Humanity's Greatest Mecha Warrior System

"No worries Max. We upgraded the Archangel. It now has a second power cell connection just for the shielding, so it won't die entirely if the shield goes down. Since I will be bringing a Plasma Cannon with me, I will have plenty of spares with me if things go bad, and the shield can take five or six direct hits from a Line Mecha before the cell is depleted.

That should be overkill inside a ship, but as you said, you never know. So, I will also be packing a number of stun grenades in my kit. They don't work on Mecha or Full Conversions, but they should be pretty good against the crew of the ship.

I've also got enough firepower on the Suit itself to deal with most threats, so I'm not too concerned. I just need to get the Battalion inside, and then take the bridge. Most bridge staff only have a couple of guards on duty, less if they were fleeing from a defeat, so there is hope that they will surrender when they see the Mecha breach the ship and go for the Engineering Department to keep them from taking off."

Nico was absolutely certain that her assessment was correct, so Max didn't bother to second guess her. The Archangel Suit needed a combat trial anyhow, and there wasn't a soul in the Empire, or possibly even this quadrant of the Galaxy better suited to the task than she was.

[All Mecha are transferred to the Cutters, 5 minutes for Personnel to be ready.] Admiral Drake reported just after Nico left to join the Second Battalion for the operation.

The sensors of Terminus had already detected two other Reaver ships hiding in the area, sent to assess the mission just in case Max tried to lie about the unit's combat effectiveness or hide a miserable failure from them to buy time to reconfigure without being found out.

Max considered giving them access to some of the live video, but a Reaver should have their own hackers, and some level of pride in their Company, so he wouldn't do it unless they asked first.

[All Forces report ready. Launching in 10 seconds] Admiral Drake informed everyone.

The moment that the Cutters were clear of the ship, they went to Maximum Warp and dropped in nearly at the moon's outer atmosphere, streaking through the sky in bright plumes of fire that stressed even the new ship's prodigious shielding.

However, it saved them over nine of the thirteen minutes between a standard transition and landing, and any enemy would be hard-pressed to organize a proper defense in four minutes.

Three through Five broke off to hit the facility, deploying the Super Heavy and Fast Attack Mecha before the ship had even landed, their pilots had chosen to simply jump out the open hangar doors at the back corners of the ship.

The moment that the Rebels realized what had happened, all hell broke loose, but by then their ship had already been disabled by Ion Bombard Cannons and they couldn't go anywhere, or even maneuver to be able to fire on the Mecha Force attacking them.

A Thunder Gun burst hit the main doors of the Facility's outer shields and the Light Mecha started running for the gap.

In thirty seconds or less, that shield would be back up, and they would have to drop it again, breaking their formation, but every Line and Corvette Class Mecha was in a tight formation, headed for the gap.

It wasn't without chaos, as all the Line Mecha were piloted by green recruits who had just left the academy and had never seen combat, but they didn't outnumber the Corvette Class Mecha by much, operating in wings of four, with three Line Mecha being directed by a Veteran in a Corvette Class Unit.

Once they were through, the Heavy Mecha made for the ship, intending to take it as intact as possible, now that they had disabled the engines.

[Facility Strike Force is inside the building.] Colonel Klinger reported, just as Max and the First Battalion landed next to a seemingly immobile Rebel vessel. Their engines were powered down, there were no shields active and multiple doors were open on the exterior, showing that the cargo holds were empty and exposed to the thin but toxic atmosphere.

"Breach the vessel, secure Engineering, and the Bridge then report back," Max ordered, wondering just exactly how he had pulled the short straw in his own operation.

He could see where the Second Battalion had landed but was too far off to make out the movement from over the horizon, so he didn't know how their operation was going, only that the ship they were targeting didn't move.

[Commander. The interior of the ship has taken heavy damage, multiple casualties were found in the medical area, and no other life signs were found. They have abandoned the vessel.] Major Miller reported as his men reported their progress.

[Any idea where they went?] Max asked.

[We have signs of a wheeled vehicle headed toward the position of Second Battalion.] One of the Heavy Mecha reported, sending Max the visuals of the tracks.

It was just one transport vehicle, no more than a hundred infantry could have crammed into it. There were no signs of Mecha movement, and the tracks weren't deep enough to have been hiding them on a wheeled cart.

The situation was very different for Second Battalion. Like the Facility Team, they deployed while the ship was in motion, but only because they were taking fire and needed the extra boots on the ground to cripple the enemy's defensive position.

The Super Heavy mecha had made short work of the task, eliminating both the exterior defenders and the defensive weapons on the side of the ship facing them while Nico raced past the lines and straight through a door that opened as she approached.

There was a large explosion at the bay door, and a Line Mecha fell out, blocking the sliding doors so that they couldn't be sealed.

[Your defenses have fallen. Surrender Peacefully and vacate your vessel, so we can negotiate a peaceful transfer of equipment.] Nico ordered over the radio on Kepler Military Frequencies, making Max laugh.

[Filthy Reavers. If you want this ship you'll pry it from our cold, dead hands] was their reply, and Max's laugh turned to a sigh.

"She was really hoping you would say that." He muttered.

[First Battalion, leave a company here to secure the ship and the rest of us will move out to assist Second Battalion, who have encountered actual live opposition.] Max ordered.