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mechagalaxy · 6 years ago

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Sten Hugo Hiller - My Faction War 3335. Second opponent: Leviathan/Collectors/Heroes/Toys

Sten Hugo Hiller

May 22 at 6:52am

(By Sten Hugo Hiller - 627184) My Faction War 3335. Second opponent: Leviathan/Collectors/Heroes/Toys

(Or as our leader called them; The Horde.)

Berserker Camp, Battleday 2, t-20 hours.

As the most pressing matters had been resolved, the leadership sent airlift to get me and my crew out of the closed maze the Dragons had made of the canyons I had retreated into.

The frantic actions of the first few hours had subsided slightly, but it was still a grim sight. My implants found most of the formations, but the number of reserve pilots in them were high, a testament to the drubbing most formations had taken.

I had to get some replacements as well, not too many fatalities, but plenty of Mech jockeys would be out of action for the foreseeable future as shattered limbs and ruptured organs were patched together again.

Normally it could have been speeded up by use of the time coffins, but after Boris and Keikkos raid on them and Johns H-Bombs to make the super powerplants, we had to reserve them for the truly critical cases.

Speaking of the devil, ehr.. I mean the leader, here was John striding across the muster field toward me. Grabbing me by the shoulder he pulled me into a tent and started pointing at a map who hung there. "Sten, your forces was not much help in the latest action, and by reviewing the Horde`s power level, I find that using you as a blocking force in a pass will be even less effective this time. Too many of them will simply brush you aside. Therefore your unit will be utilized a different way this time."

Rapping at a dot near the border between us and the Horde he continued. "This mining town of Urias is abandoned now, but last century there was significant output from it. The mineshafts were made by bigger Mechs than usual, so you should have no problems maneuvering in them, although the Horde will find them to restricted to move the big Mechs in. They probably can't take it from you, and while it isn't exactly a choke point, the best road is just a few clicks away."

He grabbed me by the shoulders and his eyes bored deep into my skull to see if there was something there. I don't know if he found what he was looking for, he released me and continued. "We will probably be pushed back, you are to hold, make diversionary raids and harass their supply lines. For this operation, your call sign is task force Muon"

Well. When the boss needs someone to do a shitty job like that, guess he find the most expendable unit. Although there were some details lacking from the briefing, I got the picture.

Like the two missing "t"s in the middle of the task force name ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Urias town, Battleday 2, t-40 minutes

We had done what we could to prepare for the onslaught. The little ammo and the few spare parts we had managed to sneak along was placed in the deepest mineshafts.

Those mining companies surely had built small and solid. The town sprawled over more than four square kilometers, and those buildings were one and two story concrete. A Mech formation could reduce them to rubble, but it would take an hour or so for each building, so most of the town would probably still be standing after the action.

My crew had gathered in the town square and was waiting for me to address them. My head was hurting, how was I going to present this fustercluck? Deciding to keep it short and simple I came out on the balcony of the city hall.

"Ok, here is the situation. Higher suspects the horde will advance over the whole line. Most units are ordered to fall back and regroup at designated locations, we are not. In one to two hours we will probably be deep into the Hordes rear, unless they manage to dig us out first. That is not going to happen. Firstly because you are masters of evasion and falling back. Secondly because this town couldn't be better for our tactics. Thirdly because the Horde will have a timetable and can't spend lots of time on us when the plan is to crush the main Berserker force." I forced a grin onto my face. "When we are true and deeply surrounded, we will start hitting them. Hit and run. Grab the supplies we can, and burn what we can't, the exploding munitions should confuse their sensors long enough for us to get away"

They actually cheered --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Battle

As predicted the Horde came swarming forth. The initial clashes wasn't totally one sided, but they did in general trash us two times out of three.

One thing. Some civilians seem to think it is unsportsmanlike to hit someone who can't properly defend themselves. Like, say if they are out of formation. The same civilians seem to think it is right and proper for someone having a main of 4000+ tons to waltz over someone else's main of barely 2000 tons. In both cases the result is pretty much a given. For me, catching those out of formation and smashing them is part and parcel of warfare. If you mess up you pay the price.

