And these simple war bases were spread out step by step across the map of this hive-race planet,
one appearing every so often.
"Speed up the clearing! Make safe room for the level-2 cargo!" The mecha corps commander pointed at an area on the map.
"Reminder. The cargo you ordered is expected to arrive in three minutes. Please be ready to receive it. First: the ground in the receiving area must be level, with no sharp, hard objects over fifty centimeters. Second: all combat units, please withdraw from the area. Third: please make sure no enemy units attack the cargo while it unfolds."
A prompt came through his headset.
"Is it cleared yet?" the corps commander shouted.
"Report: Base No. 1 cleared!" a mecha pilot shouted.
The corps commander swept his eyes over it and confirmed that this area was cleared.
"All combat mechas withdraw from this area. Form a ring battle formation and protect this area from being destroyed! Every temporary combat base, give cover!" the corps commander ordered.
"Yes!"
These T4 Thunder-Warrior-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mechas formed a circular battle formation,
guns and weapons in hand facing outward, clearing away all the hive-race combat units that welled up.
Those temporary fortresses that had finished unfolding opened full fire too!
The swarm around them was extremely numerous.
Some even burrowed up out of the ground
and swallowed a temporary fortress whole in one bite!
Just at this moment, an object of enormous size appeared overhead.
The corps commander looked over.
"I've seen one aboard the starship before. Didn't feel much about it then. But seeing it now, it really feels huge," the corps commander said with feeling.
This huge object was at least a hundred times bigger than the earlier cargo crates,
as big as a large T1 interstellar warship.
"Ding. Cargo has arrived at the designated position. Unfolding countdown: 300 seconds. Within 300 seconds, please make sure the cargo suffers no damage whatsoever!" a mechanical voice sounded.
Every mecha pilot present could hear this voice.
"Did you all hear that? Protect the big fellow behind you. Even if you yourselves are finished, you have to make sure this big fellow is unharmed! Otherwise every one of you can get lost to the hive-race cesspit for me!" the corps commander ordered.
"Yes!"
"T3 Templar-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mechas mainly hold the ground line. T4 Thunder-Warrior-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mechas switch to starfighter mode, mainly responsible for protection from the air; adapt as things change. We have to hold out through these three hundred seconds!" the corps commander said.
"Yes!"
Perhaps those hive-race combat units had sensed this big fellow's threat too.
More hive-race combat units began welling up all around, even T3 large hive-race combat units, swarming in like great beasts.
"Every one of them like dogs that smelled dung. They've all come running!" The corps commander gave a cold snort, steered his T4 Thunder-Warrior-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mecha, turned it into a starfighter and flew up into the air.
His autocannons opened full fire, clearing away those hive-race combat units one by one.
The temporary fortresses that had landed with them earlier showed their worth here too,
helping the combat mechas keep the swarm around them suppressed with fire.
This was the first stage of this landing battle:
combat mechas and temporary fortresses land, and cover the unfolding of the level-2 combat fortresses!
"Report. The ten level-2 combat fortresses we've delivered have entered the unfolding stage. All are expected to finish unfolding within five minutes!" the adjutant reported this news to the fleet captain on the bridge.
"Make sure these level-2 combat fortresses unfold, without fail. Inside these level-2 combat fortresses is equipment that can jam the hive-race's energy fields. It can greatly lower the difficulty of our attack. The area these ten level-2 combat fortresses mark out is our bridgehead on this hive-race planet!" Nannan said solemnly.
"Yes!"
In these five minutes, temporary fortress after temporary fortress gradually fell.
But fortunately there were no casualties.
Even when combat mechas were damaged, they had long since prepared a backup plan.
"Damn, my combat mecha can't move. The core module's been wrecked by the corrosive fluid that bug just sprayed!" A T3 Templar-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mecha was written off right where it stood.
On its lower body could be seen traces of corrosion by green fluid.
"No. 401, you must carry out the evacuation protocol at once!" the mecha pilot beside him said sternly.
"I know. Damn. I really don't want to leave my cockpit on this damned planet." This mecha pilot, No. 401, glanced at the outside data on his display.
Oxygen concentration suitable for human survival; temperature on the low side, but not much of a problem.
Air quality poor, with an odor.
He hoped it would not smell too bad.
Mecha pilot No. 401 pressed the hatch-open button.
The hatch opened, and he made a decision he regretted for a long time:
he had not put on his breathing mask before the hatch opened.
He smelled the worst smell there was.
This smell was worse even than a pit latrine at a place he used to live that had not been cleaned in three years.
Compared with this, that latrine could be called a five-star restaurant.
He wanted to vomit without thinking.
Fortunately his earlier training had given him very strong mental toughness.
He forced it down, then quickly put on his breathing mask.
At last he no longer had to smell that damned smell.
He walked out of his mecha cockpit.
At this moment he was standing on this hive-race planet in nothing but a skin-tight combat suit.
This and staying in the mecha cockpit were two completely different things.
He did not waste a moment.
He pressed a spot on his mecha's shell, a handle appeared, and he pulled it hard.
A single-use device popped out.
It was a device like a coat rack, on which hung a suit of personal exoskeleton combat armor, already opened out.
He put it on with practiced ease; the whole process took under fifteen seconds.
Then he picked up a laser gun beside it,
and jumped down onto the soil of this hive-race planet.
"401, you need to hurry and withdraw. The pressure on our side is heavy; we're about to be overrun. In a bit we may not be able to look after you," the other mecha pilots reminded him.
"Understood. I'm heading for the evacuation point right now," said mecha pilot 401… or rather, as he now ought to be called, a marine.
