The preparations were complete. The caltrops were prepared, ready to be thrown at a moment's notice. Extra Enforcers had been made, along with Montanas and Falcons. I deemed Sentinels to be too expensive to make in bulk, so I didn’t make any more aside from those I already had. Eve reminded me that Boar needed a replacement weapon and shield, so I had fabricated a warhammer and shield. The fight with the Blood Brigade had shown me that Boar’s strength would be better suited for weapons that used pure crushing force. I did a quick check of how many units were under my command.

Standard units:

Enforcers: 230

Falcons: 210

Montanas: 200

Sentinels: 100

Drones: 50

GARs: 47

Total: 837 units

Special Units:

Boar

Peregrine

Claymore Instructor robot

Stiletto Instructor robot

Aurea

Total: 5

“Outnumbered over 10 to 1.”

I briefly considered hiding again or attempting to negotiate, but those options were too risky. Hiding would allow them to get too close to the mine, and I would have nowhere left to run if they found it. Attempting negotiations would mean losing the element of surprise, which I was counting on to inflict the maximum amount of damage on the first assault.

“[Warning. Imperial army within 8 kilometers of the mine.]”

“Well, I guess it’s time.”

Taking control of Peregrine, I walked out of the mine. Aurea was waiting outside, already in her exo-suit.

“Wait here. You’ll be part of the second wave.”

She looked ready to argue, but I didn’t stick around to hear her objections. Activating all the Falcons, I sped off into the woods, my robots right behind me. Our footsteps were quiet, blades sharpened and objective clear. Within half an hour, we were near the soldiers, who were still busy stumbling through the undergrowth.

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“Kill them. Keep it quiet for as long as possible.”

My Falcons broke formation and spread out. I was the first to kill a soldier, who was so focused on his feet he didn’t notice my presence until my blade pierced the thin layer of leather protecting his neck. He couldn’t even scream, only let out a quiet gurgle as blood obstructed his airway. Similar scenes played out around me, with many warriors meeting their ends. We managed to kill about a hundred before someone raised the alarm.

“GOLEMS ATTACKING! GROUP UP!” one of them cried out. Unfortunately for him, that action cost him his life as a Falcon took his head. It was too little too late however, as the other humans parroted the warning and formed tight circles to prevent us from getting at them. I had to applaud their quick reactions and good teamwork.

Seeing a familiar flash of orange coming my way, I leapt out of the way as a fireball exploded where I had been a second earlier.

I heard someone yell, “Careful dumbass, you’ll set the forest on fire!” in the distance.

I sent out an order for the Falcons to treat the mages with caution, but to kill them if they saw an opportunity. Each mage that was killed was one less hassle for me to deal with.

“Retreat back towards the mine. Take a roundabout route.”

Seeing the army was riled up like an anthill that had been stepped on, I sounded the retreat. I did not want to engage in a prolonged battle. Like ghosts, we disappeared back into the forests. Through the drones, I watched as the entire army ground to a halt and prepared to defend against a non-existent attack. I waited several minutes, until they had finally relaxed their guard slightly. Luckily, the Deathwalker was near the back of the army, so I didn’t have to worry about him for the time being.

“Begin the second wave.”

I switched out from Peregrine to Boar for this one. While the Falcons and I had started our assault, the Enforcers, Montanas, Aurea, and Boar had sneakily made their way over to the other flank. At my command, they gave up all attempts at subtilty, and sprinted towards the army. Normally, Aurea would have been outstripped by the endurance of the mechanical units, but she had no trouble keeping up in her exo-suit.

“If you’re going to take out your weapon, do it now,” I said in my robotic voice. She nodded, and elected to use the claymore I made to match her exo-suit’s size. The drones alerted me that the army had heard something, and were prepared to defend. Unbeknownst to them, that’s exactly what I wanted. I burst out of the trees, bringing down my enormous warhammer down on the shocked troops. Several of them turned into a red paste, while others were flung aside by the sheer force of the blow. Aurea was right behind me, her claymore shattering the puny wooden shields the soldiers had put up. I was amazed at how quickly she got used to moving in the exo-suit. Her movements seemed surprisingly natural and fluid as she blasted through the soldiers with little effort. The Montanas and Enforcers were putting in work too. The durability of the Enforcers worked wonders against the steel weapons of the human soldiers, and they were able to dish out as much damage as they took.

“Don’t go in too deep. We aren’t going to be able to kill them all at once,” I told Aurea. I had added a simple intercom system in her suit so I could talk to her without the enemy hearing.

We managed to kill several hundred more soldiers in the ambush. However, many of my Enforcers and Montanas were destroyed as well. The biggest danger was the mages, as they manipulated Laws to destroy my units. I saw some crush my Enforcers between slabs of rock, while others melted their internal components with fire, and others still were somehow manipulating water to fry their circuitry. Once they had begun to arrive, I sounded the retreat once again and we retreated back into the woods.

Hopefully these guerilla tactics would work…