Chapitre 55: Defending
Gray and the rest of the attackers had successfully completed their assault in 34 minutes and 1 second. As everyone respawned on opposite sides after the pregame lobby, Gray and the rest were now on defense and the timer was starting to count down from 34 minutes and 1 second. This seemed like a decent time, but the problem is the 4 mechs that were carrying the Plasma Ball Launcher still had it since they couldn't change loadout between rounds.
"I think we should wait for them to blow open the door then hit them with a ball of plasma. Just 2 shots should be enough to take out a bunch of them!" Giacobbe suggested.
"I agree, but that would make those 4 useless after. Instead, let's use the Plasma Ball Launcher to weaken the bridge so they can't cross it. The 4 will be close enough to the hangar we can probably drag them over to it and get them refueled so they can at least function as scouts or take the weapons of downed attackers." Gray suggested.
"What we need most is information, I remember that none of the other team had any special weapons, but I only counted 44 enemies when their team should have 50 just like ours." Caleb added.
"We need to make a decision now though, it didn't take us long to approach so we have to assume they're already coming." Gray said. "Giacobbe, I know you're leading us this time, so we'll listen to you."
Gray figured it was better to let Giacobbe continue to lead since the last thing they needed was internal conflicts to pop up.
"Hmm... you bring up a good point. As much as I would like to use that Plasma Ball Launcher actively, it's better to keep them from being able to attack from multiple sides. How... how do you think we should divide our forces?" Giacobbe asked.
Alice and the other 3 girls on the Iron Stalkers stared wide-eyed at Giacobbe in disbelief. Giacobbe has never asked anyone for help or even allowed anyone to take control on his team.
"There is hope for him yet." Gray thought to himself.
"Caleb, what are our weapons? Mech type doesn't matter because we all have the same mech." Gray said.
"Mine is different." Giacobbe stated proudly.
"Of course it is sweetie..." Yurika said playfully.
Everyone knew that Giacobbe's mech was the same as theirs, just with a different coat of paint.
"We have 9 snipers, 6 battle rifles, 20 assault rifles, 10 laser rifles, the 4 with the Plasma Ball Launcher." Caleb reported.
"That's only 49... where is the 50th?" Gray asked
"...forgot... me..." Xyra whispered.
"Oh right, 10 snipers..." Caleb said.
"We need to put a bell on her or something." Gray thought to himself.
"Ok, I want 3 teams again. 8 snipers on team 2, Plasma Ball Launcher team and 8 with laser rifles are team 3. Team 1 and Team 4 will split evenly among everyone else." Gray commanded.
"Good... after everyone is divided, team 3 use the Plasma Ball Launcher to do as much damage to the bridge as possible, I'm going to assume you had 8 mechs with them to carry them to the hangar after they use up their fuel." Giacobbe commanded.
Gray nodded in agreement. "I suggest we have team 2 watch the river where we crossed, team 1 watch the main gate from the battlements, and team 4 will also watch the main gate but they can be reassigned as needed."
"E-Exactly what I was thinking." Giacobbe tried to say confidently.
Giacobbe could feel everyone else staring at him with a look that said they didn't believe him at all, but since everyone was in a mech, nobody could tell how anyone actually looked at that moment.
Stacia, Caleb, Alice, and 5 other snipers headed to the East wall and would be in charge of sniping any enemies that tried to cross the river like they had. Xyra and the remaining sniper headed to the highest spot near the West gate to look for targets of opportunity. The 4 carrying the Plasma Ball Launcher went with 8 other mechs to destroy the bridge and the remaining defending mechs stayed by the main gate.
"Team 3, carry the disabled mechs to the hangar to refuel once they fire the Plasma Ball Launcher." Giacobbe commanded.
"What should we do with it after?" asked one of the pilots carrying the Plasma Ball Launcher.
"Leave it, you can't do anything after you fire it and it is to heavy to aim at moving targets with." Giacobbe said.
"Heads up! We got incoming!" Geoff yelled from the battlements on the front gate wall.
"For the swarm!"
"I ain't got time to bleed."
"Join the army they said, see the world they said, I'd rather be sailing!"
Gray thought "I don't know what's worse, that they're actually saying that stuff out loud, or that I get all of those references."
Gray had to admit it looked pretty sweet seeing 14 mechs line up along the battlements with their guns aimed at where they were expecting the attacking enemy mechs to come from. Gray could hear the whine of the Plasma Paul Launcher even though it was fairly far. After 2 shots from the Plasma Ball Launcher, Team 3 reported success.
"Bridge is unusable, collapsed after the second shot! Carrying mechs to hangar!" reported Team 3's leader.
