As expected, the next wave of deployment orders came within the hour. Most of the Mecha on location were instructed to say in place and guard the Command Group, while Max and his unit were to advance towards the capital and capture a technology research facility.
Their orders said that any documentation, especially about high-level officers and researchers, was to be recovered and reported back to the Command Group.
The distance was only 12km, but in the middle of a war zone, that's a long way. Enough to make Max extra grateful that they managed to obtain enough vehicles for the entirety of Bravo Company to travel inside.
If the Colonel or anyone else from Command Group Three was startled at the upgrades that they were leaving with, they managed not to show it, and casually watched the mixed unit disappear from sight.
Max has a simple strategy for their advance. The tanks will lead, then the light mecha, followed by him and Nico, then the Armored Personnel carriers and anti-aircraft platforms. It will keep most of their more vulnerable infantry behind the primary fight, but by leading with local tanks, they might be able to confuse a few defenders into thinking that they were getting reinforced.
[Satellite feeds show approximately twenty light mechs and no heavy support at the research facility, but there is a possibility of hidden units.] Max informs the team as he gets the updates.
They move as quickly as possible down the battle scarred road towards their target, looking very much like retreating rebel units. Max hopes that the infantry vehicles that they pilfered still have valid rebel encryption codes to interact with the defenders at the research station. Although, if the enemy were clever, they would have planned to change it at least once a day after the battle started.
The target is a six story, glass walled office building with four large warehouses, all set into a deep valley. While that prevents them from being seen at a distance, it also prevents them from seeing incoming units without the aid of cameras.
This area has clear signs of multiple battles, so there is a chance the cameras are down, but Max isn't counting on it.
[Infantry, identify on Rebel channels as Masks One Six if anyone contacts you. That was the call sign for the unit at our landing zone.] Nico informs everyone, and Max realizes that she's likely using her Innate Talent in combination with her Mecha's communications array to attempt to break the encryption.
They have made good progress, but luck can't carry them forever, and only two Kilometers out from the target, they stumble across a rebel light mecha patrol, hidden in the trees while attempting to make repairs.
Stalwart and Tarith's Rage are clearly not rebel mecha, which are all painted variations based on dark gray, so they waste no time engaging. Max takes half a second to get a target lock, then unleashes the fury of both guns at the same time. Nico charges strictly at the Line Mecha, sword in hand, and drops a wide-area blast from her Ion Destroyer on them, incinerating anyone caught outside their mecha.
Max pans his Gatling Battery across the group and takes out a second target with his Battle Cannon while Nico reaches melee range.
To say her combat style is unorthodox is an understatement. When she gets close enough, her sword finds a home in a rebel Line Mecha's power plant, but she doesn't wait to bring it back to the ready. Instead, she lifts one giant mechanical foot high in the air, kicking over a rebel mecha and repeatedly stomping on it.
The infantryman have joined in to assist Lieutenant Becki with their heavy weapons teams, sending a barrage of firepower into the remaining rebel light Mecha, but that's not stopping the rampaging Tarith's Rage. Chaos and terror reign Supreme among the Rebels as she deliberately kicks them to the ground, leaving them helpless against being crushed or blown apart by heavy weapons fire.
[You might kill more mecha, Stalwart, but I can guarantee the enemy is more afraid of the Tarith's Rage.] Lieutenant Becki laughs over the intercom as the one sided battle comes to a close.
[Life is all about balance, young Becki. Yin and Yang, softness and strength, terror and destruction. It is as valid for battle as for women.] Nico opines in a fake sagely accent, making all the Mecha pilots laugh.
Max wonders how terror and destruction became complementary aspects in her mind but then decides that combat Nico and training Nico are two entirely different aspects of her personality. In battle, she is genuinely frightening.
[Sir, we have rebel contact, asking for reinforcement to the Technology Research Facility] Captain Catan of Bravo Company informs them.
[Tell them you are diverting to their location, remember your call sign, and try to bluff your way through. There has been enough chaos that they might believe it.]
That appears to be the scenario with the best chance that they can get into the facility unhindered. Bravo Company is very good at their work, and against other infantry or rebel militia inside the facility, they won't have any troubles.
[I think they bought it. What's the plan?] Captain Catan asks.
[Stalwart and Tarith's Rage will break off, Catan, lead everyone else in. Call the moment you sense trouble, and we will provide the distraction.] Max decides.
The Light Mecha are a generic enough color scheme to be mistaken for local, so Lieutenant Becki stays with the infantry to provide fire support.
What they find when they enter the valley is not what they expected, though. The upper facia is a disguise. The facility is a Mecha development complex, and at least a half dozen rebel Crusaders are in hangers disguised as factory buildings to the Satellite Scans.
Becki relays what they have found to Stalwart and waits for Max to decide. If those mecha have pilots, walking in there and getting caught would be suicide.
[Someone get me an exact location on that hanger. When you get closer, I will put a Battle Cannon round inside and try to blow the doors off their tracks so they can't lock the facility.]
