fire than most of the others. That was enough to stall the momentum of the Klem advance and force them to regroup.

Once one sector had been stalled, the others began to retreat as well, realizing that their previous tactic had failed and that they would need to find a new way.

The flamers fell silent as the Klem left their range, though the intense heat from the weapons lingered much longer, and the black haze of burning bodies lingered in the air as the fires on the ground spread through the closest walls of bodies that the attackers had used to shield their advance.

If it wasnt for the constant beat of the Thunder Guns firing, it would have almost been a moment of peace on the front line. Instead, the contrast between the calm in front of them and the violence that they knew the big guns were sending into the distance made for a surreal experience as the two forces stared each other down.

Then the artillery from the rear line of Mecha met the barrage from the First and Fifth Battalions and all hell broke loose on the battlefield. Gone were any grand plans of victory, or finding the Kepler armys leader, the only thought the Klem had left was vengeance.

The central force was closest, so that was the direction that they charged, heedless of the wall of Fusion Flamers that met them on the way in. So dense was the wave of bodies that those in front didnt even fall, they were dragged forward even in death, as those behind were pushed by the third line when they too inevitably died to the horrendous heat.

The eight Super Heavy Mecha turned the Thunder guns downward, no longer lobbing artillery fire into the distance, but directly firing them into the last fifty meters in front of their own lines, sending burning chunks of chitin flying through the air, hissing, and smoking as the moisture was burned out of them.

Despite the wrath of the Kepler forces, some few Klem still made it close enough to engage the Corvettes guarding the front lines, who had changed tactics to a full defense, only guarding themselves until the Crusader Class units behind them killed the monstrous insects or the Klem burned to death.

On and on the fight raged, with the Drone fighters overhead unleashing their Laser Arrays into the Klem force long after the bombs had all been deployed. Most of the Shredders were dead now, targeted for destruction by the Super Heavy Mecha, so the fighters were in little real danger, other than the lack of visibility caused by the fires.

[First Battalion Commander, this is Third Battalion Command. We are now at the two-kilometer point and have visual confirmation of your position. Proceeding with the cleanup.] Came a welcome voice over the command channel.

At this point, that was beyond Maxs optical range, due to the haze, but his sensors had already picked up the Mecha in the distance, and the sensor feeds from the drones and Drone Fighters had kept him updated on their entire advance.

[Confimed, Third Battalion. Once the two fields of flame meet we will drop ours to finish the remnants.] Max agreed.

The others werent far behind the Third Battalion, advancing under the cover of the Fusion Flamers, burning everything in their path to ashes. When the two sides were one hundred and fifty meters apart the two fields of flame met and the First Battalion dropped theirs, lashing out with the rest of their weapons to clear the last few Klem targets from the battlefield.

It was total annihilation, but that was the only way to stop them from repopulating and coming back in a few days to try again.

[First Battalion to Regimental Command. The Klems presence has been eliminated from the initial containment zone. Beginning rearming and repair of the forces still in the field.] Max reported and a big smile spread across General Yaakovs face.

The battle was a heavy victory for them, with under ten percent casualties, and most of those still had surviving pilots and chassis that would be repairable with more time than they had during the battle. The Higher Ups would be pleased with the news, and Central Command had already received reports of additional forces being deployed to the area to clear the Klem presence from the mountain regions.

[Supply Pods are incoming with munitions and raw materials. All Battalions, reposition the Landers to form a base camp within five kilometers of the central base camp to effect repairs and await orders.]

The order made every Battalion Commander sigh in defeat. General Yaakov was still on Abraham Kepler, he couldnt possibly understand just how hot and horrible smelling this place was, much less the effects of the thick smoke on their logistics crews. It would clear out eventually, as almost all of the bodies were either burnt or still burning, but the landscape here was a scorched nightmare, and so heavily battered by artillery fire that there was no such thing as an actual flat spot for a lander, so moving around the camps would be treacherous, no matter where they placed them.

[First Battalion, rotate out. On duty Crusader Class Pilots, report to the Landers to collect a plow. Pile the Klem bodies into bonfires and get this mess cleaned up so we can breathe again.] Max ordered, setting the unit in motion.

Fifth Battalion did the same, deciding to simply camp exactly where they were, intermingled with the First Battalion. They could scatter their Landers around the Base Camp and settle in. It wasnt like anywhere within five kilometers was going to be any better than where they were now.

Chapter 15 - mehehe