War Core 3, Chapter 47.

Chapter 47.

The Queen Mary stumbled one final time before regaining control, swiveling the hull of the ship to place the port side weapons directly at the approaching Ssath annihilator. With a rolling boom, the guns along the port side fired in sequence, sending twenty shells toward the threat. With surprising agility for something of its size, the ship then turned to unmask the starboard side guns which also fired a volley into the Ssath annihilator. The first volley had shattered the shield protecting the annihilator, and many of the shots gouged deep into the heavy armor of the mech. With the shield down the second volley pummeled the enemy mech and it was the Ssath’s turn to stumble and nearly fall.

While the infantry in the bunkers and light mechs supporting them continued to hold off the rest of the Ssath force, the platoon of main battle mechs assigned to the point moved to support the ship. Their 90mm guns slammed round after round into the stumbling annihilator, keeping it from regaining its balance or locking onto the Queen Mary with the beam weapons mounted in the heads. Recovering briefly, the Ssath fired again, beams burning through the supporting main battle mechs before resuming their recharge cycle.

Captain Cartwright's tankers had done their job, sacrificing themselves to buy time for the giant walking ship to reload and fire another volley from the portside guns. Twenty more rounds hammered into the annihilator, breaking through the armor and into the complex machinery underneath. When the starboard guns spoke again, they focused on the twin heads of the annihilator, and while several shots missed the smaller targets, one head was knocked from the mech and the other was now a sparking ruin.

The Ssath wasn’t going down easily, though, and continued to engage with the secondary weapons that liberally sprinkled across the mech. Though lighter in caliber, the secondary guns did destroy five of the cannons on the port side of the ship. But with its main beam weapons being disabled, the enemy mech didn’t have the firepower to stop the giant ship. After another volley, the Ssath annihilator was out of the fight, and the Queen Mary then turned its guns on the remainder of the Ssath assault.

“Hugh, what are we going to do about the annihilator heading toward us?” Tran asked. The Ssath monstrosity was slowly stomping its way toward the command post, and while Hugh’s defenses here had held up well to the second assault, he didn’t have a giant, walking Queen Mary mech to soak up the damage from an annihilator. For now, the enemy mech wasn’t able to target the command post, its line of sight blocked by the city buildings it was stomping through. Once it reached the cleared space around the command post, it would be able to unleash the powerful beam weapons from the heads of the mech.

“My boys can take it down, sir, I need someone to take our place in the line and maybe a couple of light mechs to support us,” one of the infantry NCOs said. Hugh pulled up the soldier’s information, he was Sergeant Reyes, an Army Ranger whose platoon was part of the group assigned to defend the command post.

“Get to it, soldier, you can have that main battle mech coming off the assembly line and two of the light mechs to support you,” Hugh ordered, working with Tran to readjust the defensive line and fill in the gaps that Reyes’ forces would leave. Fifteen infantry mechs raced from the bunkers, the other defenders briefly shifted their fire to blast a gap in the Ssath surrounding them. Firing as they moved, Reyes’ team took down the remaining Ssath infantry facing them, losing two of their own before they reached the first buildings just outside the cleared area around the command post.

Using the buildings for cover, the infantry moved unseen by the annihilator while the pair of light mechs and main battle mech moved down the street to the intersection of 3rd and Flower Street where they planned to make their stand. The infantry used the top floors of a large bank building to stage their attack. With the infantry covering from above, the main battle mech found that 3rd street continued into a tunnel it could hide it, ready to ambush the enemy mech when it marched past. Using the corner of the bank and the building across the street as cover, the light mechs hid from the approaching annihilator. They would be the bait for this ambush.

“In position, get that thing's attention,” Reyes said over the team comms that Hugh had tapped into.

