So, I was considering keeping this as one big chapter with the battle proper, but Follower gave me the nudge to split it. Besides, if changes are necessary this makes it easier - I hope that the Locura matter is going to be satisfactorily settled, I was not expecting it to blow up in the way it did.
Three hours.
That was the ETA until the pirates arrived. They had set up their base camp over a hundred kilometers away, far away enough to keep an eye on the Outpost Castle but not far away enough to be unable to respond to developments there, and were traveling overland over rough and irregular terrain rather than make use of their Dropships, whatever they may be.
They probably couldn't have even moved all their forces via dropship anyway.
Aaron still couldn't believe it – over ninety BattleMechs. And not just a swarm of Locusts and Stingers either – Captain Malmsteen's scans had indicated that the pirate force had multiple BattleMechs in the Heavy and Assault weight classes.
Add on top of that the three companies of vehicles they were fielding, including an entire artillery company...
It was a damn good thing that they had managed to get into the castle, because the pirates somehow had enough metal to simply roll straight over them.
Where did they even get all of them?
"Ah, Callahan, there you are – going over the engagement with the drones?" Raju asked as he walked up.
"Yes, Captain – I mean, it's not like I'll be able to effectively pilot in the next battle." Aaron admitted sheepishly, waving his stricken arm for emphasis.
It was utterly stupid – he'd gotten through that absolutely ragged battle more or less unscathed personally, even if his BattleMech had been torn up.
Then while he was getting out of the thing he was suddenly struck by a sudden bout of vertigo, wound up losing his footing, fallen four meters and had broken his arm.
Now he would be out for the largest battle that any member of the Aurigan military had ever taken part in.
It was infuriating – but, well, at least the others were in a similar boat. Just for less humiliating reasons.
Many of them had taken injuries as well when their BattleMechs had fallen or taken shots to the head, or had been otherwise badly damaged – which meant that the coalition company had been dissolved, taking up positions as reservists while the Taurians prepared to engage the enemy, along with the bulk of Captain Malmsteen's forces.
That didn't mean that they were going to be engaging them in a field battle, god no – rather, Captain Malmsteen had set his men to fortifying both sides of the outside gully in preparation for the enemy attack.
Hopefully they could get enough SLDF BattleMechs working again quickly, so the Taurians could use them too – but if their defenses crumpled too quickly, then they would have to hold with what they had.
There was, of course, the option of just holing up in the castle and trying to win in a grinding siege, prevent the enemy from making use of their superior numbers while trying to activate the Castle's defenses against them – but those defenses had been shut down, and were proving frustratingly difficult to get back up and running again in a manner that wouldn't see them killed as well.
So, the Terran artillery would set up in the inner courtyard, along with the Taurian BattleMechs – the gully would be where infantry and vehicles would force the BattleMechs into the grind of assaulting a fortified position.
He wasn't sure how much they'd get done as far as fortifications went given they only had three hours, give or take, but anything was better than nothing. And it was an Outpost Castle – it had supplies for repairs and setting up additional fortifications as the situation may require.
Still, whatever happened – he would be out of it, so he had decided to spend his time going over the BattleRoms, to do something more useful with his time.
"So, what have you found out?" Raju asked.
"The Haven BattleMechs are too heavily armored." Aaron said instantly.
"… really? Are you sure? Just because they've changed how the armor is fitted-" Raju began, accepting the statement for what it was – Aaron had a good sense for a how a BattleMech was built. Circumstances and a strong desire to fight for good causes had pushed him into the path of a MechWarrior, but honestly he probably would have made better money working for some corporate interest or Great House think tank.
"They have – but here. Their Phoenix Hawk took a PPC bolt to the head – normally, that'd be instant death, but they've reinforced the armor here. So far so good, and normally you'd be right – they probably just refined the way the armor sits, but from what I've gathered Haven values survivability a lot in its BattleMechs. I can't imagine they'd sacrifice armor anywhere – I'm more ready to believe that they'd drop some weapons or heat sinks instead, but none of their BattleMechs have done that. If anything, some of them have even more firepower – their Locust has two five-centimeter lasers and a three-centimeter one. They didn't seem to have any issues with heat, either – not really."
