Struck It Rich

Several large autonomous combine harvesters stood in an open area about six hundred meters southeast of the village.

This had once been the maintenance area for the village's autonomous farm machinery fleet.

It was also where Lieutenant Andrew had set up a flanking ambush position.

But now, every harvester in this so-called position was riddled with holes. Large patches of blood, minced flesh, fragments of organs, and other human remains clung to their shells.

Those remains, mixed with fragments of equipment, had belonged to the ambush team stationed here.

Under the assault of two Mongoose 4s, however, the team and the farm machinery they had used for cover were torn to pieces in less than a minute.

Inside one of the Mongoose 4 wheeled armored vehicles, Major Randall looked through the optical observation system at a Portable Electromagnetic Cannon whose model was only just recognizable. A chill still ran through him.

During the fight, the cannon had come within a hair's breadth of firing.

If the barrage from the Chain Gun had not smashed the Railgun and the soldier operating it, Randall was sure its tungsten-alloy penetrator would have punched straight through his Armored Vehicle.

He thought back over the fight. It had been his first time "commanding" a Wheeled Armored Vehicle in ground combat.

Of course, his command had amounted to sitting in his seat, listening to the two crews talk, and feeling the roar of the 40 mm Chain Gun.

Amber had only put a Major aboard so the two crews would feel that their mission mattered.

He had left the tactical details to the crews themselves.

After splitting off from the assault team, the two Mongoose 4s had immediately charged toward the southeast side of the village as planned.

Following a brief exchange, the two vehicle commanders chose to use the trees lining the roads near the village as cover while they closed quickly on the Empire ambush team marked on their Tactical Map.

But the Empire's Orbital Paratroopers in that ambush team were no fools.

When communications went down, they quickly realized they were under electronic attack and began watching their surroundings.

Even amid a battlefield full of gunfire, they picked up the sound of the Wheeled Armored Vehicles racing toward them at full speed.

So when the commander of one Mongoose 4 spotted the ambush position through his observation scope,

the first thing he saw was the Orbital Paratroopers aiming their weapons at him, along with a Portable Electromagnetic Cannon that had just been turned their way and was completing its final charge.

The Mongoose 4's commander hit the fire button almost by reflex, pouring 40 mm high-explosive rounds onto the Portable Electromagnetic Cannon.

The sudden burst of fire startled the commander of the other Mongoose 4.

But when flechette rounds from the Empire soldiers' Gauss Rifles struck the vehicle's front armor with a clatter, throwing up a shower of sparks,

he reacted at once and hit his own fire button, targeting the greatest threat: an Orbital Paratrooper equipped with a portable anti-vehicle missile.

The chain gun's high-explosive rounds tore apart the paratrooper and the portable anti-vehicle missile, whose launch port cover had already opened.

With that, the Empire ambush team lost its last means of stopping the vehicles.

The survivors scrambled into the gaps between the combine harvesters, hoping the huge machines might offer some protection from the Chain Gun.

Unfortunately for them, the moment the two Mongoose 4 commanders lost sight of their targets, both switched to depleted-uranium armor-piercing rounds.

Then they pressed their fire buttons again.

Meanwhile, the Communications Relay Vehicle waiting in the staging area finally made contact with the Federation troops inside the village.

Once the communications soldier brought Amber onto the channel, he quickly established who the surrounded Federation troops were.

The group was a mix of Mobile Infantry and logistics personnel.

When the Empire launched its attack, the military supply depot where the logistics unit was stationed had narrowly escaped the first orbital strike.

Before the second strike arrived, they started every transport vehicle in the depot that could still move, loaded them with ammunition, food, medicine, and other supplies and equipment, then set off to reposition while trying to contact nearby friendly forces.

But the convoy was too large to miss. Empire troops soon caught their scent and came after them.

Like a flock of sheep beset by wolves, the sprawling supply convoy was forced to split up, with each group trying to break through on its own.

The group Amber had found had joined up with a scattered Mobile Infantry platoon during its escape.

After regrouping, they had retreated to this village, only to be surrounded by Empire troops again.

Using the buildings for cover, they had repelled several attacks by the Empire's Orbital Paratroopers. At first, the Federation soldiers had thought, Is that all they've got?

But when the artillery barrage began, they were quickly bombed into a panic and scattered into the buildings for shelter.

One of the transports that had entered the village even carried the weapons, equipment, and ammunition for two mortar teams.

But with the Empire troops firing first and pinning them down, none of them had the nerve to set up the mortars under fire and shoot back.

They did not even dare climb into their Armored Vehicles and use the mounted weapons to fend off the Empire troops.

Then, with artillery fire trapping everyone in separate buildings and a large enemy force steadily closing in on the village, the unit's temporary commander

ran away.

The Federation soldiers in the village were left demoralized and despairing.

To them, the arrival of Amber's reinforcements felt like a miracle.

So when Amber identified himself and asked them to fight alongside him, they approved his request for temporary command almost without hesitation.

"Temporary network established! Information synchronized via data link!"

"Reorganizing units. Please wait."

Soon, information on the troops inside the village appeared on Amber's command interface:

Five transport vehicles carrying food, drinking water, ammunition, fuel, Metallic Hydrogen Battery packs, a small number of superconducting battery packs, and the weapons and equipment for two mortar teams.

Three Mongoose 4 Wheeled Armored Vehicles, all standard troop carriers.

Ten transport soldiers and twenty-four Mobile Infantry personnel: eighteen combatants and six vehicle crew members.

With this many people, they could've used the village terrain to hold their ground...

Looking at the unit that had just joined his command network, Amber could only marvel at how absurdly incompetent its temporary commander had been. The man had fled at the first sign of trouble.

Fuck, how did someone like that become an officer?!

But his attention soon turned to the five transports loaded with supplies.

Although Amber and his men’s reinforcements were like a rope thrown to someone trapped in a well, offering this unit a lifeline,

the convoy’s supplies were just as urgently needed by Amber and his troops.

At least for a while, they would not have to worry about shortages of ammunition or other supplies.

That made Amber all the more determined to rescue this Federation unit.

Sorry, something held me up today.

Tomorrow's update will be at the usual time~