This is an excerpt from my short story HARM, which is about the first combat use of a HARM (Humanoid Assault Reconnaissance Machine) mech against the alien Blue Newts. The story is about the final production prototype machine being sent in to support a company of conventional battle tanks and infantry to stop an enemy advance. I have a short story, a novella, and a novel all set in this same Exocrisis Blue universe. For more information, please visit my Publications Page.
In this scene I wanted to show how conventional forces could fight advanced alien war machines. The conventional forces are composed of main battle tanks, quadrapedal combat walking robots, and powered infantry. There is no air support as the anti-aircraft lasers used by the aliens have been very effective. In fact, the pilot of the mech which shows up too late to affect the battle was a shot down close air support pilot. I was aiming for realism with extrapolated tech on both sides of the battle.
***
Bravo
Company was well dug in along the most likely line of approach to
Huntsville. Captain William Ericson had
his tanks dug in on a narrow front flanking both sides of a highway overpass. His ready to eat meal pack was only half
eaten, forgotten due to the rapid planning he had been doing with his platoon
leaders. His three platoons of main
battle tanks (MBT), for nine tanks in total, were hull down, only showing their
turrets behind tank-sized firing pits dug for them by the combat engineers
earlier in the day. Each one utilized
the natural cover of shrubbery and active camouflage netting to conceal their
location from visual and thermal detection.
His
M3A3 tanks were not a match for a spider-mech in a one on one fight even though
they had been upgraded to the new 130 mm smoothbore guns. Even their bulky ablative armour add-ons
would only take a single hit from the alien beam cannon. The extreme engagement range for the 130 mm
gun was about 2500 metres, but he knew the chance of getting a kill on a Black
Widow spider-mech were non-existent at that range. They had to get the range down to 1500 metres
to get good kills. On the other hand,
the alien beam cannon could kill a tank at 2000 metres with a far longer
extreme engagement range that could even engage aircraft.
Ericson
wasn’t in the best defensive position, but it would do as the flanking copses
of woods and gullies would work for him.
At the same time, it wasn’t a likely ambush position, and he was banking
the aliens wouldn’t think so either. The
tanks were going to be the hammer for the attack, but he would need to
guarantee the spider-mechs would enter the anvil. To bait the spider-mechs in
he would use one of his two platoons of robot combat walkers. When the tanks engaged the aliens they would
be the opening hammer. The other walker
platoon, concealed in the northerly copse of woods, would to hit the Newts from
the side. From the southern side, a
platoon of battlesuit infantry would strike at the same time to complete the
ambush.
The
plan looked great, he just hoped it would survive contact with the enemy. Originally, X-14’s long range coilgun was
supposed to begin the engagement, but things hadn’t worked out. Still, it was good news that X-14 had knocked
out two spider-mechs as there were two less to worry about. He knew X-14 was coming in, but he also knew
it wouldn’t make it for the opening of
the battle in time. Its primary weapons
would have been a great asset. As it
was, the battle ahead was going to be bloody.
Specialist
Sam Winston called up to Ericson at his commander’s position from his gunner’s
seat. “Think the plan’s gonna
work?”
Ericson
looked down at Sam. “I think we got a
good chance,” but Sam could tell he was putting the best spin on it. After all the LT couldn’t be a defeatist or
it would be game over already.
“We’ll
get ‘em. I’m going to put a sabot round
up their butt,” Sam replied with bravado. “They must have butts, right?”
Ericson,
gave a slight laugh at the half-hearted humour.
He pulled out a rumpled picture of his wife and his two daughters from
his pocket. I’ll be back to see you, he
promised himself. He had not seen them
in months, but at least he knew they were safe.
***
The
Blue Newts had sent a trio of moth-like reconnaissance drones ahead of their
advance to observe for enemy activity.
As the drones approached they managed to see a half dozen combat walkers
on the highway scrambling to cover, but that was all they saw. Shoulder
launched anti-aircraft missiles from the advance pickets of battlesuit infantry
shot them down before further observations could be made. The infantry then bounded in powered hops to
new concealed firing locations from their old positions.
The
trap was set and a little luck would not hurt, Ericson thought. He suddenly realized his throat was quite dry
and took out his canteen for a quick swig.
Yes, he thought again, a little luck wouldn’t hurt at all. “All units.
Prepare to engage according to the plan.
Let’s get these guys.”
Now
that enemy units had been spotted, the spider-mechs slowed and spread out into
a skirmish line that was almost a kilometre wide with seventy metres between
each mech. Their turrets panned from side to side. They had seen the robot combat walkers. The walkers were normally no match for them,
but there could be other enemy units nearby.