"The only way I can think that they pulled this off is that they've somehow managed to manufacture Ferro-Fibrous armor, but… even with all the new tech they've been showing off…" Aaron trailed off as his clicked his tongue. "Then there's the artillery support they gave us – I asked around and the others said that the Havenites drove tanks out a bit behind the Taurian company. And they didn't bring out artillery…"
"...how long have you been inside the Castle?"
"Ever since I got out of the infirmary, why, sir?" Aaron asked blankly.
"I think you'll find that you can get some more answers by looking outside."
Raju chuckled as Aaron stared blankly at the multitude of 'Siege Tanks' that Captain Malmsteen had deployed.
Apparently, the sheer threat of the situation had resulted in somewhat of a 'mask-off' scenario, because the man had simply decided to hell with secrecy. Finally, after weeks, they would finally get to see what the full Haven – or, 'Raider' given Captain Malmsteen's insistent terminology on the number of commands involved – war machine could do. Or at least when it wasn't being intentionally hobbled.
The man was still keeping secrets, but if he was willing to reveal them for the sake of their lives and the mission, Raju would let it be.
Besides, he could see where Malmsteen was coming from, because his pupil's exasperated awe was absolutely hilarious. Them constantly pulling new rabbits out of hats like this just to indulge in the shock of those around them was something that was probably going to happen often, but also probably going to be funny every time to them.
"Wha – how – okay, okay, I can see how the sides work and everything, but… how the – how the hell does that cannon work!? How does it maintain any integrity if it's meant to – what!?" Aaron yelled as his mind began to break trying to understand the principles behind how the 'Crucio Siege Tank's' cannon had apparently morphed into a howitzer of some sort, going by its angle.
"Apparently, they're armed with two 90mm cannons in their tank forms, which combine into an 180-mm cannon while in what they call 'siege' mode." Raju supplied, even as he hid his smile at the minor breakdown his protege was having.
"It doesn't work like that!" Aaron cursed in frustration. "You can't just- just add those numbers together-!"
It most likely didn't help that Aaron really did have a good sense for the technical details of how it worked, it was part of what made him such a good MechWarrior. Knowing all the rules that the Terrans were 'breaking' was probably giving him an aneurysm.
Ostergaard watched as the Terran IndustrialMechs did their work.
When Captain Malmsteen had stated that his forces would take the initial hammerblow, with the intention of a slow fallback towards the Castle as they were pressured, he had assumed that the man would set up sandbags, portable barricades, use some of the Castle's own terrain features to entrench his power-armored infantry.
After all, even if they could probably tear their way through any number of conventional infantrymen, there was a world of difference between that and a BattleMech – there was no way that he would just leave them out in the open, expecting them to run about trading fire.
He was correct – but he wasn't prepared to see how extensive, and how swift the preparations would be.
While he was incorporating the local geography into his defenses, he was also changing it to suit his needs as well, as his IndustrialMechs dug out trench lines and built what appeared to be fortified bunker positions from scratch, laying metal foundations that swiftly became small, round blocks of metal dug into the ground.
They were similar to many defensive installations he had seen, just… well, better. Not because of an inability to match them like with their power armor or their transforming tanks, but rather a general lack of consideration for the infantry – the bunkers were squat things, dug into the ground, similar to an armored roof over a trench which was well enough.
But unlike most bunkers, which were composed of straight slabs of ferrocrete that were rather crudely poured and slapped together to face the enemy, this bunker had a square base that was dug into the dirt, with the only exposed area being a curved metal dome.
Broadly speaking, a superior design – the steep curve of the plates would mean that most shots would simply glance off due to the angle of the shot, and infantry inside would have better lines of fire.
It was hardly as if they couldn't imitate something like this, they just didn't, but Ostergaard already knew the reason why: Because nobody actually cared enough about infantry to invest resources into increasing their battlefield effectiveness in such a way.
Ferrocrete was, simply put, cheaper than using most forms of metal, and you only really needed two or three different 'parts' to Spheroid bunkers: A roof, a wall with a firing port, and a wall without. You could just leave out a wall to allow soldiers to pile in – just pre-make stacks upon stacks of ferrocrete slabs and use them as needed.
