Swarm Lords Arrival

"Captain, we have contact!" Arming quickly forwarded through images of the Swarm Lord taken from forward observers. "It's 30 kilometres out and closing fast."

The Swarm Lord itself was a monstrous spider like beast, even surrounded by a retinue of huge Swarm Commanders still looked like it was towering into the sky. Every step of its eight massive legs caused the earth to rumble and crack as the lumbering beast quickly made its way to the battle. 

It was larger than Leonard had expected, the Swarm commanders were still a little smaller in height than his mechs, however the Lord itself was larger, standing about 2 mechs high from his perspective. Leonard also had the feeling its chitinous armour was stronger as well, its matt black finish edged with glowing green veins carried a powerful presence, even through a screen. And with a retinue of 4 Swarm Commanders acting as bodyguards it might be much more of a tough battle than he had anticipated. 

"1st Squad," he spoke through an open channel to the 10 mechs gathered around him. "Our target is 10 minutes out, Arming and Gaits you're with me, we will focus on the Lord itself. Bailey and Dalton, I need you to take out two Commander's each, Jones keep an eye out and help them if needed. Everyone else make sure to keep the rabble off our backs." 

"Sir." His squad barked out in response and the ten mechs quickly rearranged their positioning, fanning out with Arming, Gaits and Leonard taking the centre. 

The area immediately in front of the third line of trenches was completely covered with mines, however luckily enough for them, the area behind had a substantial buffer between where the trenches ended and the next minefield began. While it did pain him to have to stand behind the trenches, and the thousands of PDF forces defending it, there was no way he and his squad could properly manoeuvre in the middle of a minefield while engaging the enemy. 

He quickly looked over Dacre and Hacket's squads system reports, their ammunition count dropping steadily, each mech ranging from 50-60%, however it was still enough. He quickly hailed the pair and patched them into his communication channel. 

"Dacre, Hacket, new information. The Swarm Lord has been spotted and we intend to engage it here at the third line. Provide support as best you can, focus on our surroundings and try to keep the combat area clear. If you can take a shot at the Lord, have at it, but it is not your focus." 

Sergeant Dacre's voice crackled through their communications. "Aye sir, we will focus on keeping the Swarm off your back." 

Sergeant Hacket chimed in next. "We'll do our best sir, however as you know we are short on mechs, your left flank may be pressed a little. We won't be able to take care of all of them." 

Leonard nodded, passing down orders to the mechs of his own squad tasked with holding the perimeter to rotate their positioning slightly to assist the weaker flank. 

"Sir if I may." Hacket spoke up, and Leonard nodded for him to go ahead. "Would it not be prudent for you to fall back to the fourth line? It would be easier for us to provide support at a closer range, while the distance isn't too bad, we won't be able to get many shots into the lord itself with your whole squad surrounding it." 

"No need to worry about the Lord. Just focus on keeping our surroundings clear." Leonard spoke firmly, he intended for them to make their stand. "Realistically we have no other choice. If we fail to take out the Swarm Lord here the entire battle and front will be lost, the PDF could never take it out on their own. We need to put in everything here, anything less and our chances of victory would become even slimmer than they already are." 

"Very well sir," Hacket conceded. "But even when we do manage to take it out, the rest of the Swarm will still be troublesome for you. You'll be stuck right in the middle of the giant swarm." 

This time Arming spoke up in response. "As soon as we manage to take out the Swarm Lord the Swarm forces will scatter. While they aren't very intelligent creatures they are not dumb, without a capable commander like that of a Swarm Lord, a force like this would have never been able to assemble. They won't rush to their deaths without orders forcing them to." 

Leonard nodded in acknowledgement. "He's right. The moment the Lord is dealt with their coordination with falter, and while we will still have to deal with those still engaged, those Swarmling behind will turn around." 

However, just as Leonard was finalising their battle plans, and moving the squad into position, something completely unexpected happened. A deafening roar covered the battlefield, as the unmistakable quake in the earth heralded the arrival of the Swarm Lord, its massive form casting shadows over the valley. 