Thanks to his personal exoskeleton combat armor, he moved far faster than an ordinary person.
On his mask he could see the evacuation point nearest to him,
three kilometers away.
Not very close.
But at his present speed, it should not take too long to get there.
He ran, opening fire now and then on some stragglers on the ground.
Fortunately these stragglers were all T1-grade bugs; never mind firearms, even a punch from him could crush them.
Very soon he reached the evacuation point.
This evacuation point was a rather safe temporary fortress.
Inside it a simple rocket launch pad could be seen.
On it was a device something like an interstellar missile.
The only difference was probably that its explosive section had been replaced with a passenger compartment.
Several mecha pilots were already sitting in it.
"Hey, welcome, newcomer. Tell us, how did your baby go down? Me, I got hit square in the face by a big fellow exploding. That damned corrosive fluid burned straight through my mecha's head. When I walked out, I could see my mecha's cross-section. That was probably only thirty centimeters from my cockpit. If that fellow had had a bit more juice, I reckon I'd have got a nice long soak."
Watching these people chatting so lightly and casually,
anyone who saw them would probably take them for some tour group, not people on an interstellar battlefield where they might die at any moment.
A few kilometers off all around was the swarm, a dark mass.
"Can't we keep fighting with weapons?" No. 401 asked, somewhat unwilling to accept it.
"This evacuation protocol is Class A. The Class-A evacuation protocol requires that the person concerned not join any fighting unless necessary, and enter the evacuation procedure at once," another evacuee said helplessly.
No. 401 sighed and glanced at his comrades still fighting.
He could only climb obediently into that "missile."
It was still two seats short of full.
Naturally this evacuation did not wait to be full before setting off,
but weighed everything together.
If the evacuation point was in danger, it would leave early.
At the same time, the evacuation procedure would also contact the interstellar warships above,
and the interstellar warships would give the help needed.
After a minute's wait,
a mechanical voice came from this missile's hatch, and the hatch closed and locked.
"All evacuees, please stay in your seats and keep the safety position," the mechanical voice said.
Everyone did as they had in training.
A few breaths later,
they felt a tremendous push in their backs.
Many of their faces twisted.
Had they not all been trained mecha pilots, many would probably have passed out at this moment.
For this evacuation missile was one for use in emergencies;
safe evacuation came first, so the evacuees' comfort was not considered at all.
The appearance of such a missile naturally drew the attention of the hive-race around.
Swarms flew over, trying to intercept this object leaving the planet.
And at this point, in the coordinated combat mission, some T4 Thunder-Warrior-class Medium Interstellar Combat Mechas in starfighter form, which had long since received the relevant task, came to give cover and support,
letting this interstellar missile get safely off the planet.
And during this time, some attacks that were not intercepted
were blocked by the star shield this interstellar missile carried.
It left the planet and flew toward the outskirts of the interstellar battlefield.
Along the way, wherever it passed, the Fierce Dragon interstellar warships around would give the protection needed too,
so that they could be spared the hive-race's threat.
The rocket launcher detached, leaving them with only a glass tube; their speed slowed too.
Only the last remaining thrust was left, carrying them drifting farther and farther away.
Along the way, the last bit of power would slightly change their direction,
so that the position they drifted toward was where their other auxiliary interstellar warships were.
For instance, in the direction they were drifting now,
an interstellar stealth reconnaissance ship was waiting there,
its mechanical arm already extended, ready to receive this evacuation escape capsule.
"Holy cow. That feeling just now really felt like dying. I nearly threw up my liver."
"I really don't want to ride this thing a second time; it's just too awful."
"The T1 combat mecha I used to ride in, I thought that was pretty bad. Now I take back what I said. Compared with this experience, that lovely little fellow was simply a presidential suite."
At this moment, without exception, everyone's faces were deathly pale; they felt as awful as could be!
"I wonder how the squad's fighting is going. I hope it all goes smoothly." 401, having recovered, looked back at that hive-race planet.
He was worried about his comrades.
He felt guilty for having evacuated so early.
If he had been a bit more careful then, perhaps his combat mecha would not have lost its fighting ability.
It made him clench his fists without meaning to,
praying for the comrades he had fought shoulder to shoulder with, hoping they too would come back safely.
If anything at all happened to even one of them,
he would feel guilty and blame himself.
The level-2 combat bases were fully unfolded.
These combat bases and the earlier temporary bases could be called two completely different things.
First, in the middle rose a very tall glowing tower; then there was a tall tower all around, with energy cannons at the tops of the towers.
Then on the walls around, every kind of close-in gun was set out too.
It could be said this base was armed to the teeth.
And these were only what could be seen on the surface.
Once these combat bases began operating,
it was found that the hive-race combat units that would have attacked from underground poked out of the ground early, several kilometers away.
This too was thanks to the combat base.
Inside it, the relevant functions were fitted that could interfere with the hive-race combat units underground, so they need not worry about attacks from beneath the ground,
greatly lowering the risk of the fighting.
"Report. Of the ten combat bases, eight have finished unfolding. Two came under attack by the swarm during unfolding, were damaged, and couldn't finish unfolding. The mecha forces deployed around these two bases have already begun to withdraw. This is the control zone we've newly marked out!" The adjutant brought out a new surface map before Nannan.
On it a green area was drawn.
This green area was the safe area they now controlled.
"Very good. Eight already meets our requirements. Next we begin clearing all the hive-race combat units within this range, and also set up an air supply corridor, to make sure combat supplies can be delivered to the ground safely and steadily. Then we expand outward step by step. Our combat task in this second stage is to clear away a third of the hive-race combat units on this planet!"