Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen: Simplified Requisition Cycles (Patreon)

“Time’s running short,” Doyle warned as we reassembled below the school. “Belessar, you said the Greater Carnotaur will be able to use its ability again in another hour?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you come up with something?”

“I may have,” I suggested. “This suit has hardpoints for mounting missiles. I haven’t used them before.”

“Go on.”

“They’re universal hardpoints. Which means I can mount any class of missile on them - even anti-ship missiles. The caveat is that it has to weigh less than fifty kilos.”

“... You want a missile with a warhead capable of doing sufficient damage to kill the Carnotaur, and you’ll get close enough to it to fire at short range.”

“Yeah.”

“Ask Nanocloud to speak to the folks in the command centre.”

The reply came back in minutes.

<Nanocloud>: They’re sending something that might work to you. Keep pressing forward.

<Belessar>: Got that, what are they sending?

<Nanocloud>: A truck with a bunch of Hellfire-X missiles. Forty-five kilos each, meant for close range launch.

<Belessar>: I can only carry one at a time. Otherwise the armor gets overburdened.

<Nanocloud>: They’re sending you fifty.

<Belessar>: That’s a lot of very expensive missiles.

<Nanocloud>: The Colonel said the missiles won’t do any good sitting in a warehouse, so you might as well use them. Oh, and Windsor says they’re yours to use as you see fit.

<Nanocloud>: There are only eight inventors other than you with powered armor, but about forty Herculeans. I’ve managed to direct Chikaradzuyoi and Allegiant to Richmond Park, they’re running containment on the two Carnotaurs there.

<Belessar>: They can’t hold off two Carnotaurs by themselves.

<Nanocloud>: Thirty other ultras and a tank division are backing them up. Lafayette’s water constructs are there, too.

<Belessar>: What about the rest of the alien troops?

<Nanocloud>: There’s a hundred firefights going on across the city between human and alien troops. Casualties are… bad. The aliens are killing our troops at a ratio of ten to one.

<Belessar>: Half the soldiers will die at that rate.

<Nanocloud>: It’s worse than that. They’re still disembarking troops from the ships. Our estimate of aliens went up to at least a hundred thousand.

<Nanocloud>: There’s concern that even without the Carnotaurs, they might win.

<Belessar>: Steady on. The battle’s not lost yet.

<Nanocloud>: I know. Just… stay safe. This is going to be a long one.

<Nanocloud>: On that note… Lynxians en route. Stealth Rovers.

<Belessar>: On it.

“Alien armor!” I yelled. “Stealthed vehicles!”

Alpha Platoon and the Guard responded, darting to their pre-planned positions. The other troops stood around, looking confused, until their officers hastily ordered them into cover.

I reloaded the Mass Driver Rifle and waited.

Sure enough, seconds later, we spotted them.

Stealth Rovers are difficult to see unless you’re specifically looking for them. Standing still, the Rover’s surface mirrors exactly what’s behind it, giving off the impression of a mirage or a heat haze. In that condition, they’re almost impossible to spot, until they open fire.

The effect is created by armor panels across the entire body which act like perfect holographic display screens, making them effectively invisible - unless you walk into them.

When moving, however, the Rovers have to change the screen every second. Which means that there’s a slight lag in the refresh rates.

Which manifests as a shimmer.

TEST OF PERCEPTION: PASSED.

Three shimmers showed on the road. Yikes, three at once…

Well, no pain, no gain.

650 MP surged into the Mass Driver Rifle, and I fired.

The round smashed into the ‘shimmer’ on the left with spectacular effects.

LYNXIAN STEALTH ROVER -7000 HP!

STEALTH FIELD FAILURE!

CONDITION INFLICTED: SHATTERED ENGINE! BURNING HULL!

The masking field on the Rover collapsed, as did half of the front. A Lynxian soldier spilled out from the vehicle, yowling like a scalded cat.

HEPAR fire smashed into the Rover, blasting it apart.

LYNXIAN STEALTH ROVER DEFEATED BY ALLIES! +2500 XP!

The other two Rovers paused, apparently trying to figure out how their partner had been spotted. No matter, I had their positions fixed.

The Mass Driver Rifle barked again, this time with a normal round.

LYNXIAN STEALTH ROVER -1000 HP!

STEALTH FIELD FAILURE!

The second dropping out of stealth surprised the Guard, but they reacted efficiently. Plasma blasts smashed into the Rover, burning through its hull a bit at a time.

A loud boom! drowned out the noise for a second.

The second Rover blew up spectacularly.

The tank accompanying us had just fired.

LYNXIAN STEALTH ROVER DEFEATED BY ALLIES! +2500 XP!

The third rover seemed to sense that things were going against it, so it reversed and began to retreat at top speed.

Unfortunately, the faster you move, the worse the shimmer. I aimed.

LYNXIAN STEALTH ROVER -1000 HP!

STEALTH FIELD FAILURE!

The tank commander must have been really on the ball, because within a second, another shell smashed into the Lynxian vehicle.

LYNXIAN STEALTH ROVER DEFEATED BY ALLIES! +2500 XP!

FOR DEFEATING 3 ENEMY VEHICLES WITHOUT A SCRATCH IN THE PRESENCE OF A POTENTIAL ROMANTIC INTEREST, YOUR SUITABILITY AS A POTENTIAL MATE ENHANCED! +1 ATT!

...it’s free CP, it’s free CP, it’s free CP….

“That was easier than expected,” Bulldog commented from beside me. “I thought I’d have to wrestle with them or something.”

“Helps to have a friendly tank along,” I joked. “Tucker? Can you give the tank commander my thanks, please? Those things are hard to kill for infantry.”

“Lieutenant - I mean General - already did that,” replied Tucker. “The tank commander’s Captain Hillcrest of the Royal Hussars, said he’s happy to shoot any more aliens we want shot.”

I eyed the motley column following us. Hillcrest’s tank, a Challenger Mark III, was the heaviest unit in our collection of odds and sods, but definitely worth it.

At least the enemy hadn’t deployed any tanks of their own.

So far.

<Nanocloud>: Heads up. There’s something funny coming up the street.

<Belessar>: More Stealth Rovers?

<Nanocloud>: No, it looks like an alien in armor.