Chapter 458. Breakdown (1/2)
The assault on the Detemen System had gone off on a rocky start. Nevertheless, the appearance of the 6th Flagrant Vandals in what the Vesia Kingdom considered its heartland came as a huge shock to both sides of the war.
The Mech Corps barely exerted any oversight on the Vandals. Whenever someone in high command got reminded of their existence, they brushed the motley mech regiment off as a bunch of cowardly raiders too scared to man up and attack the Mech Legion.
Everyone had made a serious mistake in underestimating the Flagrant Vandals.
Living up to the name of their mech regiment, the Flagrant Vandals smashed everyone's expectations and struck at one of the Imodris Duchy's more significant industrial systems.
The damage already dealt to its infrastructure came as a heavy blow, but the Vandals had only just begun. The local rebels did most of the damage so far, and now it was time for the Vandals to deliver on their promises.
The attack on Detemen II still needed time to forment. The first detachment of the Vandal fleet approached the smaller planet and its valuable solar foundries with greedy anticipation. Count Reizen rallied every household troop of House Jier to form a line of defense around the most important asset of the planet, its renewable exotics mine.
This left much of the planet undefended, including its various complexes and the solar foundries spinning in orbit. Count Reizen made the determination that he couldn't spread his limited household troops to defend everything, so he concentrated them all to form a deterrent.
Basically, the count told the incoming Vandals to wreck everything else but the possession he prized the most.
Naturally, many industrialists did not agree to become House Reizen's sacrificial lambs. Due to panic and indecision, they rebelled or sowed chaos on Detemen II, which ironically paved the way for the incoming Vandals.
Count Reizen and the people of the Detemen System couldn't be blamed for their confusing responses. Complacency lay at the heart of their incompetence. Even as the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom battled at the frontlines, the Mech Corps never raided as far as Imodris.
While the border systems endured so many raids that they responded like a well-oiled machine when faced with another incursion, the complacent people of Detemen II and IV had never dealt with such a massive attack.
”Rise up, comrades!” A ferocious woman stood atop a wrecked laser turret as she bared her rifle in the air. ”The time has come to pull down the nobles from their lofty perches!”
In the hot and sweltering environment of Detemen II, half of her crowd wore thin climate suits that allowed them to stay cool. Both suited and unsuited people cheered and raised their arms, though their numbers and enthusiasm fell a little short.
The rally hadn't lasted more than a couple of minutes before a series of thuds started transmitting from the ground.
”Footsteps… mechs! Incoming mechs!”
”It's a company mech! Run!”
No one kid themselves into thinking they could fight against a machine of war. The fear of mechs had set in deep among the population. Before the rebel woman could persuade her crowd otherwise, her audience had completely scurried away before the Jier mechs even arrived.
Seeing that the situation went to hell pretty fast, the rebel woman abandoned her elevated perch and ran away for safety as well. ”Bunch of spineless cowards!”
Unlike the haphazard unrest wracking Detemen II, the situation on Detement IV deteriorated into full-blown anarchy.
”Hahahaha! We're rich!” A man shouted as he looted a luxury store inside a mall. Though he had no idea how he could sell his ill-gotten loot of luxury clothes, just the thought of obtaining decades-worth his salary in booty made him delirious.
Just as the handful of men ran towards their aircar, a volley of laser and projectile fire spat in their direction. The aim of the assailants was atrocious, but the sheer volume of fire eventually struck down all of the looters.
A swarm of teenagers emerged from the corners and dashed towards the fallen men. They quickly deprived them of their loot and made their way out, giggling and laughing all the while.
Elsewhere, two company forces guarding two adjacent manufacturing complexes clashed against each other in a full-blown battle.
”Stop this madness!” The commander of the defense force at Westcott Machinery Supply broadcasted in the open. The man piloted his knight to withstand another barrage of incoming fire for his ranged mechs. ”The rebels are burning everything down and the Brighters are about to make landfall! This is no time to settle our grudges!”
A maddened laughter escaped the speakers of a gaudily-decorated cannoneer mech from United Alloy Supplies. It blasted its ballistic cannon indiscriminately towards the Westcott forces.
”I always hated seeing you parade your mechs in front of our faces! Now, I finally get the opportunity to do you Westcott goons in!”
”You won't get away with this!” The Westcott commander shouted back as his knight mech bashed its way to the front and slammed its shield mech against a spearman mech that hadn't moved away in time. ”Westcott forever!”
”Westcott forever!” The mech pilots of the defending mechs echoed.
None of them questioned whether it made sense to defend a facility while the rest of the planet went crazy. Their loyalty to their company compelled them to fight, if not to the bitter end, then at least they should give a good accounting.
Yet the attackers were no slouches either. ”Victory to UAS!”
”Victory to UAS!”
Civilians ran towards old and neglected shelters. Troublemakers sought their chance to even the scores against their rivals. The rebels fanned the flames by destroying key infrastructure and inciting mass panic.