Chapter 39

As the night set in and the moon shone, the operators of the Lazoole Society, excluding the wounded, were ready for combat. They only had 102 operators who were able combat-ready, and a total of four mechs available for dispatch.

Among them were Ajax's Warlock-Level mech, a new Parallax-Level Mech for Bomen, and the remaining two were Knight-Level mechs. Ajax led two teams of operators and had Monkey as the guide, making the size of his group a total of 31 people. They used six small magnetic energy off-road vehicles for the attack on the mining area, with Ajax relying on his own mech.

Bomen took the rest of the forces to the business district, using fourteen small magnetic off-road vehicles and three transport trucks, prepared to make a hasty retreat with the operators from the business district if need be.

Bomen wanted Ajax to take the other two mechs as well, believing that Ajax alone would not be enough against the prepared forces from the Hell's League. It would be impossible to take down the attacking forces at the mining area with the number of people he had. However, Ajax insisted on going alone and there was nothing Bomen could do about it.

Once they left, the barrier was activated above the camp, now becoming the only thing capable of protecting the camp for the night.

The subsequent events unfolded exactly as Ajax had predicted. The Hell's League and various small and medium-sized forces from varying organizations concentrated their troops, including most of their defenders, in the mining area in an attempt to eliminate the Lazoole Society and the Four Tribes.

Ajax's moves caught the defenders in the mining area off guard, as under his leadership, a powerful surprise attack was launched. Monkey, familiar with the terrain, not only guided them but also pointed out the defense points of the opponents, allowing Ajax to formulate the most strategic attack plan he could within a short time frame.

The Hell's League only had two Knight-Level mechs and about 70 members defending the Mining area. They were unable to stop Ajax and his advance and within a few minutes, the mining area at the border had completely fallen into the hands of Ajax.

*TN: These fucking inconsistencies, in the previous chapters they would be facing a force of over 1300 soldiers in the mining area and now that just went out of the fucking window and it became 70. So gonna have to edit the previous one and say that they had 2000 soldiers, lost 600-700 in the battles, sent 1000 to the business district and a few to the mining area.*

Bach was the leader of the Hell's League and was able to receive timely information about the attack on the mining area. His response was to send the defeated army that had besieged the camp earlier as reinforcements, this was all he could spare at the moment.

It was past midnight when the reinforcements rushed into the mining area. These forces consisted of four mechs and over two hundred armed personnel, ready for an attack.

However, as soon as they arrived at the mining area, they were ambushed by Ajax, resulting in heavy casualties.

Their morale collapsed the moment they saw Ajax as the memory of a single mech rampaging across the battlefield, taking life after life like a reaper, was engraved into their minds. If he was a horrifying opponent during the day, now that they were facing him during the night, they felt as if they were facing death itself.

Having lost their will to fight, they soon began to retreat. Ajax took advantage of the situation and pursued them, leading two squads of operatives to eliminate two more mechs and dozens of enemies.

Considering how little time much time had already passed, Ajax believed that it was likely that the battle in the business district was still ongoing. He contemplated whether he should go to the fight and leave the mining area vulnerable to a counterattack from the Hell's League.

After much thought, Ajax decided to stay and strengthen the defenses. As for the battle ongoing in the business district, he would leave it up to fate.

.....

The situation on Bomen's side was not good. As soon as they arrived, they engaged in a fierce battle with the forces of the Hell's League and despite fighting for most of the day, the forces sent but the Hell's League were all elite, allowing them to maintain the upper hand, though not by much.

The operators defending the business district were also elite operators. They fought fiercely and their morale was at an all-time high after they found out that Bomen himself was leading the defense.

The stalemate persisted until about 3 am, leaving the ground littered with craters and corpses. Both sides were at their wit's end, having fought for hours on end throughout the night, resulting in nearly a thousand casualties in total.

Although the Hell's League still had a numerical advantage with nearly 600 people left, it was no longer an absolute advantage like it was before. The Lazoole Society was able to fend off the attack without being decimated, with two to three hundred operators left in their ranks. In such a battle where an enemy decides to besiege a base, the attacking side needs at least three times as many troops as the defenders so that they can obtain the victory without suffering heavy casualties.

Bomen understood the situation and saw a glimmer of hope as he held firm, with no intention of retreating. He was determined to defend the post no matter what. He would fight to the last mech, to the last bullet, to the last man, and he would not retreat until he drew his last breath.

The Hell's League's battle command had originally planned to fight to the death, but they no longer considered such an option after suffering so many casualties. They requested reinforcements from their leader Bach, but to their dismay, Bach refused and instead diverted reinforcements to the mining area.

The relentless fighting continued for another two hours without any progress toward taking over the business district. With no reinforcements coming, the commander of the Hell's League acknowledged that the situation was not in their favor, ordered a withdrawal, and returned to their base.

By 5 am, the business district regained its peace, and Lazoole Society was left with less than two hundred operators, all bearing some sort of injury, and only three mechs remained.

The Hell's League fared even worse. Of the nearly 2000 people and about 30 mechs they originally used for today's attack, they were left with less than 530 people and 7 mechs, having lost a total of 1470 people and 23 mechs.

There was no time for celebration now that the enemies were gone. Bomen hastily ordered his men to continue deploying and reinforcing their defenses, anticipating a possible return of the Hell's League's forces. He simultaneously dismantled the jammers left by the Hell's League and established communication with Ajax and the camp. Fortunately, the camp did not suffer another wave of attacks.

Upon hearing that Ajax had achieved a significant victory, Bomen was ecstatic. His long-standing desire to retake the mining area after it had been snatched was finally fulfilled. However, the situation was not over. His Vox was bombarded with requests for backup from the Four Tribes who had no one in their ranks to match Ajax's strength.

(TN: I guess the mining area was never theirs to begin with. Fucking Chinese author's man, can't keep track of shit and always contradict themselves. But that doesn't matter because I have the power of the editor, so now, it was previously theirs but they had lost control of it. Reality can be whatever I want it to be.)

Their situation mirrored that of the Lazoole Society. Their transportation team was attacked, reinforcements were sent, and they were ambushed. The camp was left vulnerable, resulting in an attack from the Hell's League and various small and medium-sized organizations.

The camps and planting areas of the Four Tribes were lost in the early hours of the morning, leaving less than 300 survivors from their original 1,000+ operators. Most of the family members of the operators were brutally killed by the Hell's League.

It was 7 am when the leader of the Four Tribes, Rick, brought his remaining men to seek aid and shelter from the Lazoole Society.

He approached Bomen who, currently facing a shortage of manpower at the time, agreed to take them in under the condition that they would help defend if the Hell's League's forces attacked again. Rick immediately agreed since the enemy of an enemy is a friend and they already had an underlying alliance.

After capturing the territory of the Four Tribes, the Hell's League regrouped its forces, determined to erase the remnants of the Lazoole Society and the Four Tribes. After half a day of repairs and recruiting, they gathered more than 2,000 people and over 20 mechs to reclaim the mining area.