Mark K Penner was preparing to hit me, but he was a bit slow of the mark, so I double tapped him instead. That brought our combined total wins over the years to 35 for me 13 628 for him

But he was by no means the only victim of sniper fire. Our southern flank was in shambles after Todd Raineys ill-fated decision to bring his main force to defend the swamp. He was helplessly mired and the Horde sent dozens of Ant formations over to enjoy blasting a sitting duck.

After a couple hours the writing was on the wall. Several of the top Horde Commanders had visited me, most had managed to shift me deeper into the city, but those who had failed had written a warning to their fellows on the low wall surrounding the town: "Proceed with extreme caution"

I don't know if that warning kept most of them away, or if they were busy taking important objectives and couldn't spare the time, but less than a third of them came along to bother me. Of the total of 24 attacks launched against the town, 10 was beaten back

One of the attackers was Scott Abbott. His first attack hit us pretty hard, and we fell back into the maze of streets on the southern side of the town. We were barely repaired when he returned to finish us off. But we had his measure now. On paper it was a raw deal for me. I am a lowly level 149, he is an accomplished master at level 314, 165 levels above me. That meant his Mechs had about twice the armor and armament of mine. But he had forgotten one of the basic tenants of warfare; "Always leave the opponent an Escape route" With our backs to the wall there were only two options, win or die.

His first line consisted of 3 Novums, a Layne and two iMechs My frontline was my four Novums backed by a Trooper. Lt Lee was in a rare form. Swirling above the battlefield in her favorite Novum, No Humming, she rained death and destruction on the opponents. The rest of the line picked up the pace, and the impossible happened. One by one the opponents fell. I hardly dared believe my eyes as the last of them was killed and her line was unscratched. She used the external speakers "Bring it on, we got more where that came from" Six more lines of his iMechs answered her call, and the battle was joined in earnest.

His second line blasted loose, and first Blue Angel and then my Trooper fell, But they paid in blood for that. All of them were blown apart, and the follow up wave fell without scoring a single hit. The fourth line killed, another Novum before they were incinerated and the fifth line now outnumbering her six to two managed to blow my last Novums out of the sky. My second line stepped forward, but was dispatched at the cost of two of his iMechs. My third line gutted them, but fell before his sixth. They proceeded to take out my fourth line, but at that point only two of his iMechs were standing. My fifth line dispatched them and his last line came out of the shadows. A heavy blow sent one of my iMechs through a building, but the return fire dismantled his forces

He pulled back out of the town, and to my amazement he stopped just a click away. Ok, if he had switched to his main force and stood there to hammer us if we left the town it would have been understandable. But that wasn't what he was doing. He was fiddling with his 30s. An invitation like that can't be resisted. My main strike force was called out, and his thirties melted as dew in sunlight, then we did it once more. Of course, as soon as he was finished rearming, he sent his 30s back in, and this time we were blown apart again, but the breather had let us get more fallback positions ready, and we were still a going concern.

At about that time a call from higher got through, it was somewhat garbled due to the distance and all the opposing formations between us who used jammers, but the gist seemed to be that command was displeased with us letting so much of the Hordes resupply get through, and we were to start raiding.

Incredibly enough, we actually built up our stockpiles. Not every foray was a success, but nine out of ten tries left the opponents burning in our wake. When the sun finally rose and signaled the end of the battle my formation had double tapped more than two thirds of the opponents.

Of course there was the question of returning to the Berserker camp. While the battle was officially over, I wondered how we were to bring all the loot along. In the end we had to leave some of the super power plants behind. I did my best to ensure nothing bad would happen. by writing user instructions and warning that it was Black Box Technology, any tampering, cutout of power or opening could cause severe damage to those in the vicinity.

Oh, and the final score. They trounced us, but not as bad as the Dragons. At the end of the day they had gotten better than 2-1 on us and scored 1945 vs 867.

Thanks for the fun (and the spare parts) Hope you will appreciate being squarely on the receiving end when the Dragons gobble you up in round 3.

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