“Roger that, engaging,” the command of the light mechs said as he moved his unit around the corner of the building and fired off a round from the 37mm main gun of his mech. Machinegun fire also lanced out from the hull and coax guns, peppering the shield of the annihilator. Unwilling to waste a shot from the heavy beam weapons it possessed, the annihilator responded with several of its secondary weapons, but the light mech had already moved behind the cover of the building. As it moved back into cover, the second light mech peeked out from the corner of the building across the street and fired. The pair kept up the act, alternating their attacks and working to burn away the shield’s energy.

The annihilator kept up a steady barrage of fire from its secondary mounts as it closed in. Eventually, one of the light mechs was taken out by the return fire, and the other retreated further back. With its focus on playing whack a mole with the two light mechs at ground level, the annihilator didn’t even notice the infantry on the top floor of the building. As the enemy mech passed, the soldiers unloaded every grenade in their launchers, unable to miss such a large target at close range. The hits from a single grenade would do little to the shield of the powerful enemy mech, but when dozens began to explode like firecrackers over it, the shields began to flicker and fail. Rifle fire from the multiple weapons mounted on each infantry mech lanced down into the annihilator while the surviving light mech stepped into view and once again added its weapons to the assault.

Glowing brightly under the incoming fire, the Ssath shield held, but Hugh knew it was being depleted at an incredible rate despite most of the fire being from low-caliber weapons. Momentarily confused, the Ssath mech wasn’t sure what threat to engage, firing on the infantry before shifting its attention back to the light mech and the heavier guns it was using. The incoming fire from dozens of secondary weapons disintegrated the light mech, but the Ssath was having trouble with the infantry. Many of its guns lacked the elevation to engage targets that far above them, and the narrow confines of the street didn’t allow the mech room to maneuver.

Eventually giving up on the idea of engaging the infantry, the Ssath annihilator continued walking toward the command post, another block, and it would be in the line of sight to engage. As it entered the intersection, the main battle mech, hidden from view deep inside the tunnel, opened fire. Unlike the 37mm gun on the light mech, the 90mm weapon on the M26 main battle mechs packed some serious punch. The infantry had never let up their fire and with the shield depleted, the first rounds from the human main battle mech caused the shield to shimmer and start to fail. With its machineguns, the main battle mech peppered the annihilator with fire, and then the second round of its main gun slammed home, cracking the shield and allowing the incoming fire to start gouging into the heavy armor of the enemy mech.

One of the heads of the annihilator turned toward the tunnel, the mech’s mouth glowing with power for a moment before the impossibly bright beam of its weapon flashed into existence, collapsing the tunnel and melting the mech hiding inside. From the windows of the bank building, the infantry leaped down onto the enemy mech. Several of the soldiers missed their mark and crashed into the street, easy meat for the secondary guns on the annihilator. Ten landed on the heads and shoulders of the enemy mech and began to fire point blank into any gap or lightly armored portion of the enemy. The infantry also began to hack away with melee weapons, using plasma-enhanced combat tomahawks and knives to pry into the monster mech.

Sparks and smoke burst forth in several spots on the enemy mech where the soldiers concentrated on both heads, trying desperately to take out the annihilator’s most powerful weapons. Like a modern tank, these mechs couldn't be heavily armored everywhere and placed their lightest armor where it was normally least needed, on the top of the vehicle. While most of its body had several feet of armor, the top of the heads and swivel points on the necks sported only a few inches of protection, most of which the infantry had already stripped away. Several secondary weapons could target the unwelcome guests and they picked off Reyes’ troops one by one.

By the time the last soldier fell, one of the annihilators' heads was canted at an odd angle, with smoke pouring from several gaps in the armor. The other head appeared fine, but Hugh could see several armored panels had been pried apart and the wiring inside appeared damaged. It might be operational, but with the shield down and at least one beam weapon damaged or destroyed, Hugh had a chance.

