"Hahaha! This is so much fun! So this is what it is like to be a ch pilot! It is so much fun! It is as if I am fighting with a supersized version of my body! There is no comparison between piloting a ch and piloting a shuttle. My Auto Heretic has truly beco my second body!"
"Damn, these rcenaries are too good. They can take down two or three of our own before they finally go down. We are losing Carmine chs left and right. Will we have any left by the ti this battle is over?"
"Don't get cold feet! If we lose, you will lose your Auto Heretics anyway, so we might as well go all-out!"
The losses suffered by the haphazardly organized and poorly coordinated Auto Heretics were considerable.
Nonetheless, the locals enlisted by Herzog Kadan possessed a lot of enthusiasm, and enjoyed the process of piloting an actual ch in an actual battle.
Their performance was terrible when they were fighting on even numbers.
What was worse was that they outright collapsed within a minute if they were ever caught outnumbered by their opponents!
However, as long as they concentrated their numbers, the mob of Carmine chs seed to gain courage from each other's presence. The greater the amount of chs, the more encouragent the amateurs gained!
Greater numbers placed much less attention on the qualities of each individual ch. The rookie Carmine ch pilots felt much less embarrassed about their bad to diocre performance if it was hardly noticeable among a crowd of similar chs.
The Carmine ch pilots also derived more confidence from each other when there were many friendly chs by their side. The chances that the enemy forces would focus any individual down had beco much smaller, thereby giving the Carmine ch pilots the reasonable belief that they wouldn't be targeted first.
All-in-all, the Carmine ch pilots fighting for Herzog Kadan were so new at this that they were forced to invent a range of new ch doctrines on the fly!
After the mob of Auto Heretics had mopped up a number of isolated enemy troops, the ch pilots fighting for Macky Incorporated wised up quickly.
They no longer focused on attacking many dispersed targets at once and rapidly congregated together in order to hold a decisive battle.
The ensuing fighting no longer took place in any populated areas, but this only caused both sides to beco a lot more unscrupulous when fighting against each other!
The rcenaries hired by Macky Incorporated perford much better during this final engagent. Having been taken by surprise by the large quantity of Auto Heretics, theft
quickly adjusted their formations and tactics to prevent themselves from getting sward by a mass of inferior chs.
That did not deter the Auto Heretics too much. The ones with ranged configurations simply maintained their distances and took potshots at their distant end foes while hoping they would not get attacked in turn.
As for the ones with lee weapon configurations, they did not fight by themselves but gathered together around squads of conventional chs piloted by the employees and retainers of Herzog Kadan.
Many of the latter weren't even full-ti employees of the established company. They were private ch pilots who only agreed to answer the call and fight when Herzog Kadan truly needed their services.
Though these contractors were reluctant to commit their lives to such a serious battle, they still had an obligation to abide by their contracts.
Besides, they didn't like the upstarts of Macky Incorporated at all! There were many retainers that fought in order to keep their planet devoid from too much off-world influence.
The problem was that all of these local ch pilots were inferior in skill and real combat experience compared to the high-priced rcenaries hired by Macky Incorporated. Not only that, the chs used by the off-world soldiers of fortune were also better!
"If we can't win by quality, then we can only win by quantity!"
The forces fighting for Herzog Kadan ultimately decided to take a bold risk and go on the offensive!
If they maintained a defensive posture, they might be able to entrench themselves, but they would also cede all of the initiative to their much more experienced opponents. Staying in a single place and letting the enemy dictate the timing of its attacks was a good way to wear down the morale of low-quality ch pilots.
The ntal fortitude and the willingness to fight off complete amateurs who used to be civilians a few weeks ago were very questionable.
Instead of letting them stew in place and lose their fighting spirit when the enemy sought to pressure them, it was better to whip the Carmine ch pilots into a frenzy and dispatch them in an all-out attack!
"Charge, you sorry excuses for ch pilots! Conquer your fears and fight for your right to pilot your own ch! Herzog Kadan promises to you now that as long as we win this battle, we shall transfer ownership of the Auto Heretics to their bonded Carmine ch pilots! If you have lost your Carmine ch in battle, then we will deposit 50 percent of what your machine is worth directly into your account, but only if we win. If you want to earn your Auto Heretics, then you better fight like your life depends on it! Victory or
death!"
Though the amateurs lost confidence quickly as soon as they realized that they were at a disadvantage, they were also remarkably easy to drive mad as long as they were given the right words and incentives!
A large amount of Auto Heretics strode forth without much of a semblance for
formations.
The only sign that proved that they were at least sowhat able to coordinate with each other was that many of the cannon fodder machines actually held up large slabs of
cheaply fabricated alloy in front of their ch fras.
These were makeshift shields repurposed from spare materials and industrial scrap!
While their quality left anything to be desired, they were still sowhat useful in soaking up enemy fire.
As makeshift shield after makeshift shield shattered, the exposed Carmine chs rapidly backed off and used other chs as cover!
While this was a rather shaless and desperate tactic, it actually worked to stem the losses and prevent Carmine ch pilots from turning back into powerless norms!
Due to the heroic effort of these Carmine chs, the stronger and more well-equipped conventional chs of Herzog Kadan were able to advance to the enemy positions with minimal exposure!
