The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7468

Chapter 7468: Arche Infantry Combat Doctrine

Before the 16 Apocalypse Wardens leapt out of their boarding shuttle, the arche soldiers serving on the archecruiser managed to put up a formidable defense.

The human troopers who set foot first inside the enemy vessel managed to wipe out the arche soldiers stationed close to the exterior of the hull fairly easy.

The psychic storms generated by the Minerva Mark II through the Victrix posed a different kind of threat that the arche had never thought to defend against.

Every extraordinary storm that descended on a group of arche usually caused them to suffer severe mental maladies, ranging from intermittent blindness to moderate headaches.

However, the arche managed to endure the psychic attacks quite well compared to other races. Their archeshells and the unique combat armor that complimented this organic component provided comprehensive protection that just happened to make a difference in this case.

Still, even if the arche could still retain their wits, they became so distracted that they turned into easy pickings.

Only the officers and better-equipped alien soldiers managed to endure the psychic storms without flinching too much. Their superior strength and equipment allowed them to resist the human attackers a lot better, but when the disparity in numbers became too much, they easily got isolated.

Despite the good start, the boarding troops encountered much stiffer resistance when they moved further inside.

No matter which angle they approached the center, the arche soldiers had already organized an effective defense.

They relied heavily on the layout and internal defenses of their own ship. Many lanes converged at deliberately designed funnels which served as excellent choke points.

Given that the boarding troops lacked the firepower or equipment to drill straight through dozens of layers of archemetal bulkheads, the human soldiers had little choice but to play along and assault these funnels!

Both humans and arche shouted furious warcries as their fights quickly got heated.

The arche maintained a distinct advantage by relying on their fortifications as well as ceiling turrets, extremely hidden mines and variable gravity chambers.

While the human soldiers possessed the necessary equipment and training to dismantle these fixed defenses, they could not do so without investing a considerable amount of time and effort.

"Speed up the assault! We cannot afford to remain stuck here for too long!"

Every human soldier knew that they could not settle for a methodical takeover of the archecruiser.

Time was not on their side.

Though it was not wise to press forward when faced with stiff resistance, the human soldiers chose to risk their lives and hasten their advance.

This inevitably caused them to suffer greater losses!

Even though many incoming attacks were neutralized by the Dragon Scales projected by the Victrix, the special resonance-based defensive amplification only had a limited effect on infantry-scale combat armor.

The effect still saved a bunch of lives. Many soldiers that got shot by one of the fixed turrets or the alien soldiers who weaponized their own archeshells, their combat armor managed to last long enough for them to evacuate successfully.

Unfortunately, the defenders still possessed enough of an advantage that they succeeded in picking off one or two human invaders every once in a while!

Saint Commander Casella Ingvar felt every death through her Command Field.

She did not wish for them to lose their lives, but neither did she want to coddle the infantry too much.

Each of them served a purpose. It would do the Larkinsons no good to neglect the infantry and refrain from deploying them due to one reason or another.

Besides, replenishing them was much easier than replenishing mech pilots. The Larkinson Clan could easily hire whole armies of infantry troopers if necessary!

Neither Casella nor the boarding troops felt bothered by the casualties, but they did not want to throw the lives of their fellow humans away in vain.

They needed to make a concerted push, but given that they already encountered so many hindrances, their casualties would skyrocket if that happened!

Numerous human soldiers stood or crouched behind cover and gritted their teeth.

They could barely pop their bodies into view before they received a barrage of energy beams and more esoteric attacks!

The human soldiers had already used a combination of armor-piercing missiles, high explosive grenades and portable laser cannons to knock out the defensive hardpoints.

That still left them with the arche soldiers themselves, who formed a living wall that blocked the way forward.

The attacking force threw a lot of firepower against this wall of alien soldiers, but few of their attacks made a serious dent.

It turned out that arche infantry combat doctrine was almost entirely geared around situations like these!

They just loved to occupy narrow choke points and form lines where they turned their backs against their enemies.

Their archeshells performed several functions at once.

They generated transphasic energy shields that happened to combine seamlessly with the energy shields generated by their alien comrades. The composite energy defense therefore withstood way more attacks than if the alien soldiers fought in isolation!

On top of that, the archeshells also possessed the capacity to shoot out energy beams of varying strengths and properties!

The most common variant were transphasic laser beams, though the arche soldiers with more elaborate shells could launch anything from plasma bolts to transphasic crystal shards.

If that was not enough, every arche always had a trick up their sleeve. Their archeshells incorporated so many exotic materials that they often managed to take their human opponents by surprise.

"RUINATION BEFORE DEATH!"

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