The MTs boosted left, towards an edge. From there, they could go to at least three different locations that would let them enter the Grid properly. One was pretty far, one was very inconvenient, but the last, and closest one to them, wasn't actually bad, it just wouldn't let them head straight to my setup.
Of them all, the third one was the one that I wanted them to take, and fortunately for me, I did have some ability to force the matter.
I sent another command through the system, and the doors of the second entrance promptly flicked offline as the power line was severed to it, too.
This was unfortunately not an option for everything. Those MTs could force the issue if they were so inclined. It would just take a while, and it would leave them exposed. If they had no other options, they'd probably do it, but... Well, better options.
"Down there." One of the Walruses marked a location for the rest of them, sending it over their private network. "We'll want to go through there and take a left. That'll get us to another open cargo section. Should be some decent cover going through, and we'll be able to access the Grid once we do."
"He seems rather familiar with the layout of this Grid." Ezra observed. "Experience?"
"Most of the Grids have similar internal layouts." I noted. "He might just be basing it off of other Grids."
"That's open air, isn't it? No telling what they've got." Another one asked.
"Would you rather go around in close quarters? Maybe a flight through open air with no cover?"
"We'll do it the marked way." Karl decided. "Shields, you're up."
The group's positioning changed. The three shield-carrying MTs moved forwards, keeping a loose distance to the side of the Heavy MT. The others moved to position themselves behind the shields, while the supply-carrying MTs stayed at the back.
They jumped off, powering boosters to slow their falls. Their glide was steady, but they hit the ground unnecessarily hard when they landed, taking a moment to recover. Were they conserving power? Did they not know any better? Or did they just not care?
I'll have to keep an eye on that. Might be relevant in combat.
The group advanced, heading to the large door. I'd already turned it off, but the mechanical override for that one was still functional, so the locks disengaged and it opened for them nonetheless.
They'd be going through a short interior section which would take them out to a larger cargo area. A big, curving bridge connected that area with another one higher up, which they'd be able to use to get to my production facilities.
I had to stop them in that entire section, pretty much. It was a decently sized chunk of space, and I would have the high ground for most of the area.
It was unfortunately large enough that I was going to have to shift my maintenance drones around a bit, though. It would take some time before they could gather in numbers that would reasonably threaten the MTs.
The squad continued to move forward, briefly passing through an area where I didn't have much camera coverage. That didn't matter, because they still went straight for the second door, which they were able to open in short order.
They moved out into a more open area, though there were still plenty of containers and buildings around them.
"Everything is in position." Ezra stated. "They're in sight."
"Get ready. I want to see if we can bait them out into the open, first."
"Not detecting any mines. It's too quiet here, though."
"Keep an eye out. Stick close to buildings."
The squad continued to move forwards, though a bit slower.
"I'm... not seeing anything?"
"Hmph. Scouts, head up the bridge."
A bit of sacrificial bait there, isn't it?
The squad as a whole stopped, though four mechs kept going forwards, one shielder, one missile dude, and two normal Light MTs.
Hmm. Unfortunate. I would have preferred for them to have moved out all as one. That would have left this much easier.
Still, that's the best we're going to get. If they move much further, then our own mechs will enter their scan range.
"Go."
I flicked the targeting systems on. MTs didn't have good ones, but an object that big moving in a straight line like that? Easy enough.
"Seems go- Wait fuck we're being painted!"
The FCS locked.
From the upper platforms, ten mechs, hidden just barely out of sight, promptly fired. Ten beams of blue-white light lanced out, crossing the distance in an instant and crashing into the targeted mechs. The shots were divided as evenly as I could, three to the missile and shield equipped platforms, and two to the other two MTs.
The results, I was happy to see, were very effective. Facing side on, the beams went straight into the torsos of the mechs, burning through the armour and coring them, even as the sheer heat dumped caused the armour to explode while also cooking off their fuel and ammo supplies, detonating the warmachines and turning them into so much scrap metal.
The first damage and first kills were ours. RRI's laser rifles were as effective as advertised. Dead in two good shots.
"LASERS?!"
"In cover, now!"
Unadvertised, though; the five second cooldown/recharge cycle.
The entire squad turned, and we pulled our mechs back a little as they promptly filled the space between us with bullets. Most of it went absolutely wide, though a concerning large amount of it hit our cover, punching into the material.
It was suppressive fire while they all found a place to hide behind, and while it wasn't necessary at that moment, it sure as shit worked.
"This is a terrible place to be!"
"No pilot response! They're dead!"
"Stay near the walls!"
With our surprise strike out of the way, everything was going to be rather more difficult from here on out.
We waited a bit for a lull in the bullets. By then, they were all mostly in cover, though parts of them were peaking out.
