It was late at night, the Mammoth had made a home for itself in yet another valley, this one slightly deeper than the last one. The area in general was a rocky flatland with few blades of grass as vegetation.
Tanya and Victor had been sent out by Elena to scout the area to ensure it was secure. Seraphina, Tiana, Reyes, and Celeste were stationed at the four cardinal angles of the vessel to stand guard.
Meanwhile, inside the Mammoth, Nathan had his hands full in the control room. He was currently studying some of the vessel's manuscripts when the door to the room flew open and in walked Elena.
"Oh hey, it's you." Thanks to Reyes, he had gotten a bit more confident around this outstanding figure. Previously, he wouldn't be able to be so casual around her, stuttering and blushing like an idiot.
"I hope I am not interrupting?" She asked as she stood at the entrance. "Nah, it's fine. Come in." He replied. Elena obliged as she walked into the room and strutted over to the cockpit where he was.
"So what are you doing?" "Still studying the Mammoth. I feel there is a lot that could be done if I understood every detail about it. I mean, look how efficient 'Decoy' was in helping us claim victory today."
Elena nodded. "True. So what have you got so far?" "Well not much, the Mammoth seems to have the potential to achieve stealth for a limited period but I don't know how that works."
"Stealth?" "Mn, not exactly invisibility. More like moving without drawing attention to itself."
"I understand. The Mammoth is naturally a ship that would draw attention no matter where it went." Nathan could not help but agree. "Its size works against it."
"What else have you gotten?" "Well, I'm trying to find out if there is a way to build a defense mechanism for the Mammoth."
Elena felt a bit perplexed. "But there is the Shield…" She could not stress that enough. "I know but the shield is not trustworthy. The Arachnids are most likely the weakest units that the Machines have.
"If a stronger unit was sent out… I believe there would be a unit that would be able to rip apart the shield within a few shots." Elena's facial expression darkened somewhat. "It's not like I haven't thought of that."
"Then what?" "How much stronger do you think the Machines can make their units?"
"I can't say… I'm not a battlefield expert but I do believe that the academy wouldn't give us an impossible assignment. So I'm sure that with your leadership. We'd be able to pass with flying colors."
"…Thanks." "Haha…" Nathan looked cute with a sheepish smile on his face. "You should get some rest. Tomorrow, we head out to take down the first Crawler."
"Aye aye, Herald." Nathan saluted after which Elena turned and left. Once outside, with the door behind her, she revealed a beautiful smile.
***
"Who would have thought there would be a tactical room within the Mammoth." It was early in the morning, the sun had just revealed its first light.
Red Wing Thunder Squadron had gathered in the tactical room in the Mammoth. Nathan was the one to find it out while studying the vessel's structure.
It was a small room fitted with blue light, enough to fit thirty people.
There was a round table along with twenty chairs in the middle of the room and just a couple of meters from the table, a blue glass screen was fixed between two poles.
The blue screen had the map of the region there were in shown on it. It looked like an island with three positions marked out with red glowing dots.
There was also a blue dot present in the South region of the map, a few kilometers from the red dot in the East.
"We all know why we are here today. Today marks the beginning of our mission to extract the energy nodes." Elena sat in the seat of position.
"First of all, we have to gauge the strength of our enemies before we attack." She looked to the left and gestured at Nathan, the latter nodding as he made use of his watch.
A second later and a 3-D image of the map shown on the blue screen behind was produced on the table. "This is a map of the scenario."
Nathan got to his feet at this point. Elena had chosen him to give a briefing of the situation before they set their plans into motion. He felt a bit choked due to the attention directed at him.
Of course, most of them had good feelings for him, appreciative of how much he had done for them, despite his low stats. Some looked at him with envy present in their eyes.
[Unshakeable Will activated.] He gulped some saliva and inhaled deeply before he began. "As we already know, we have three targets, three energy nodes that we have to retrieve.
"The red dots on the map are roughly the positions of the three nodes. Please note that this is a rough measurement, we cannot take this as a perfect rendition of the enemy's position."
Nathan paused to catch his breath while looking around to ensure that everyone paid attention. "Our position is this blue dot and as you can see, we are not that far from the Eastern energy node.
"Based on this, I believe it is best if we handle the East first before going after the rest." "Is this model able to make a rough sketch of the defensive strength of each enemy position?" King asked, his baritone voice echoing across the room.
"Unfortunately not, I am going to need Intel from Victor and Tanya before I can create a model." Nathan shook his head before he continued. "Now based on the information present in the Mammoth system, I will be giving a rough description of the Crawler units of the Machine forces."
"The Crawler unit is a Machine designed for extraction and supply transport. It is not that different from our Mammoth. It lacks a real attack system except for say a single plasma gun situated at the front."
Tapping his watch again, above the 3-D holographic image of the scenario map, another image popped up. It was similar in design to the Mammoth but had a more dark and rugged look with a cannon placed underneath its 'jaw'.
"Looks sick." Doug could not help but comment. Elena took a glance at him but ultimately said nothing. Nathan continued. "It also has production potential."
"Potential?" Celeste looked curious. "Mn, if fed with enough energy crystals, the Crawler can use it for the production of both offensive and defensive type Machines.
"So it's like a moving factory?" Reyes remarked. "Yeah, something like that. This way, we can be aware that as long as the Crawler is still functional, they still can create trouble."
"That is a given." Who would think this was a gathering of teenagers, based on the way they communicated and carried themselves, they looked like a bunch of soldiers preparing for a raid.
"This means that we wouldn't be dealing with any Walker. Our opponents are the Crawler and whatever Machine unit it produces." "Is that all?"
"Well, there is a list of Machine units that the Crawler can produce. Would you like me to list them out?" "Go ahead."
***
By the time Nathan was done, Elena had noted a few things. One was that the defensive strength of the Crawler was in no way inferior to its offense… What's more, it could be more lethal.
"Its strength has to deal with how much energy crystals it has absorbed. It can't use everything for production since it still has to deliver something, but that places us at a disadvantage."
Nathan had already taken his seat and everyone was waiting on Elena to give the order. Of course, they had ideas but as long as the Herald had not given them the chance, it was best they kept quiet.
The military had made it that way, they would always listen to authority. Before a higher figure, one should only listen and follow like a dog without making any comments. That was the way they taught it.
"Victor, Tanya. Prepare to head out. We are storming the Eastern Crawler. You need to inform me of how things are looking over there. The number of offensive Machine units it has at its disposal as well as its defense units.
"Nathan." She turned over. "Yeah?" "Is there a method to know how much energy crystals have been harvested from the energy node?"
Nathan thought for a moment before responding. "Well, there is an approximate quantity that should be present, is it possible to use that to make a rough calculation of how much crystals has been harvested?"
He has directed the question at the Spies. "That is doable," Tanya responded. "Alright then. We can use the info to figure out the actual strength of the Crawler."
"Everyone else is to prepare for battle at any time as once they have returned, we will be heading out to take the Eastern front."