"Shit! Arming what's going on? Why is it here already?" 

The Corporal was frantically scanning through reports to find an answer, the Swarm Lord was ahead of schedule. "I'm not sure sir, it seems there is a delay in the PDFs communications." 

"A delay?" Leonard frowned, communication systems had advanced to such a high degree that interplanetary concessions had zero delay. Only when the distances involved became greater than star systems did some issues arise, however these scouts sending their reports were most certainly not that far away. "What's causing this interference?" 

"I really don't know sir," Arming admitted, and while he was the most knowledgeable in the squad he couldn't know everything. "Maybe the Swarm Lord itself caused some issues. Very little is known about it, at least as far as I'm aware." 

"Oh well, if we don't know we don't know," Leonard didn't bother trying to answer a question he didn't have the information for. "Everyone has their orders, keep an eye out for any issues with our comms. If it is the Lord's doing and communications break down I trust that everyone knows how to handle themselves." 

The giant lumbering spider-like frame of the Swarm Lord made quick time, passing over the now broken first trench line. Large growths on its back began to squirm, the flesh and chitinous hide parting as a series of six large tube-like bones emerged, pointing out towards the sky. 

Its dark frame lit up, veins of sickly green glowing with power quickly racing across its body to the base of the six now fully erect bones. A large bang reverberated throughout the valley, the six bone-like cannons unleashing a wave of thick corrosive green sludge towards the defenders. 

They arched through the air with no real precision, half of the shots hitting nothing but empty land, some even impacting directly into the Lord's own lines. The sludge splattered out, even a drop being corrosive enough to burn straight through the Swarmlings tough shell. 

Three shots hit the defenders however, 2 slamming straight into a portion of trench, exploding in a large crater killing everything it touched, and another burrowing straight through a heavily reinforced metal bunker that housed many large gun positions. 

Screams rang out, even the smallest amount burning right through skin, flesh and bone. 

The defenders weren't just going to sit still however. As soon as the Lord came into range, every spare gun fixed onto its position and opened fire. Immediately the Lord was covered in hundreds of explosions, even more skilled artillery officers all the way back in the rear were trying their luck. 

The large beast didn't budge however, only tiny dents in its hide left to show the effectiveness of the barrage. Still that didn't mean the defenders' lost their heart, their onslaught only continued to grow as they constantly bombarded the Lord even if it showed little signs of damage. 

The Lord charged up and fired another volley, and fortunately for the defenders this time only one struck true. Already however the visible veins of energy could be seen charging up again, its fire rate was impressive and it didn't look to be running out of power in the slightest. 

The Commanders at its side did not sit still, launching their own, albeit much smaller, projectiles into the fray. The combined might of the group was melting away any defences before they even got into melee range. 

"Do you think our shields could survive an attack?" Leonard asked, eyes locked onto images of a bubbling melted hole in the roof of a bunker. 

"Not sure," Arming quickly analysed the footage. "Maybe? But I wouldn't bet on it, the alloys in our shields might be much tougher than what's used in that bunker, but they're much thinner."

Leonard thought the same, "When we get to the Third line let's hang back a little, no need to get caught in the crossfire." 

Just as Leonard reached his position in the middle of the third trench line, so did the Swarm Lord reach the second. It was a massacre, the Lord had simply forced open a path in the once impassable minefield keeping the Swarmlings at bay, letting the horde rush in through the opening. 

"Shoot the fuckers!" 

"Don't let them through!" 

"Hold fast men!" 

The PDF put up a valiant defence, however the moment the Lord's massive legs stepped into their lines their fate was sealed. Its massive bone cannons at this range could not miss, and every bunker in its surroundings was initially turned into a corrosive mush. 

The Swarm quickly filled the trench, storming down its length. And without support from the larger gun positions of the now destroyed bunkers they stood little chance. It was a complete defeat.