The
command data net had gone passive so units wouldn’t give themselves away via
radio emissions. A few furtive
reconnaissance RPVs flying low at extreme range provided partial data feeds
that his whole command observed. His
own units with good positions could visually observe the advancing alien units
to supplement the feeds but kept radio silence.
Looking through his tank’s periscope Ericson could see that the
spider-mechs at the ends of the advancing line were very close to some of the
concealed units. He prayed that they
would remain unspotted and that his men kept their cool. Half of his unit was made up of green
recruits, as casualty rates had been horrendously high, but the newbies had
been spread out with the veterans to stiffen them up.
A
great deal of his plan depended on the combat walkers, a military innovation
introduced in the 2030s. The walkers
were autonomous, quadrupedal robots with a weapons mount on the back of their
thick stubby bodies. They were
approximately the shape and size of a horse with a sensor array where the
horse’s neck would be, and stood on narrow legs that allowed them to traverse
most rough terrain. While a tank company
had only 10 tanks, including the command tank, they had a swarm of 18 combat
walkers to support them. Two special
transporter vehicles would both remotely control and transport the walkers. The
walkers acted in the hybrid role of a light fighting vehicle and infantry
support for the tanks. Every walker was
armed with a machinegun that could be supplemented by either anti-tank missiles
or a chain gun.
Sweat
was beginning to form on Ericson’s brow and he was sure everyone else was just
as tense. Watching the tactical display
count down the distance between the Newts and the camouflaged tanks was nerve
wracking. While he couldn’t see
Lieutenant Nguyen, who commanded the robo-jockeys, he had fought with him
before and knew he’d do his job. When
the Newts had advanced within 2000 metres of the tanks the six combat walkers
rose up on their legs from their prone positions and each fired an improved
anti-tank missile on the same central walker.
They then ducked back down, popped smoke and fell back towards the
overpass directly behind them. The
missiles were self-homing and contrails of smoke showed them closing the
distance as supersonic speed.
The
air was suddenly full of laser flashes.
The Newts had data-linked fire control that multiplied the lethality of
their machines by synchronizing their weapons to act as a whole. Their beam weapons now worked together in an
anti-air capacity. Four of the missiles
exploded in mid-air. The last two missiles
struck the targeted spider-mech dead on.
Great balls of flame erupted on its upper, frontal armour where the
shaped charges detonated, trying to burn through the molecular armour. Both warheads left great blast marks on the
surface, but black smoke only boiled out of one of them, where one warhead had
penetrated. However, the mech looked
like it was still quite functional as it and a number of the other walkers
returned fire through the smoke. Their
shots hit the empty ground that the walkers had vacated. The advance of the spider-mechs picked up as
they tried to close the range on the walkers.
Each
combat walker had one missile remaining. They continued to run for the cover
behind the overpass, their weapon mounts traversing to the rear. Emerging from a depression in the ground they
fired again at the same spider-mech.
Lasers flashed again at the missiles. Five more exploded in mid-air, the
sixth staggered the damaged spider-mech, but it still didn’t go down. The lasers then targeted the escaping walkers
which were running flat out at 30 kph.
The combat walkers didn’t have much of a chance. Four out of the six walkers disintegrated
into metal flinging fireballs while the fifth and sixth walkers managed to
dodge and clear the corner.
1800
metres… 1700 metres… Three more of the combat walkers popped up
over the top of the overpass shoulder and fired another barrage of six
missiles. The damaged spider-mech had
already fallen behind and took two more
hits. This time it stopped all movement, but continued shooting. Return fire on the walkers was fierce. One more walker exploded with a direct
hit. The last two walkers popped more
smoke and ducked back down behind cover.
1600 metres… 1500 metres… The
spider-mechs relentlessly closed in.
Ericson
saw that the range was good. “All units,
engage your targets!” His own command tank surged forward to expose the turret
over the top of the overpass embankment to add additional firepower. He had also been using the overpass
embankment for cover. “Gunner. Fire at
will,” he ordered.
All
nine MBTs open fire within a second of each other. The open woodlands was filled with the roar
of 130 mm cannon fire and the pulsing cracks of the enemy beam weapons. Each of the
enemy mechs was hit by the initial barrage, brilliant explosive flashes
from the impacts lighting up each mech, but they withstood the attacks. Laser fire began stabbing back at the dug in
tanks. Flashes of light, the explosive
vapourization of ablative armour blocks indicated direct hits on several of the
tanks, but the ablative armour held.
