Chapter 77: Fleet Just Flies

Brigadier General Carb was extremely pleased with the upgrades to his Ion Bombard Array for use against landers and Insertion Pods, so he had it forwarded to all sixteen other Phalanx Class Mecha on the planet with similar weapons.

His update identifies Captain Tarith Nico as the software engineer that came up with the programming, a personal commendation that should help get her a promotion should the Cygnus fleet manage to get enough of an upper hand that they can launch a full wave attack.

It might seem like a small thing, but improvements to their mecha that increase the number of enemy landers destroyed in approach are a huge tactical benefit. If they can destroy five or even ten percent more than usual the Cygnus casualties will be in the tens of thousands with the possibility that their supply chain could be crippled.

Armies can survive without ammunition, thanks to energy weapons. They can wear looted civilian clothing and boots, but they can't survive without food. For an invading fleet like the Cygnus, that means scavenging the battlefield or successful supply drops.

The Rock Crete of the underground bunker system finished curing this morning, so the General has moved Wrath of Carb out of sight and into the ruins of an old office building, reconstructed as his own personal hanger and an entrance to the three interlinked bunkers where the majority of the Mecha are currently stationed.

While the Fleet battle rages above them, the battle on the ground has calmed. Nobody is moving, waiting for new orders while they repair and reload.

That gives the advantage to the defenders, the Cygnus forces don't have nearly as much of a stockpile of parts and munitions on world. One way or another, they will need a supply drop and more importantly, reinforcements.

The forces still in the cities have been working around the clock to bring shielding and orbital defense weapons online again without anyone noticing. The total radio silence on the surface is the brainchild of General Tennant, who fears their communications are being intercepted.

The unofficial ceasefire lasts for three glorious days of healing, relaxing and gaming before an update on the space battle puts everyone back on high alert.

[Fleet Control to All Ground Units. Fleet assets will be withdrawing for a strategic regroup and counter attack. Hold all positions in preparation for reinforcements.]

To say the message does not go over well is an understatement.

But the wisdom of keeping the fact their defenses had been upgraded a secret, even from the Fleet, proves to be of much greater benefit than anticipated. Intercepted and decrypted communications say that the Cygnus fleet is ignorant of the changes they have made and plans a full scale resupply mission.

They are expecting five points of high altitude fire, but with the upgraded Phalanx Class Mecha, the Kepler defenses are at over thirty points of defense against high altitude targets.

It's not that dropping on a defended planet is impossible, but to do it the Fleet usually sends a large number of empty landers and orbital launched anti missile ships along with the wave to intercept missiles and reduce actual losses.

They will know when the drop starts if the enemy expects heavy resistance. If the first launches are the interceptors then the Cygnus fleet is on to them. If they save the single use defense vessels, they expect minimal losses.

Early in the morning, local time, the call comes that a full fleet supply drop has begun. Central Command says to give them six minutes to get as much of the drop complete as possible before beginning defensive fire.

That will give them eighteen minutes to shoot down as many as possible, and it will be too late for the landers to turn back. The majority will be fully autonomous, containing only supplies, and once they get into the upper atmosphere the effects of entry will block communications for a few minutes.

Because of that, they aren't programmed to accept navigational data until after that point. Experience has taught that incomplete course adjustments cause catastrophic outcomes.

As the sensors begin to pick up the drop, it becomes clear that nothing but landers and orbital Insertion Pods are coming, letting everyone on the ground know that the Cygnus fleet doesn't have a clue what is coming their way.

The pods are designed for fast drops with minimal damage during combat, but they can't be used for infantry, the gravitational forces of their rapid deceleration before landing would kill any unprotected human. In most cases they aren't even used for mecha with pilots, though the Mecha cockpit can dampen some of the effect.

Instead they are the supply drops to be picked up later by troops coming in landers or already on the ground.

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Six minutes pass as Max starts seeing the first of the landers come into sight. The Insertion Pods are halfway down now, and the call finally comes.

[All defense units, full fire rate.]

This sector is a Kepler stronghold, with three major cities plus three Phalanx Class Mecha defending and the early morning sky turns bright blue with Ion fire and Defense Lasers. Because of the reduced number of Cygnus forces in the region the defenders are focusing on the landers first, then they can steal or destroy the contents of the pods after landing.

The air over the village is crackling from the effects of Wrath of Carb's furious defense, but Max is across town from him and the effect isn't interfering with his systems too badly. When the closest Pods get to about fifty thousand meters altitude Max's System lights up in a happy Kaleidoscope of firing solutions for his Pulse Lasers.

As he begins firing, he notices he is not alone in his efforts. Every Crusader with an Ion Destroyer is taking pot shots at them. They have the range, but not the accuracy of high quality targeting related System Abilities.

Max's continual stream of laser fire is constantly hitting and destroying pods, while Nico is at about fifty percent accuracy rate for hitting her targets. The others have only got a few hits between them and Max marvels at the effects of her upgrading ability to compensate for a lack of combat related System skills.

Unlike the pods that drop straight down, the landers that are passing overhead are destined for the far side of the planet, or at least they were. Not many have made it across the far horizon intact.

Max picks up frantic shouting from outside and turns up his external volume while he shoots. Nico has hacked the Cygnus encryption again, and she is playing their command channel audio over the megaphone.

It tells everyone what is going on without cluttering up the radio channels, but more importantly, the pure panic and constant lost asset announcements are building morale among their unit.

[How do you keep doing that? Their encryption should be System Skill resistant.] Max asks her, and Nico laughs to herself before answering.

[I stole a radio from a unit the first day, so now all I need to do is brute force the password twice a day. With my Innate Talent that takes under a second.]

32 randomized characters takes her less than a second? If anyone in Command learned about that she would never leave a mission control room again.

Innate Talents can be almost anything, and a hacking skill that strong is pretty rare. It is the greatest and also the most annoying thing about Innate Talents. The pure diversity of them makes them unreliable. Most are extremely specialized, the general purpose ones like his that scans nearby brain activity and hers that will access almost any computer program are the one a hundred million level exceptions.

Not much has made it to the ground near them, and now the incoming landers are much lower when they cross the horizon, destined to land in their zone. Max almost pities the soldiers that have been sent to take this region, but not enough to slow his rate of fire.

[Hold off on those pods.] Wrath of Carb instructs as a group of them falls very near the village. They are unlikely to contain living troops, and they will land in direct line of sight of the trenches.

Cygnus might as well have sent them their own private supply drop, assuming that the location was lightly guarded and ripe for the taking. One of them even lands in the city Square before popping open as designed.

A picture perfect supply drop, but sent to the wrong side.

[Commander, it is an infantry drop. 90 days of provisions, with a water maker, company kitchen and a load of those Cygnus energy rifles.] Captain Catan announces once they search the pod.

That means the others are likely for infantry as well. Max isn't sure what went wrong, but the enemy seems to believe that Cygnus forces hold this position. No wonder nobody was attacking them for the last few days.

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