Chương 379: Book 6 - Chapter 40 - Weapon Testing

I jumped down from the Bear-acade wall to land among the small army of bears gathering just outside of the walls. I probably could have just gone through the gate a couple feet away, but since there were still a lot of troops pouring through to join the assault force, I really didn't want to wait my turn. Even though not a single bear looked up as I strode towards the Mauler, they were all too busy checking the weapons and packing extra supplies into the Kodiaks, not a single one got in my way.

They just seamlessly slipped to the side, allowing me to advance completely unobstructed. As soon as I got close enough, I hopped up onto the massive tank, bypassing the churning crowd as I made my way towards my squad.

"How are the preparations going?" I asked once I reached the other side of the titanic vehicle.

"Pretty good, the assault force should be ready in about five minutes. All the Kodiaks are accounted for. We're just packing them with extra ammunition," Deadbeat replied.

"It's probably best if we don't tarry too long," Dusty added.

"Even though the fungus is dying off, the Antithesis haven't backed down at all, and they're still throwing themselves against our lines. We're vulnerable here, and I'd like to get moving as soon as possible."

"We're fine, the troopers have formed a wall of steel between the Antithesis and us, and unless one of those colossal models shows up, they can hold nearly indefinitely. You're just itching to get your butt into the driver's seat of the Mauler as soon as possible," Deadbeat snorted.

"Can you blame me? Look at that beauty!" Dusty replied excitedly.

"I can't wait to see what she can do!"

"Alright, settle down. You'll get a look soon enough," I said, glancing around.

"Where are Heavy and Bandit?"

"Heavy wanted to double-check that all the Kodiaks were stocked with the proper heavy weapons in case we ever need the Moose to swap loadouts mid-battle," Deadbeat explained.

"And Bandit went out to prepare the other squads you wanted to send out."

"Any problems?" Deadbeat shook her head.

"Not that I know of. He had a little difficulty finding enough scouts, but he was able to fill out the squads once we received the latest wave of troops from the carrier."

"Excellent," I muttered.

"And how much longer until the army is ready to march?"

"We're just waiting for the last few troops to arrive. Maybe five minutes?" Dusty replied.

"Good. Let Heavy and Bandit know that I want to get moving the moment we're ready," I declared. Dusty threw a rough salute, an eager smile on his face.

"Can do!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Wait a minute!" Deadbeat snapped.

"We haven't done any weapon tests with the Mauler. We don't know if it's going to be able to stand up to any of those titans yet."

"What? Why not?" I asked.

"That's why I purchased it out here before going to meet my friends, so you could do your tests and put any concerns about its effectiveness out of your mind. Why didn't you test it yet?"

"Deadbeat wanted to wait for you," Dusty explained.

"Said it didn't feel right firing a big gun for the first time without you being around to witness it." I smiled into my helmet when the small aqua-colored bear elbowed her compatriot in the ribs so hard he stumbled back a couple steps.

"It didn't feel right," Deadbeat admitted quietly. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Well, I'm here now," I said.

"And we have a couple minutes until everyone else arrives. Let's do it now. Let's test it now."

"Fuck yes!" Dusty shouted before rushing over and trying to scramble onto the tank. Even though the sloped armor at the front of the super heavy was the easiest part to climb onto, the closest point to the ground, it was still close to six feet high. Since that was nearly twice as high as Dusty, he had a little trouble. I watched him struggle for a few seconds before finally sighing, hopping off the tank, and giving him a boost up.

"Thanks boss!" he shouted over his shoulder as he ran towards the top hatch.

"You should have just made him run around to the rear hatch," Deadbeat muttered.

"Eh… It's nice seeing him excited about this," I replied.

"Besides, it would have taken a lot longer for him to run all the way around, and I want to see this thing in action."

"He gets that part of his personality from you, you know," Deadbeat grumbled.

"Getting excited whenever he gets to blow up something with a big gun."

"Just like you get your cynical, sarcastic side from me," I said.

"Personally, I think I got the better end of the deal," she muttered, causing me to smile.

"If you say so…" I replied. Behind me, the Mauler's engine roared to life. [Ready for testing!] Dusty reported through the command network.

"Do you want to watch the test?" I asked Deadbeat.

"I can give you a boost up onto the Mauler too."

"I'm fine watching from a distance, thanks," she replied.

"Suit yourself," I said. Turning away from Deadbeat, I took a couple steps, bouncing on my ankles before leaping onto the front of the massive warmachine. [Head towards the defensive line. The Mauler is tall enough to fire over the bears, and we just need to perform a weapon test anyways,] I told Dusty through the network. [Okie Dokie, hang on.] The super heavy lurched forward, accelerating far faster than I expected from such a massive vehicle, and as it did the other bears smoothly parted, giving us easy access to the front line. Even though I'd been told the Antithesis were still pushing against our defenses, I was a little surprised by how active they really were. Wave upon wave of smaller models surged forward, only to get bogged down in the steadily growing swamp made up of the melted remains of their predecessors.

Wild's flowers were doing a good job of keeping the battlefield clear, melting the dead into mush within seconds. Unfortunately, although they did a great job of destroying the bodies, they didn't do a great job of getting rid of the remains. The liquidy mush gathered in shallow pools, slowly soaking into the earth, and evaporating. At least they probably would, if they had enough time to do so. Instead, the Antithesis kept throwing more and more fodder into the area, creating a veritable bog just outside the wall.

Since most of our forces were static, hiding behind the wall, the bog just benefited us, creating a 'natural' barrier that slowed the Antithesis attack. When the larger models, like the Model Twelves and Model Fourteens, charged into the bog they quickly sunk deep into the muck. Their stubby legs were simply too short to get a good grip and I'm sure that some of them would have suffocated in the swamp, if they hadn't received a coil gun shot to the face first.

I surveyed the area from my perch on the front of the tank, looking for a decent target for our test. Although there weren't that many large models wandering around, there were a few Twenties. I pointed at a pair of Twenty-Eights trudging forward, a decent way behind the Antithesis lines. [Dusty, you think you could take a shot at those Twenty-Eights?] I asked, passing on the targeting information. [Absolutely!] he replied.

[You might want to get off the front of the Mauler though, since these are new cannons; I don't know what kind of kickback they have.] As soon as I slipped off the side of the Mauler, the massive main turret quickly rotated into position. I was more than a little surprised at how quickly it turned and zeroed in on the massive Antithesis. Unlike the UHR there was no slow buildup, no growing whine, there was just a single massive shockwave as one of the Mauler's heavy coilguns fired.

Since I was back on the ground, I thought I might have had trouble tracking the shot or surveying the damage. I shouldn't have been concerned. Although weaker than the UHR, these coilguns had no problems punching straight through the Antithesis lines, disintegrating the models that were hit directly and throwing those nearby away.

Even after punching through all that flesh, the projectile was strong enough to cause the closer Twenty-Eight to explode from the impact and then punch straight through the second before embedding itself into the side of a hill far in the distance. [Fuck yeah!] Dusty cheered. [Take that, you floral freaks!] [I'd call that a successful test,] I declared with a smile. [What do you say we go find something bigger to test it on? I'm sure we'll find one at the hive.]