Before
the autoloaders on the tanks could complete the loading of the second rounds
into the gun breaches, dozens of anti-tank missiles streaked out from both the
north and south woods. The battlesuit
infantry platoon and other combat walker platoon were engaging the spider-mechs
from the flanks. A second set of 130 mm
discarding sabot penetrators fired off just 7 seconds after the first set. They were at the maximum rate of fire for the
guns.
The
battle became frenetic, with the air filled with laser fire, missiles, and tank
shells. A flanking spider-mech suddenly
exploded from either an armour piercing round or a missile hit – no one was
sure. A tank exploded, multiple heavy
lasers burning through the ablative armour and the composite armour underneath. Infantry fired grenades from their launchers
and emptied magazines of ammunition into the spider-mechs. More anti-tank
missiles fired off. The combat walkers
fired off their second wave of missiles then engaged with machineguns. Machine guns had little affect on the
spider-mechs, but they could damage sensors, and distract the enemy. Spider-mechs had their primary beam cannon,
but they also had a secondary laser for use against softer, non-armoured
targets. These rapid fire guns began
firing back at the combat walkers and infantry, suppressing and killing
them.
Another
spider-mech exploded, then two more tanks.
Smoke filled the air from burning wreckage, burning trees and brush, and
all of the explosions. Yet another tank
exploded, it’s turret hurled up into the air.
God, that was Zawadski’s tank, Ericson thought to himself. Zawadski’s wife was now a widow, but he
didn’t even have time to think her or even his own wife as events were moving
too quickly. The alien spider-mechs kept
coming, attacking, and were breaking out of the ambush. The range was now down to 900 metres. Two more
spider-mechs were damaged and limping, but they kept coming.
Nothing
breaks these guys, he thought. We need
more firepower. He was strangely calm –
beyond fear now that combat was underway.
This was a battle the tanks wouldn’t be able to disengage from too
easily due to the speed of the alien mechs.
The battlesuited infantry might be able to escape as they could use the
woods for concealment, but the tanks would win or die on this battlefield.
“Gunner. Target mech right,” he yelled, feeding
coordinates at the same time. A
spider-mech was targeting them.
His
tank rocked from the recoil of its main
cannon. “Sabot. Away,” the gunner called
out.
At
the same time, his tank was rocked by a direct hit on the turret from the
alien’s main beam. Ablative armour
erupted in a incandescent blast cloud, absorbing the high-energy pulse. It suddenly got warm inside the tank. Looking through his viewfinder, he could see
smoke billowing out of the alien mech from their hit. It fired at them again, but missed. “Driver, back us up. Secondary fire position,” he ordered.
Suddenly,
a half-dozen, laser-guided artillery rounds directly struck the
spider-mechs. The forward observer had
called in the fire mission and infantry with laser designators guided them
in. Huge explosions from the 155 mm
artillery shells knocked the spider-mechs off balance while blowing off legs
and sensors. One more spider-mech went down, but it was trying to get back up.
The artillery had bought them some time, breaking the enemies momentum, but it
would be temporary. After firing one
salvo, the artillery would need to scoot to a new firing location as the aliens
also had counter-battery fire. Even now,
specialized support spiders further in the rear would be firing off homing
missiles to try and kill off the artillery units.
The
two sides were now just over half a kilometre apart – 600 metres – too
close. The lasers stabbed out again.
Tank guns fired. More vehicles exploded. Two more tanks and three of the damaged
spiders were destroyed. That left only
three tanks and five attacking spiders.
Only two of the spiders were still undamaged. All the main weapons were very lethal at this
range. The tanks had launched smoke
grenades and were firing as they backed up into new positions. Ericson’s tank and a couple of re-armed
combat walkers were back up on the overpass shoulder trying to provide fire
support. Fire from the woods had
slackened considerably after being heavily suppressed by enemy fire. Both the combat walkers and the infantry had
expended their missiles and had taken considerable losses in the fight.
Even
as Ericson watched, a beam burned through the turret armour of another tank
which exploded in a brilliant fireball.
His tank fired again. This time
one of the damaged spider-mechs blew apart, collapsing down on its now limp
legs.
His
tank was suddenly hit by a hammer blow that knocked the breath out of him. A laser blast had blown a hole in the front
left of the tank’s body. The interior
filled with thick acrid smoke while the power went dead. A fire suppression
system went off filling the lower interior with foam. “Sam, Evan, you guys okay?”
Sam,
the gunner, called back, “I’m okay.
Think Evan’s dead though. The
blast caught him, and there’s blood everywhere. Smoke’s getting thick.”
“We
gotta get out,” Ericson replied, “tank’s history.” He turned around and opened
the turret hatch. He climbed out and
helped to pull his foam soaked gunner out of the burning tank. They would have to run for cover. The battle would be over soon as it was one
tank against four mechs.
***
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