During the ambush, the Ssath had redoubled their efforts to take the command post, but the infantry and scattered mechs supporting them couldn’t penetrate the line of bunkers. Hugh’s troops cut down the enemy in wholesale numbers, taking few losses in return, but the annihilator was now emerging from the city. Already, the glow of a beam weapon charging was seen in the less damaged mouth of the annihilator. Every weapon from his main battle mechs and light mechs targeted the annihilator, slamming main gun rounds constantly into its armored body. Sadly, the damaged portions of the annihilators' heads were on the topmost surfaces, the portions that Hugh’s mechs on the ground couldn’t target.

Pain lanced into Hugh’s side as the beam weapon discharged, burning through the bunker protecting him from that side and deep into the armored command post. The shield protecting the command post failed instantly and the damage to his core registered at 58%. If both beams had fired, he’d be dead, but as it stood, the pain was making it hard for Hugh to concentrate. Secondary weapons on the Ssath annihilator lashed out, adding to his pain as the rest of Hugh’s troops redoubled their efforts to bring down the enemy mech.

The damage totals to his command post crept up to 68%, and without another bunker to block part of the incoming fire, Hugh didn’t think he would survive the second blast from the annihilator, the beam of which he could already see charging up inside the operation mouth of the monster. Before the beam could be unleashed, smoke and flame billowed out from the damaged parts of the still operation head. The light of the charging beam began to dissipate as whoever was controlling the Ssath mech tried to shut down the weapon before it went critical. Reyes’ troops must have done more damage to the final head than Hugh had thought, and the first shot had likely exacerbated the existing damage to the point the weapon was more dangerous to the Ssath than to Hugh.

Flames burst from the top of the mech as something gave way before the charged weapon could be powered down. It wasn’t a catastrophic failure, and the secondary weapons kept firing, but their targeting was off, and may of the shots went wide, missing his command post. The same couldn’t be said for Hugh’s troops, they continued to pile on the damage, burning through the heavily armored shell of the annihilator. Focusing on one leg, the main battle mechs were able to sever the limb, causing the mech to crash to the earth, its impact shaking the entire area.

Only a few of the weapons on the enemy mech could come to bear, and those were being quickly silenced by the human mechs. Hugh lost himself to the pain as the damage crept up to 79% as, while much reduced, the incoming fire was still hitting home. After a few moments, the damage to Hugh slowed, then stopped as the last operational weapon on the annihilator was knocked out of commission.

Construction drones got to work repairing the command post, but it took some time before Hugh was able to focus on the battle once again. He took stock of the overall battle, and things were dire. The jail had fallen, but in doing so, the annihilator at that location had taken heavy damage, much of it focused on the mech’s legs. It was limping its way slowly toward Hugh’s command post and it wasn’t coming alone, and over two hundred infantry and a score of other mechs accompanied the annihilator. It would take them some time to reach Hugh, and it did look like help was on the way.

The Queen Mary hadn’t stayed put, and while Hugh was out of commission, it had finished off the Ssath attack it and began to make its way slowly toward the command post, as a sizeable force of human mechs provided cover. It would reach him before the Ssath force from the jail. Combined with his defenders, and with the units continuously being built at his command post, Hugh outnumbered the enemy and the Queen Mary should have little trouble dealing with a single damaged annihilator.

While it was still holding out, the defenders at Griffith Park were on their last legs. Even with the National Guard units bolstering their defense. The enemy annihilator had proved devastating. While the long, winding mountain road that led to the victory point had helped Hugh’s defenders in the previous fights by limiting the number of Ssath units that could approach at once, the new threat turned that advantage around. With the powerful annihilator walking up the road, Hugh’s units were now at a disadvantage, the number of defenders that could engage at once was limited. Beam weapons swept aside defensive position after defensive position. While the devastating beams recharged, other Ssath units took up the fight, keeping the pressure on and moving the enemy ever closer to the victory point.

He was going to lose the observatory, but it would take the Ssath some time, and the troops there would bleed the remaining enemy forces. At the final victory point, the museum, the Ssath were also gaining ground, but another battle of titans was shaping up as the mechanized mammoth along with a pack of saber tooth tiger mechs moved to challenge the annihilator attacking that point.