"Roger, Team 3, all but 4 armed mechs merge with Team 4 after refueling. Team 3 will watch the Southern Entrance in case they try to use it." Giacobbe commanded again. "Gray, you have direct command of Team 1 once the combat starts, I'll command Team 4."
"Copy." Gray replied to Giacobbe, then said to Team 1 "Alright maggots! I don't want anyone firing until you see the whites of their eyes!"
"Uhhh, mechs don't have eyes..." said a random pilot on Team 1.
"...it was a joke... Everyone, engage at optimal range! Laser rifles are useless in atmosphere at long range and Assault Rifles are not as accurate at long range. Aim for the legs, we don't need to kill them, just stop them from getting in!" Gray commanded
__________
What should've been an even battle ended up being completely one-sided. With the snipers preventing safe water crossing and the bridge already destroyed, that left the attackers with only the main path to reach the base. Without any form of artillery or explosives to blow open the main gate like Gray's team had done, they were forced to try to get close enough to break open the door.
Following the order to take out the legs was wise as just causing the enemies to trip on each other would delay them even more. In the end, the enemy attacking mechs lost 3 mechs from getting stuck in the mud in the river, 13 mechs from assaulting the main gate, 1 mech that had tried to jump across the remains of the bridge, and 4 mechs from 'accidents'.
When both teams completed, they were put in a joint post game lobby. This is where the trash talk just about always happens, but for most of the players this was their first battle in a mech even if it was just simulated so everyone was talking excitedly about their own experiences.
Two things everyone agreed upon though was that the map was horribly designed and that equipment needs to be able to be switched between rounds.
"How'd you guys get up on to that ledge that leads to the Solar Farm? We tried jumping and even tried stacking our own mechs on top of each other but we ended up crushing 4 of our own mechs" said a player from the opposing team.
"So that's what you meant by 'accidents', we knocked over some trees and used them like steps to get high enough to belly flop up on to the ledge." Gray said.
"Dang, we never even thought to try and use the trees."
"Well, hopefully see you guys in a rematch later!"
Everyone was surprisingly friendly even though some had lost. Gray couldn't really figure out why since most of the time players would get angry, mean, and even hateful at a loss. Gray looked around the post game lobby at everyone's avatar and noticed one thing that probably had a lot to do with it... everyone was older!
"Wow, everyone here looks to be at least 20 and I even see some people in there 40s. No wonder we didn't get any of the usual gamer crowd. I guess simulations are usually more popular with the older crowd anyways" Gray thought to himself.
"Damn it, I'm practically part of the older crowd!" Gray thought to himself. 29 wasn't old for a person, but for a gamer it was approaching ancient.
__________
Edward Teach, the CEO of Alterra Corporation, and several people in lab uniforms were holding a meeting that afternoon after the launch of Alterra Online. Among the people in lab uniforms, a tall lengthy man with frazzled unkempt hair and a can of Dr. Pepper appeared to be the leader of the group.
"Alright, so the first of the large team matches went underway earlier today, and I have to say they were awful! If we weren't short on time I would fire all of you and hire new developers!" said Edward Teach angrily to the group of developers.
"Muahahahaha! It was all part of my evil genius plan!" said the tall lengthy man with a very dramatic pose.
"Stop it Ginro, your team dropped the ball on this and I want an explanation!"
"*Ahem*, to be fair Ed, you gave us only a week to design and create 40 multiplayer maps for mech-sized combat. If these were regular human soldiers, it'd be no problem, but we have to make each map at least 8 times larger and take into consideration the scale when designing even the structures, in short, we needed more time," Ginro said calmly then took a drink of his Dr. Pepper while making a slurping sound.
"Right right... I get it... time is indeed short... Fix the obvious design flaws, almost every assault match ended with a draw as defending was too easy. Read the forums, the players will be the perfect testers after all..." Edward said then added "...and don't call me Ed."
"Sorry, I'll try and keep that in mind. Might I make a suggestion though, can we get a military specialist or someone like that to help us out, we designed the bases with our own logic and you can see how well that went." Ginro said while shaking his head and putting his hands up signaling his helplessness. "I even have someone in mind..."
"Who is that?"
"Lieutenant Felicia Stone, she has good insight into the players and would be a valuable asset."
"I'll send her over as soon as possible, try not to get slapped again..."
"Eddie! You slander me! We just had a minor disagreement is all that was." Ginro said while laughing.
"Don't call me Eddie!"
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
LordSputnik
LordSputnik "For the swarm!" - Think of the PC game Starcraft
"I ain't got time to bleed." - Blain, "Predator" (1987)
"Join the army they said, see the world they said, I'd rather be sailing!" - From Warcraft 2, the human footman would say that if you clicked him enough.
"Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes!" - William Prescott, Battle of Bunker Hill 1776 (Although some reports say it originated from Major General Israel Putnam)
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone