“Captain, we have contact!” Arming quickly forwarded through images of the Swarm Lord taken from forward observers. “It’s 30 kilometres out and closing fast.”
The Swarm Lord itself was a monstrous spider like beast, even surrounded by a retinue of huge Swarm Commanders still looked like it was towering into the sky. Every step of its eight massive legs caused the earth to rumble and crack as the lumbering beast quickly made its way to the battle.
It was larger than Leonard had expected, the Swarm commanders were still a little smaller in height than his mechs, however the Lord itself was larger, standing about 2 mechs high from his perspective. Leonard also had the feeling its chitinous armour was stronger as well, its matt black finish edged with glowing green veins carried a powerful presence, even through a screen. And with a retinue of 4 Swarm Commanders acting as bodyguards it might be much more of a tough battle than he had anticipated.
“1st Squad,” he spoke through an open channel to the 10 mechs gathered around him. “Our target is 10 minutes out, Arming and Gaits you’re with me, we will focus on the Lord itself. Bailey and Dalton, I need you to take out two Commander’s each, Jones keep an eye out and help them if needed. Everyone else make sure to keep the rabble off our backs.”
“Sir.” His squad barked out in response and the ten mechs quickly moved away from the command centre. It didn't take long to reach the fifth rear most trench line, however soon after it became complicated.
“Sir, the ground between us up to the fifth trench is open, but from heading into the fourth and onwards the ground is covered in mines.” Arming relayed the defence layouts to Leonard. “There are still paths through, but they’re long and winding to make sure there is no path an enemy can run straight through.”
“Shit, what's the quickest route?”
“It will take us 5 minutes to reach the fourth line and 10 to reach the third.” The further in towards the front the denser the minefields were sewn, and while the paths through still existed it made it harder to reach the front. For vehicles travelling over the top anyways, long communication trenches were dug out between trench lines for men to cart supplies to and fro without having to expose themselves above ground.
However Leonard and his squad's mechs were far too large to fit in those.
“And what about the 2nd? And is there any empty ground? We can't manoeuvre at all in a minefield, we’d be sitting ducks.”
Arming hesitated, but he still reported his findings to Leonard. “The minefield between the second and third trench lines is too big, we’d take at least 30 minutes to pass through, we would never make it in time.”
“You think the defence will fall that quickly?”
“Sir, the firstline fell in a matter of minutes, and while the second is vastly more defended the Swarm Lord will beat us to it.”
Leonard gripped his controls hard, it certainly seemed like there was nothing he could do. Even if he decided to push through and rush for the second line, Arming was right, the Swarm Lord would beat them there. And if they broke through Leonard and his squad would be stuck in the middle of a minefield with no support.
Leonard consulted his map, Dacre and Hacket’s squads had also taken up positions just behind the third line, their long ranged rifles contributing considerable amounts of firepower to the defence.
“Fine,” he relented. “We will take up positions at the third trench line, as soon as the Lord breaks the minefield and engages the trench we pounce. Ignore everything else.”
He quickly looked over Dacre and Hacket’s squads system reports, their ammunition count dropping steadily, each mech ranging from 50-60%, however it was still enough. He quickly hailed the pair and patched them into his communication channel.
“Dacre, Hacket, new information. The Swarm Lord has been spotted and we intend to engage at the third line. Provide support as best you can, focus on our surroundings and try to keep the combat area clear. If you can take a shot at the Lord, have at it, but it is not your focus.”
Sergeant Dacre’s voice crackled through their communications. “Aye sir, we will focus on keeping the Swarm off your back.”
Sergeant Hacket chimed in next. “We’ll do our best sir, however as you know we are short on mechs, your left flank may be pressed a little. We won't be able to take care of all of them.”
Leonard nodded, passing down orders to the mechs of his own squad tasked with holding the perimeter to rotate their positioning slightly to assist the weaker flank.
“Sir if I may.” Hacket spoke up, and Leonard nodded for him to go ahead. “Would it not be prudent for us to fall back to the fourth line? While it would be easier for us to provide support at a closer range, if we get dragged into a melee without room to manoeuvre we would be heavily disadvantaged.”
“No need.” Leonard spoke firmly, he intended for them to make their stand. “Realistically we have no other choice. If we fail to take out the Swarm Lord here the entire battle and front will be lost, the PDF could never take it out on their own. We need to put in everything here, anything less and our chances of victory would become even slimmer than they already are.”
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Very well sir,” Hacket conceded. “But even when we do manage to take it out, the rest of the Swarm will still be troublesome for us at such close range.”
This time Arming spoke up in response. “As soon as we manage to take out the Swarm Lord the Swarm forces will scatter. While they aren't very intelligent creatures they are not dumb, without a capable commander like that of a Swarm Lord, a force like this would have never been able to assemble. They won't rush to their deaths without orders forcing them to.”
