The Dominion came rushing out of the forest and brush. Naming the enemy forces the dominion made sense after Collins got a good glimpse of what they were fighting. It was a mix of several different alien forms, but the one thing they all had in common was the same adaptive camouflage uniforms they were wearing. The adaptive camouflage only really worked for infiltration and assassination missions as it wasnt a perfect suit for the battle field since the AI that regulated the suit couldn't keep up with the quick movements. Collins also suspected that these suits were what was confusing thermal scans keeping the heat regulated on the outside so as to appear like any other inanimate object without body heat.
The dominion forces came quick but prepared. Following the infantry were mecha larger and more deadly than their own spartan class mecha with the same adaptive camouflage technology albeit a little bit better than what the infantry had. They were equipped with plasma rifles, and twin mounted plasma cannons on each shoulder. Collins couldn't see what else they had in the second he had to call his units to fire, but he suspected they would find out soon enough.
"Alpha and Echo teams, pin the enemy mecha down by any means necessary, all other teams focus on infantry, we can't let them set up heavy weapons or we are done for" said Collins in the command channel.
The spartan mecha opened fire with their anti infantry rockets they had mounted in their shoulder pauldrons while they used the mini guns mounted on their shield arm and literally sprayed the advancing enemy with no effort in trying to target individuals. Alpha and Echo teams crouched behind the barrier and and fired their respective infantry rifles at the approaching enemy mecha in an attempt to pin them down.
The screams of the infantry could be heard inside the cockpits as limbs and bodies were ripped apart by the missiles and mini guns. The battlefield was painted in several different colors of blood from the many species that represented the Dominion forces. It was a massacre that would turn the stomach of even the most seasoned pilots, but they continued to fire on the advancing enemies as their lives depended on it.
A loud thunder was heard and a spartan mecha lit up in flames as it crumpled to the ground from a cannon shot taken directly in the chassis.
"I need those mecha pinned down NOW!" shouted Collins in the radio as he watched 2 more mecha crumble under the might of the dominion cannons.
The infantry were steadily approaching the barriers, wading in a sea of blood and gore to overwhelm the Spartan class mecha taking cover. They had started setting up heavy weapons emplacements on the edges of the woods in an attempt to help their mecha that were soaking up damage from the energy rifles.
"Bravo team is down" Collins heard from the radio static as he took aim at an exposed mecha that had slipped out of cover from the shield. The rifle didn't make a sound as he pulled the trigger and blasted a hole right through the cockpit killing the pilot and disabling the mecha for the battle.
"Alpha and Echo team, switch to targeted fire, Our rifles have enough power to take them out of we can get a shot" said Collins.
"Alpha team reports low on power, we can't keep up the barrage or our power cores will be depleted" said the Alpha team leader over radio. "Acknowledged Alpha team lead" Replied Collins as he racked his brains trying to find the solution.
The rest of the teams reported in with the same issues. Usually a mecha company could rotate squads in to give the power core time to recharge, but they didn't have that luxury here and needed heavy sustained fire just to give them an extra few seconds to live. Collins sighed as he prepared to give what he knew was his final command.
"All damaged mecha stay back and provide cover fire, I want the remainder with me as we switch to melee combat. I will lead the charge, if we can get up close to the enemy mecha, we may still have a chance. It was an honor serving with you all, today history will remember us and our lost brothers as heroes." Said Collins, knowing that this battle was already lost.
Collins simultaneously lifted his sword and activated his energy shield and jumped over the barricade crushing the infantry under his feet. He charged forward as the the other twenty-nine undamaged mecha followed suit in a final charge. Swinging his sword into the horde, the infantry stood no chance against a fast moving target like the spartan mecha. Collins swerved left and right not wanting to make an even easier target in his 40 ft mecha trying to get to the back as fast as he could while crushing the infantry like ants.
He reached the first enemy mecha and swung his sword down on it. It was intercepted by the enemy before it could do any damage so Collins kicked it back before swinging again. The Dominion mecha sidestepped and swung its glaive down on Collins left arm. Collins saw the obvious attack, turning the energy shield off as the glaive passed by. The energy shield came back to life and he used the lip to catch the blade and shift his left side back pulling the enemy forward while using the forward momentum of his right side to thrust his sword through the cockpit skewering the pilot.
One mecha down, he turned to briefly check on his unit seeing half of them gone. In a rage he turned back and continued forward finding the next mecha prepared to take him down. A loud bang and the sound of shearing metal caught his attention before he lost consciousness, his mecha spinning around and being thrown to the ground from the force of the cannon round taking his whole left arm.