The Mecha ran back to the Cutter on autopilot, instructed to tuck itself back into the repair and reloading rack to wait for Max to call it again. The effect on the enemy was instantaneous. They began to move as soon as the Mecha was out of visual range, and the communications picked up the moment that it entered the Cutter.
They must have assumed that he was retreating to sleep and would be out of commission by the time that their movements were noticed because they weren't being subtle, and the drone feed was giving Max a clear picture of their current numbers and movement strategy.
There were definitely too many of them, and they were coming from near the signal that he had picked up, but that wasn't the only location. The data analysis from the ship indicated that there were six more likely positions in the region where they would have been appearing in larger numbers than would reasonably be expected given their losses.
All of them were near locations where something had fallen from the Cruiser. Most of them were landers, but a few were large armoured vehicle drop points as well.
They hadn't been ignored, most of them had been heavily shelled by the Mecha and had stopped releasing troops for a while, but now they were at it again, suggesting that there was a hiding spot or method of entry for them there.
It might be a teleportation array, as they used for boarding actions. That could be bringing them from thousands of kilometres away, and if the array was covered by the rubble of a vehicle, it would be nearly impossible to detect from their high altitude drones.
[Titan number two is returning to the Cutter. I have located something strange. Far too many troops have exited a lander.] Nico's voice whispered in Max's ear as he crept toward the location of the enemy signal.
[Let me know how it goes. But don't be afraid to bomb it into oblivion if it offends you. The drones say there are plenty more where that one came from.]
Max mentally sensed Nico's laughter as she approached her target, and moved into position so he could get a clear view of what was going on without being spotted.
There were still random artillery shells landing in the region, some under a hundred metres from the camp as the Mecha Companies shelled everything that they deemed a threat, but activity at the small cluster of vehicles that Max was watching kept increasing.
Then he spotted it. A shimmer in the air, where more troops were appearing. They really had activated a portal on one of the larger vehicles' chassis, and were using it as a Command Post to both bring in and deploy troops.
What he really needed to know was how. The APC couldn't hold enough equipment for a Portal Generator, it wasn't large enough, so it had to have some sort of homing beacon.
Or perhaps, it was the beacon. If the signals that were being sent from the Pod were to help locate the portal's opening, then it would only take three of them to triangulate a position and get an accurate enough point of convergence to open a portal in relative safety.
Max waited in the trees while he tracked the other signals that this location was interacting with back to four other hidden vehicles, all of which were disguised to appear to be destroyed.
That was good enough for him, and Max prepared to make his move.
[Artillery, I want all five of these locations destroyed in six seconds.] Max ordered as he prepared to make his move.
Three fast steps forward, and his Plasma Cannon was in his hands, humming with energy as he overcharged the capacitors to empty the entire energy cell in a single shot. One more step and the warriors had noticed his charge, but it was too late to stop his first shot from passing right through the portal.
An explosion tore through the portal as Max slotted a new energy cell into his weapon and the warriors regained their feet.
Then the artillery barrage began in the distance, and the portal began to fluctuate wildly, no longer pinned on a specific location by the signals.
The air crackled with energy as the closest of the warriors activated the energy barrier over a massive axe, chopping down at Max's smaller body. There was no time to take out a blade, but the suit had them built into each forearm for just this sort of emergency.
Tree branches shattered, and laser rifle beams streaked by the pair as Max tackled the warrior to the ground, then swiftly slit his throat with the forearm blade on the Mobile Suit.
Bullets whipped by, and his energy shield flared with power as the counterattack became more organized, forcing Max to roll behind the body of the fallen warrior for cover until he could get the light Mass Drivers on target to return fire.
Max trusted his System Skills to target the Mass Drivers for him, allowing the rapid-fire screaming of the one exposed weapon to tear through the air while he hefted the corpse of the fallen warrior in front of him as a shield.
More explosions wracked the area, throwing him backward into the trees, and scorching his shield.
It wasn't clear what he had hit, but the explosion had left no survivors on his scanners.
[Target one down.] He reported as he got back to his feet.
[What did you blow up over there? There is fire coming out of the portal at my location, and I haven't even started shooting that way yet.] Nico asked.
[Damned if I know. I was firing blind and letting the System pick the targets.] Max replied, while Nico laughed at him.
[Whatever it is. Do it again, these guys are MAD, and they're fleeing back into the portal.]
Great, just what he needed. Warriors from all over the region converging on his position. No, on second thought, that really was what he needed.
[Mecha Company Seven, give me a full bombardment on my beacon. Wide pattern, as we are expecting incoming troops.]