Leonard nodded in acknowledgement. “He's right. The moment the Lord is dealt with their coordination with falter, and while we will still have to deal with those still engaged, those Swarmling behind will turn around.”
Leonard and his squad quickly passed over the fourth defensive trench line. It had far less in the way of fortified defences but made up for it by cramming as many field guns and mortar positions into it as possible. It was never intended to take the brunt of an attack, being instead a giant weapons platform to support the brutal fighting in the lines ahead.
That wasn't to say they were without defences, besides the mines and razor wire that were crammed in front of every line, it still had a decent amount of soldiers manning firing lines in case the worst came to bear.
However, just as Leonard was entering into the final stretch of minefields between the fourth and third line something completely unexpected happened. A deafening roar covered the battlefield, as the unmistakable quake in the earth heralded the arrival of the Swarm Lord, its massive form casting shadows over the valley.
“Shit! Arming what's going on? Why is it here already?”
The lieutenant was frantically scanning through reports to find an answer, the Swarm Lord was ahead of schedule. “I'm not sure sir, it seems there is a delay in the PDFs communications.”
“A delay?” Leonard frowned, communication systems had advanced to such a high degree that interplanetary concessions had zero delay. Only when the distances involved became greater than star systems did some issues arise, however these scouts sending their reports were most certainly not that far away. “What's causing this interference?”
“I really don't know sir,” Arming admitted, and while he was the most knowledgeable in the squad he couldn't know everything. “Maybe the Swarm Lord itself caused some issues. Very little is known about it, at least as far as I'm aware.”
“Oh well, if we don't know we don't know,” Leonard didn't bother trying to answer a question he didn't have the information for. He increased the speed of his mech, they were already travelling at a fairly slow pace, trying not to get themselves blown up by taking a misstep. While the mechs could take several direct impacts from the mines and come out relatively fine, it was better to be cautious and not put undue stress on their frames before they even entered battle. “Everyone has their orders, keep an eye out for any issues with our comms. If it is the Lord's doing and communications break down I trust that everyone knows how to handle themselves.”
The giant lumbering spider-like frame of the Swarm Lord made quick time, passing over the now broken first trench line. Large growths on its back began to squirm, the flesh and chitinous hide parting as a series of six large tube-like bones emerged, pointing out towards the sky.
Its dark frame lit up, veins of sickly green glowing with power quickly racing across its body to the base of the six now fully erect bones. A large bang reverberated throughout the valley, the six bone-like cannons unleashing a wave of thick corrosive green sludge towards the defenders.
They arched through the air with no real precision, half of the shots hitting nothing but empty land, some even impacting directly into the Lord's own lines. The sludge splattered out, even a drop being corrosive enough to burn straight through the Swarmlings tough shell.
Three shots hit the defenders however, 2 slamming straight into a portion of trench, exploding in a large crater killing everything it touched, and another burrowing straight through a heavily reinforced metal bunker that housed many large gun positions.
Screams rang out, even the smallest amount burning right through skin, flesh and bone.
The defenders weren’t just going to sit still however. As soon as the Lord came into range, every spare gun fixed onto its position and opened fire. Immediately the Lord was covered in hundreds of explosions, even more skilled artillery officers all the way back in the rear were trying their luck.
The large beast didn't budge however, only tiny dents in its hide left to show the effectiveness of the barrage. Still that didn't mean the defenders' lost their heart, their onslaught only continued to grow as they constantly bombarded the Lord even if it showed little signs of damage.
The Lord charged up and fired another volley, and fortunately for the defenders this time only one struck true. Already however the visible veins of energy could be seen charging up again, its fire rate was impressive and it didn't look to be running out of power in the slightest.
The Commanders at its side did not sit still, launching their own, albeit much smaller, projectiles into the fray. The combined might of the group was melting away any defences before they even got into melee range.
“Do you think our shields could survive an attack?” Leonard asked, eyes locked onto images of a bubbling melted hole in the roof of a bunker.
“Not sure,” Arming quickly analysed the footage. “Maybe? But I wouldn't bet on it, the alloys in our shields might be much tougher than what's used in that bunker, but they're much thinner.”
Leonard thought the same, “When we get to the Third line let's hang back a little, no need to get caught in the crossfire.”
Just as Leonard reached his position in the middle of the third trench line, so did the Swarm Lord reach the second. It was a massacre, the Lord had simply forced open a path in the once impassable minefield keeping the Swarmlings at bay, letting the horde rush in through the opening.
“Shoot the fuckers!”
“Don't let them through!”
“Hold fast men!”
The PDF put up a valiant defence, however the moment the Lord’s massive legs stepped into their lines their fate was sealed. Its massive bone cannons at this range could not miss, and every bunker in its surroundings was initially turned into a corrosive mush.
The Swarm quickly filled the trench, storming down its length. And without support from the larger gun positions of the now destroyed bunkers they stood little chance. It was a complete defeat.