That bunker, meanwhile, seemed to have a noticeably more complex design – which would be more expensive to mass-produce. And while they would do a better job of protecting the infantry within… most everyone considered infantry to be replaceable.
Everyone except these people, clearly – which made sense given that they were armed with what appeared to be mech-scale machineguns and clad in power armor. Even without specialized equipment they would be credible threats against BattleMechs.
That wasn't even getting into the even heavier suits of power armor – practically miniature BattleMechs in their own right – stomping about, so wide they couldn't even fit side-by-side in the trenches that could allow three Taurian marines to stand abreast. What weapons they had, he couldn't guess at, but most likely something big and heavy to crack open armor.
Of course they get bigger. What I would give to see the FedRats getting their teeth kicked in by these people – they might talk a big game, but they mostly just care about their MechWarriors same as everyone else, and damn the infantry.
To be honest the Taurians did fall somewhat into that notion, but at least they fully understood that BattleMechs were not the end-all be-all of the military – the fighting men of the Concordat Army knew how to fight on foot, alongside plain and 'lesser' combat vehicles.
Looking again at the IndustrialMechs as they rapidly set up defenses, he had to think.
He wasn't a ground-side commander, but even he could understand how much of a potent force-multiplier these IndustrialMechs could be to the Haven warmachine. Fighting them, there would be no field battles, not really – because give them a couple of hours, a day or two, and they could probably build fortresses right on top of their enemies. Hell, three hours and they had transformed an open valley into a deathtrap of trenches and bunkers. And even people who had never gone to any form of military academy knew – being within fortifications was better than being out in the open.
The idea was chilling – and with those strange, transforming tanks allowing an armored push to seamlessly transition into a fire support role, creating not just a defensive point but a firebase…
He really, really hoped that if the newcomers to Dumassas ever went to war, that the Concordat would not be on the opposing side.
He would have to observe how they fought closely – he knew that Malmsteen would most likely keep some things hidden, but any amount of intel was better than none.
Then Ostergaard had to blink as he watched the first of Malmsteen's people – not those ones with the red markings on their pauldrons, but rather his 'regulars' most likely – file into the bunker, watching as it depressed slightly, additional armor plates folding up near the firing ports as the entryway shut, the building itself hunkering down into the dirt now to present an even slimmer, more steeply angled target against the enemy.
Not just made of full proper armor, but mechanized? How – what? How could – why would you introduce mechanical complexity into something like a bunker? The Taurian Commodore pondered in frank bafflement. I suppose it lets troops in power armor fit into a smaller space after entering, but… wait, how did IndustrialMechs make something so complex so quickly? Trenches are one thing, but those are just long holes in the ground, even if they've reinforced them. They're hardly mechanically complex.
As the 'SCVs', as they called them, began putting up what appeared to be a full-on turret, Ostergaard was forced to re-evaluate his thoughts.
If this was what they felt comfortable showing… just what exactly were they hiding?
"Sensor tower is up – alright, Adjutant, tell me the enemy layout." Malmsteen instructed as the backup Adjutant connected to the Sensor Tower that had been erected.
The Vikings were in no position to give him eyes, unfortunately – they would be focused on eliminating the enemy ASF contingent, engaging them as far away from the Argo as possible high above their heads.
The Banshees could have, but while they would certainly be pulling their weight in this battle, he couldn't afford to risk throwing them out into the open just yet.
He had no idea how well their Cloaks would stack up against whatever potential new toys these pirates had – so while it was tempting to just let them run rampant, he'd have to be careful on the off-chance they somehow managed to detect them. These pirates had already proven that they could defy the odds by having so many BattleMechs at all – he had no intention of gambling with the lives of his pilots in case they pulled out some incredible unknown piece of lost technology that the Sphere could use to pinpoint Cloaked units.
And yes, Spheroid guns generally weren't as good as theirs – but ninety-plus BattleMechs firing up, would still be more than enough to shoot down his flyers if they detected them. Volume of fire would more than make up for any deficiencies in their aim or striking power.
Which had left him to sit and wait while the sensor tower was brought up – he hadn't been fond of it, but they had a defensible position. Ceding some of the advantage now was no issue – and besides, if the enemy wound up within Siege Tank and Long Tom range, then they could force them to throw themselves headfirst into the teeth of a prepared defense, rather than be ranged out by artillery and drag things out.