We shifted, some of our mechs moving forwards, shields held in front of them with the rifles poking out to the side. We selected our targets, FCS immediately making calculations-
The Linear Rifle barked, and one of my mechs was knocked backwards. The kinetic round damn near tore the shield it was carrying in half, and still scored a massive strike against the torso behind it, stripping the entirety of its right side to the skeleton underneath. It was still operational, but only barely.
I retargeted, recognizing the threat of that thing. Our FCSs returned a solution, and three beams lanced back at it while the other seven were spread around.
Only a few were successful hits, and none of them were the ones I'd fired at the Linear Rifle carrying MT. All that happened was the three shots carving white-hot lines in the cover it was crouched behind.
I frowned.
Of course, the FCS, while good, aimed for the centre of mass. This made them rather less than useful when that centre of mass was behind a wall.
Alright, I'll have to take that into account in the futur-
The missile-equipped MTs shifted. Lock warnings screamed through our systems. I immediately had them pull back, right as the MTs started launching.
Missiles streaked forwards, fast and deadly. These were not, however, smart-seeker systems, which would navigate a maze to hit their enemies. No; these were simpler things, with small cones of self correction, and not nearly enough intelligence to avoid obstacles.
Owing to their lower launch angles, most of the missiles crashed directly into the front of the section, sending a rippling wave of explosions across it that utterly decimated the cover we'd had.
"Keep up suppression!" Karl barked. "Destroy everything they can hide behind! Michaels, Shelly, Al, you're all with me!"
Karl got a wave of agreements, and I watched through the cameras as the Heavy MT, one shielder, one missile launcher, and one the MTs carrying an assault rifle all grouped up, boosting towards the bridge.
Mmm. That was... troublesome, but an opportunity at the same time. The Heavy MT was unquestionably the biggest threat, and if it got into close range then I could write off whatever was in range with it, but if I could take it down...
"Let's pull back a bit more." I said. "We're too exposed right now. We need to surprise them with the maintenance drones."
"Got it." Ezra agreed.
Our mechs didn't turn around as we moved backwards. While we were higher, the bridge curved up on their side of things. Going up it would let them shoot us without any real issue.
At the same time, that meant we would be able to shoot back. These sights were open, and that group breaking off had the numbers disadvantage. The Heavy MT was powerful, but a decent chunk of that power was close-range.
"Get ready. Stagger the shots."
Ezra agreed, his mech aiming towards the bridge even as we kept moving backwards.
The Heavy MT crested first. The shielder Light MT was boosting in front of it, shield in place. The other two MTs were behind it.
Smart. The Heavy was tough enough to take our shots, and it was presenting its thickest armour in our direction. We weren't getting rid of that in a single volley.
I selected targets. FCS chips heated. I fired two shots at the shielder, bolts of light slamming into its shield and heating the metal so rapidly that it detonated, sending a spray of molten metal in every direction. The mech staggered, tipping forwards, shield angling down.
I fired again. Another two bolts of light slammed into the shield again, this time right into the top of it, blasting a chunk of it off.
It shouldn't have. Keeping the previous angle would have sent the shots right over the shield. That should have cored the damned MT then and there. But it hadn't, because that wasn't what the FCS was programmed to do.
Oh, fuck the FCS.
I disabled the thing, and then took aim myself. Angles flashed through my mind. Speed, theirs and mine. Recoil, functionally irrelevant. Project speed, too fast to matter in any way other than not being where the rifle was aimed.
The next shots struck just below the head, and bored a hole through to the lower back, sending thermal shocks through the generator, fuel supply, hydraulic fluids, and cockpit. The mech detonated instantly, and a flaming wreck flew forwards to crash into ground, carried by the inertia of the boost it had been maintaining.
The rest of the shots, I directed at the Heavy MT, aiming for the multitude of sensors over its body. I couldn't kill it, not with what I had, but I could definitely start plucking its eyes. An antenna vanished with one shot, while the head took two more and lost most of the armour protecting it, removing the main camera with it. The last shot went directly into the core, melting a blot into its armour.
"Huh." Ezra said, right before he flicked off his own FCS.
The Heavy MT kept moving forwards. Its missile launcher shifted, lock warning ringing out. Ezra fired just as the missiles launched.
A bolt of light consumed one of the missiles, and then flowed straight down the barrel it had launched from. The entire assembly burst, consumed as its internals cooked off. This did little to stop the Heavy MT, and nothing to stop the other three missiles that had already been launched.
All three crashed into one of our MTs, the first one shredding the shield and leaving it open for the second and third, which quickly claimed their due.
Our MT hit the ground in pieces, completely dead.
One of ours destroyed, and another highly damaged. In trade; five of theirs, and the Heavy MT had been significantly reduced in threat.
In raw metal, it was about even.
Now it gets difficult.