The Empire Strikes Back

"Contact!" a shout takes me out of my thoughts, and I focus on the big screen of the command room.

Rows of armored Imperial soldiers walk in unison; they don't even react as the Hammer vaporizes some of their comrades.

I click my tongue; it looks like this specific area was more crucial than we thought if the fierce defenses are anything to go by. Those elite troops also couldn't appear at a worse time since we just ended our Hammer bombardment; we have to conserve ammunition when we can so the initial plan was to soften the defenses before charging in with the tanks.

Even Terrence looks surprised, so it shows that this wasn't within our calculations.

"Should we proceed?" the Commander asks me, and I nod. So far those armored troops have been nothing more than a small nuisance, so the tanks should be able to endure their attacks.

I hold my breath as a group of Legionaries appears from a portal.

However, they are barely able to get out of their portal before the enemy fires their beams. The sheer amount of firepower is enough to obscure the screen for a split-second, and-

My jaw drops at the sight.

The brave Legionaries were sent flying by the beams, and the small pyramids of spent casings where the soldiers should have been tell me that those beams are way stronger than I first thought. It looks like the Phases had upgraded my equipment more than I anticipated since I barely felt a breeze when I was hit with those weapons.

I grit my teeth. The assault relies on quick actions, so being interrupted like that is not a good development by any stretch of the imagination.

"Report!" one of the officers in charge of this particular assault shouts into his headset.

"Reporting!" the voice of the field officer comes through, and he seems to be pretty shaken up. The fact that he's still standing after being hit by what looks to be a city-destroying weapon is already commendable. "I don't know what hit us, but it packs a punch! I didn't see it clearly, but we wasted at least a hundred Shield munitions!"

The atmosphere of the control room gets heavier. A hundred of those pseudo-mana batteries is a lot. And there seems to be no end to the Imperial soldiers as they pour out of the facility they are defending, a seemingly run-down abandoned factory.

Fuck.

"Soldier, follow the plan and victory will be ours!" the officer shouts, "For Prometheus!"

"For Prometheus!" the soldiers shout as they regroup under enemy fire. Luckily for us, those beams aren't that precise, so most of the attacks miss our men.

The liquid metal takes shape, and soon a row of rumbling vehicles meet the Imperial soldiers head-on. I clench my fists; twenty tanks may not be enough against the thousands of elite Imperial troops.

Beams smash against the shields of the armored vehicles, and the tanks are briefly singed before the self-repairing metal makes all traces of damage disappear.

However, this minor event is making me sweat buckets.

We took actual damage.

The Empire is already catching up to us, so it's reasonable to think that it won't be long before our shields become ineffective.

But the Imperial shielding is no match against the cannons of our tanks, and each shell wipes out a non-negligible amount of soldiers.

It looks like the Empire focused too much on offense rather than defense... Just like us. Our shields haven't evolved since the Order copied the Shield Glove design while our weapons kept getting deadlier.

"Forward!" the officer shouts, and the tanks charge through the wave of Imperial soldiers. Their screams are muffled by the sound of crushed bones and bending metal as those unlucky enough to survive a shell hit are crushed beneath the treads of the tanks.

Suddenly, a bright flash erupts from beneath a tank, and an arc of light forms a circle around the armored vehicle before a massive blast covers the entire vehicle. The surge of energy lasts for twenty seconds before it dies down.

"Unit Four!" the commanding officer shouts. "Unit Four, please respond!"

However, his efforts are futile.

This massive mine caused substantial damage, and the barrel of the main cannon is bent at an angle while flames lick the surface of the vehicle. I would hope that the crew has been knocked out rather than killed, but this kind of sustained high-power attack is the perfect counter to my shield design.

The batteries for the tank's shields are bigger and beefier than the ones carried by our soldiers, but they have a lot less of them.

I grit my teeth; I have to stop this from happening!

I Rewind and warn the men just in time to make them stop.

However, not moving to not be blown up by magical mines means that they are a sitting duck. The Imperial troops take advantage of the situation and focus their fire on the immobilized vehicles.

Terrence grips the table he's leaning on so tightly that his knuckles turn white, and I can't help but grit my teeth.

"This is bad..." I mutter. At least most of the other assaults are progressing as planned, but this particular one has been a complete disaster.

Retreating is not an option, at least not now. This facility must be vital for the Empire if it is so well-defended, and we must discover why at all cost.

And, in the worst-case scenario, I can go there myself and help my men. Personally intervening is by far cheaper than using the Hammer again, even if I'm going to be less effective than rapid-firing artillery.

However, I must not rely on my Phase 3-induced power-up too much to compensate for our bad plans or else we'll grow complacent.

This particular situation is manageable, but what would happen if all the assaults went as badly as this one? Our losses would be enormous.

The Imperial soldiers are slowly approaching the tanks; they are walking in a perfect line that reminds me of Napoleonic-era tactics.

At least the Empire is still hopelessly outdated when it comes to strategy... although using modern tactics doesn't mean shit when the enemy uses volley fire with nukes.

As far as I know, we still have the upper hand when it comes to firepower, but those mines are troublesome. They weren't detonated by the Hammer like when I attacked the Scalebound base of operations, so I have to assume that they are some sort of spell rather than a physical artifact.

I order for more Spell Jammers to be deployed, that way they'll cover the entire area that the tanks need to go through to reach the Imperial fortress.

A grin creeps on my face as I see faint red flickering all over the battlefield. It wouldn't be a lie to say that at least three destructive spells covered every inch of ground.

I recall the additional Jammers and shout, "Forward! The mines have been dealt with!"

The engines of the tanks rumble as they rush forward, and the Imperial soldiers were not expecting that since they suddenly stopped.

The tanks, now unhindered by explosive traps, cleave through enemy lines and either crush or shoot the retreating soldiers.

My muscles relax a little, at least nothing else should stop us now...Right?