Before she went to sleep, Nico set the production settings for the warehouse that she had requisitioned to replace the Drone Bombers as they were destroyed and have them patrol the area around camp.
They had all been taken down during the last assault, and she couldn't have them fly much higher without risking an attack from the ships above them.
For such crude weapons, the missiles that the Myceloids used to attack the bombers were surprisingly accurate, and the damage was enough that very few of them survived to limp back to base after being hit.
They had done their job well, though, and the gaps in the attack waves were enough to give the other flanks an occasional breather, while the Mecha had enough area attack ability that their portion of the line had managed to clear large portions of the wave multiple times that attack.
It wasn't without cost, though. They had lost over seventy of the Android Pilots along with their Mecha, and many more had spent hours repairing their units after the battle had ended.
Max had ordered them to repair and reactivate their fallen team members, so she didn't have to worry about it, and by doing it that way instead of replacing them, there was a better chance that their memory cores would be intact and they would retain the knowledge of their mistakes.
Max was already asleep when she climbed in next to him and turned her shell temperature down so that he would feel extra warm in comparison. They managed to get almost a whole night of sleep that way before the sound of artillery in the distance roused the whole camp again, and it was time to run to their Mecha for the upcoming battle.
The bombers had spotted another group in the distance, but Nico wasn't about to just sit here and take it the same way as before.
They already knew how that battle ended, so she gathered her team and prepared them to move forward.
"How about we get this party started a bit early? We can move to the trench line where their scouts are waiting, and then we can fight them there." She suggested as she and Max reached the defensive lines.
"Send the bombers to do a pass over them first. It will be much easier to take the trenches if they aren't already full of Myceloids." Max reminded her.
They were currently shoulder to shoulder in the trenches so that the metal shields they were carrying would protect them from bombardment and let their allies pass overhead. That was a terrible state to try to cleanse the trenches in, but the bombers created their weapons as they used them, and they could quickly switch to armour-penetrating cluster bombs that would turn everything in the trenches to paste.
Then when the Mecha arrived, the Fusion Flamers would turn the paste to ash, and they would have a nice fresh trench to themselves.
The bomber flight came in from the left at a thousand kilometres an hour. That was the Drone Calculated optimal speed compromise between targeting accuracy and minimal anti-aircraft fire damage, and the trench line lit up in a hundred-metre-tall wave of flames as the bombs crashed through the shields of the Myceloids.
[Everyone forward. Take the trenches before any survivors can recover.] Max ordered, and Nico lept out of the defensive fortification at a full-speed run.
The Androids were right behind her, and her Fusion Flamer was primed for battle. So, as soon as she was in range, the flames swept out of her flamers and reignited the inferno in the trenches. The Disruptor was primed and ready to go, but her sensors didn't detect anything living in the trench. Not even the spores that the Myceloid blood carried were registering to her Mecha.
It was a bit anticlimactic, but they were only getting in position for the battle to come.
[We fight them here until the enemy is at twenty metres. Then, we will back out of the trench and have the bombers deploy a minefield between the trenches and the Hunters' lines. Avoid the flamers from then until the advance destroys the mines.] Max ordered.
That did not sound like he was planning to get into close combat. Not at all.
But after Nico calculated the odds of the tactics completely stopping the advance, she realized that they would still make it to the lines, but they would have taken heavy casualties.
That usually meant that they would be mad. Very mad. And an enemy who was lost in rage was a lot of fun to fight. Max might not have planned it that way, but he was setting this battlefield up for a very good afternoon.
Not only that, but it would diversify the tactics and combat styles that the Androids had faced, which would give them even better tactical skills in the next battles. This might be the most extreme form of research lab ever, but it was still a testing ground for her creations, and Nico had big plans to make them even more capable without crossing the line to make them full-on sentient beings.
The Myceloid advance didn't slow when they noticed that the Mecha had taken over their advanced positions. In fact, they seemed to get even more energized by the prospect of a good fight, and Nico was starting to really like these creatures.
Not in a way that would encourage her to stop killing them, of course. But as a respected opponent. They might have worn down the Hunters with pure numbers, but she had androids on her side, so as long as the two Commanders didn't fall, they had an immortal army against a never-ending horde.
Then, the army seemed to stop behind the last ridge line, just out of sight of the Mass Drivers. They could likely shoot through the hill with a bit of determination, but that would only make the enemy change tactics next time to account for the lack of cover.
[I'm giving them two minutes to come out, and then I am sending the bombers to encourage them.] Nico informed Max as she impatiently waited for the fight to begin.
[Calm down. They're in the range of my Innate Talent. They're just waiting for more of them to get piled up at the front so that they can use the shields and bodies to push forward and take the trenches.]
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