'Scanning… Commander, the enemy forces appear to be marshaling into two distinct units. A screening vanguard and a primary assault force.'
"How many units in each? Does the enemy have any artillery?" Malmsteen asked, internally cheering at getting to use their intel capability again.
The Locura hadn't hit them as hard as it had the Argo – it couldn't. Even if they had interfaces for their systems to interact with local networks, the core of their computer systems were still solidly built on 100% Terran code, utterly foreign to the Locura.
But what it had managed to do had been a very nasty surprise regardless – it had targeted their comms, preventing them from talking to the Spheroids in the expedition even as it rewrote its own code to more effectively target their systems, studying them from the integrated areas to try and expand its reach.
The Star League had, in its attempt to make a 'one-size fits-all' 'virus' that could be deployed against any electronic system it would likely face and emerge victorious, somehow overshot to the moon and had developed a primitive malicious AI.
Yes, it had a highly narrow scope – it certainly wasn't sapient, nor could it perform any real variety in actions, be they running agricultural simulations or giving basic tactical analysis. But it could rewrite its own code to deal with novel forms of encryption, slowly but surely, and it wasn't even limited to just turning things off. The thing was capable of optimizing itself yet further to better target foreign systems rather than just shutting something down – whether it was overloading a power line or filling comms with garbage.
It was two steps short of just being able to ignite ammunition stores in their bays, which was damn near guaranteed death for almost any Spheroid machine he could conceive. Compared to the other forms of electronic warfare in the Sphere, this would have been like hunting rabbits with a bazooka.
Unfortunately for it, it had run into the brick wall that was a Terran computing system, and combined with the power of a more general, more advanced AI that was an Adjutant it had stalled out. Especially considering that, while capable of some adaptation, it lacked true independent problem-solving ability.
And when they had connected the others on the other Hercules – leaving one aside as a backup in case they were blindsided somehow – the Locura had been ruthlessly purged from their systems.
He had had the option of quarantining it instead, but he had chosen against it – first, he was rather sure the Argo had managed to quarantine their copy as well, so they had one to study if need be.
Second, he had no intent of leaving something that had been trying to modify its own code using data it was pulling from their Spheroid-Terran interface extant for a second longer than he needed to – the last thing he had wanted was to give the movie techno-monster the time and opportunity to somehow interface with Terran systems as well.
Bringing them in dead-stick had been a dubiously necessary deception perhaps – but the more of their capabilities he could hide, the better. And hiding how well they had come off against the Locura, when the Argo crew would doubtlessly share how dangerous it had been on their end, would serve to keep their electronic warfare systems more secure.
Regardless, now he had working Adjutants again, connected to a proper sensor net, and he could hear what they had to say.
"Twenty-four BattleMechs are in the screening force, Commander, primarily of the Medium and Light weight classes. The primary assault force consists of seventy-two BattleMechs and thirty-six combat vehicles, with twelve identified artillery pieces and an infantry complement along with attached support vehicles."
"What models of artillery, specifically?"
"Thumpers."
"We have a range-advantage, good." Malmsteen nodded. "What is the weight distribution of the enemy force?"
"Enemy ECM is preventing exact data on enemy weight classes, Commander. However, the majority of enemy combat units are of Medium and Heavy weight classes. The remaining number are primarily Assault BattleMechs, with the minority being Light."
"Give me eyes on them."
"Affirmative, Commander – the enemy's approach vector is on a wide front. They are approaching from one angle, but at their current and projected formation their right and left flanks will move to surround the Castle entirely."
"Hm, I see. Is that BattleMech 95 tons?"
"Affirmative, Commander."
"Huh. Thought Marauders were supposed to be 75. Well, doesn't matter – it's around the center of their main formation. Tell Alfa Battery to focus fire on that thing – Bravo Battery can fire on that oversized Crab. Maelstrom rounds, turn those things into scrap. Let's start this."
"Marking targets now."
Now if you'll excuse me, I'll get ready to try and figure out how best to demonstrate intelligent decision-making in this context when I most certainly did not go to any military academy, because the battle is not going to be off-screened. God help me.