Aside from intermittent artillery fire, the enemy failed to handle the real threat!
The fighters of Herzog Kadan did not know it at the ti, but they had beco part of a much greater movent to formulate entirely new ch doctrines surrounding the use of Carmine chs.
By relying on the superior numbers of Carmine chs to provide cover and support to a smaller core of conventional chs, the two types of chs generated an incredibly degree of synergy!
They were able to cover for each other's weaknesses to an extent while also amplifying
their strengths.
This beca evident on this seemingly inconsequential battlefield as the two sides began to et each other at close range.
While the off-world rcenaries hired by Macky Incorporated still retained their superiority in individual martial might, the chs fighting for Herzog Kadan exerted a huge amount of pressure!
Part of that was because the surviving Carmine ch pilots were still hyped by the latest
pep talk. Both fear and excitent warred in their minds, but so long as there were enough friendly chs by their side, they still possessed just enough courage to commit to their
attacks!
Different from before, the amateurs cooperated a bit better with their professional
colleagues.
Having learned plenty of lessons from the initial clashes, the Auto Heretics no longer took the lead and confronted the rcenary chs.
Instead, several Auto Heretics had been attached to a single friendly conventional ch. The latter took the lead and issued instructions to the amateurs when necessary.
The latter only really needed to do two things.
First, they needed to follow their assigned leader unit!
Second, they should spread out and assist in attacking any enemy ch attacked by
their leader unit!
While it was possible to make better use of the Carmine chs if they employed more sophisticated formations or engaged in more convoluted flanking maneuvers, there was no way a bunch of amateurs, even ones that had played a lot of ch piloting simulation gas, to be able to follow such complex instructions!
Issuing simple orders to them had been the right decision. While their actions and decision-making were distressingly inconsistent, they still managed to help out their leader unit by removing pressure and launching opportunistic attacks that always
inflicted at least a decent amount of damage!
"Hah!"
Many of the lee Carmine chs wielded spears as opposed to swords.
Spears were much simpler to operate and execute as the Carmine chs only really
needed to stab their weapons forward. The extended range was also nice as it kept the flightful amateur ch pilots out of trouble for the most part.
One Herzog Kadan ch resolutely marched forward and confronted a pair of
rcenary chs.
While the forr stood no chance against the latter, the story was different when the Herzog Kadan ch was accompanied by 4 additional Auto Heretics!
The ch pilots of the Carmine chs might not really know what they were doing, but they were already doing more than enough by repeatedly stabbing their spears forward! By relying on the basic skills of their own living chs, each spear strike posed a considerable threat that could not be ignored. The HALMS may not be able to outfight any conventional ch anyti soon, but they at least did not make any egregious mistakes that a clever enemy could exploit.
This was enough!
By repeatedly stabbing their spears while avoiding any obvious mistakes, the Carmine chs successfully kept the two enemy lee chs busy while the Herzog Kadan was finally able to gain the upper hand!
With several spears striking out at one of the rcenary chs, the latter was unable to
fend off all of the attacks from the local ch pilot.
Once a sword managed to cut off one of the arms of the rcenary ch, it found itself
unable to fend off much of the follow-up attacks.
The two adjacent Carmine chs took advantage of the damaged enemy ch's
weakness and rapidly stabbed their spears forward!
Even though none of the attacks inflicted any heavy damage, they nonetheless managed
to pierce through the armor and damaged nearby internals.
What was worse was that the Herzog Kadan ch took advantage of the pressure
exerted by the Carmine chs and went in for the kill!
With a single stab through the chest and into the cockpit, the swordsman ch pilot managed to inflict a fatal blow!
"Die, you rcenary scum! Serves you right for trying to invade our planet!" Other teams of Carmine chs following a single conventional ch employed much of
the sa tactics across the battlefield.
Though the Carmine chs eventually suffered elevated losses due to their inability to cope with flanking and enemy ch pilots who were skilled enough to outplay the HALMs, ultimately the numbers were against the chs fighting on behalf of Macky
Incorporated!
This proved decisive. Many norms who were lucky enough to be among the first. Carmine ch pilots on their planet had already lost their precious opportunities as their living machines got crushed.
However, there were still enough surviving Carmine chs left to provide adequate
support to the regular units of Herzog Kadan.
Ultimately, the battle reached a tipping point.
"The rcenaries... they are pulling out. They are fleeing back to their combat carriers! They don't think this battle is worth fighting for anymore!"
"Now let's finish off the chs owned by Macky Incorporated and teach these upstarts
the consequences of consorting with off-worlders!"
"We've won, hurrah!"
The war between Herzog Kadan vs Macky Incorporated had co to an explosive end!
Macky Incorporated held most of the advantages and should have won the battle for economic dominance on the rural planet.
However, because the forr made a much larger bet on Carmine chs, Herzog Kadan
ultimately defended its throne and completely managed to drive Macky Incorporated away from its planet.
"These Auto Heretics are much more useful than I thought! Sure, they are individually
awful, but the best part about them is that a ch pilots needs virtually no training to
beco useful on the battlefield. As long as there are professionals around who can give them direction, their threat level becos much greater!"
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