Mech Online: Echoes of Steel 1 (Litrpg)

Chapter 11: Rising Tensions

The thunderous booms of plasma cannons rattled the sky as Jack and his crew traded volleys with alien death machines that blotted out the horizon. Each explosion left craters of fire and twisted metal in a cityscape already gasping its last, apocalyptic breaths. Skyscrapers, once monuments to human ingenuity, now stood as perforated husks, silent witnesses to the cataclysmic showdown.
"Kai, aim for their flank! Ava, we need eyes on..." Jack's commands were cut short by a deafening blast that nearly sent his mech tumbling. If not for the stabilizers kicking in, he'd be a fancy tin can rolling down Fifth Avenue.
"Copy that, boss-man!" Kai's voice crackled over the comms, brimming with the kind of enthusiasm you'd expect at a sports game, not a battlefield.
They danced a deadly ballet, mechs weaving between crumbling buildings and diving for cover as beams of energy seared the air. Jack could almost taste the ozone, the electric tang of charged particles sizzling past his cockpit.
"Jack, heads up!" Ava's warning came just in time for him to swerve, narrowly avoiding a streak of purple death that vaporized a chunk of concrete where he'd been seconds before. "You owe me one!"
"Keep the tab running," he said back, heartbeat drumming a frantic rhythm against his ribs.
Then, like a shadow stretching across no man's land, the Zeraxian Commander emerged. Even through the chaos, his presence was a cold anchor, pulling every fearful glance toward him. Standing tall amid the wreckage, the Commander's dark purple skin seemed to absorb the light around him, his red eyes aglow with the promise of conquest.
"Press the attack. Leave no survivors," his voice slithered across the battlefield, reaching every Zeraxian unit with chilling clarity. His orders were met with an immediate surge in the alien onslaught, the troops emboldened by his proximity.
"Great, looks like big, bad, and ugly is calling the shots personally today," Liam's voice drawled, somehow finding humor even as the world fell apart. "Any chance we can get him to sign autographs?"
"Focus, Liam!" Dr. Hayes snapped, her healing drone whirring as it patched up a breach in another teammate's armor. "We need every advantage we can get."
Despite the bleak odds, the human resistance held their ground, each member of Jack's team embodying defiance in the face of the Zeraxian terror. Their laughter amidst destruction was a middle finger to the fear clawing at their guts, a testament to the resilience of those who refused to be conquered.
Jack Cooper's hands were cramped around the controls of his mech, the HUD flashing with a dizzying array of warnings and tactical data. His breath came in short, sharp gasps as he pivoted on the spot, thrusters firing to dodge a barrage of plasma bolts that scorched the air where he'd been just moments before. The battlefield was a nightmare of fire and metal, a cacophony of explosions and shrieks both mechanical and human.
"Come on, you oversized tin can," Jack muttered under his breath, coaxing more speed from the mech. He knew it wasn't fair to blame the machine; it was an extension of his will, responding with as much agility as physics would allow.
An alien dreadnought loomed ahead, its gun ports aglow with pre-fire energy. Time slowed as Jack made his move, launching his mech skyward with a burst of thrusters. The world tilted, a ballet of burning debris and tracer rounds pirouetting across his vision. As the dreadnought unleashed hell, Jack twisted mid-air, the salvo passing mere inches beneath his armored feet.
"Ha! Missed me!" he whooped a manic grin plastered on his face as adrenaline surged through his veins. This was no time for fear; humor was his shield against the onslaught.
The mech landed hard, titanium joints groaning. Jack didn't miss a beat, unleashing a stream of micro-missiles at the dreadnought's exposed flank. Explosions blossomed like deadly flowers, ripping through alien armor plates.
Another warning blared; a seeker drone locked onto him. "Not today, you don't!" Jack shouted, firing countermeasures. A cluster of bright flares erupted from his mech, confusing the drone's sensors. It veered off, detonating harmlessly against a pile of rubble.
"Jack got one on your six!" Ava's voice crackled over the comms, tension lacing her words.
"Got it!" Jack spun his mech, the external cameras catching the glint of a Zeraxian interceptor bearing down on him. The enemy craft fired, green bolts sizzling toward him. With a deft maneuver, Jack redirected power to his mech's rear shields, absorbing the brunt of the attack. The cockpit shuddered, and systems wailed in protest but held.
"Thanks for the heads-up, Ava!"
"Anytime! Just don't make it a habit," she said back, the sound of her sniper rifle echoing through the comm link.
"Alright, big guy, let's dance," Jack whispered to himself, locking onto the interceptor. His fingers danced over the controls, launching another missile barrage. This time, his aim was true. The interceptor burst into flames, careening into the ground in a ball of fire.
"Score one for the good guys," he said, a surge of triumph making his heart pound. But there was no time to celebrate. There was only the next threat, the next dance step in this deadly waltz.
"Keep your eyes peeled, team. We're not out of this yet," Jack said, rallying his companions as they continued their desperate struggle to survive and to strike back against an unfathomably powerful foe.
Jack's mech thundered across the scorched earth, its metal limbs churning up clouds of debris. With a flick of his wrist, he launched a volley of micro-missiles at a cluster of Zeraxian drones swarming overhead. They burst like fireworks, briefly illuminating the battlefield with their destruction.
"Ghost, I need an opening!" Jack barked into the comm, weaving through a hailstorm of enemy blaster fire.
"Way ahead of you," Liam 'Ghost' O'Reilly responded, his voice cool as ice. A series of rapid keystrokes sent a crippling virus into the enemy's communication network, sapping their coordinated efforts.
"Path cleared, Captain!" Ghost announced triumphantly.
"Move up, team! Ava, can you?"
"Covering fire? On it," Ava interjected before Jack could finish, her sniper rifle chattering in staccato bursts as she picked off alien gunners with deadly precision.
"Doc, Kai, push forward!" Jack commanded, feeling the rhythm of the battle like a pulse in his veins.
"Roger that!" Dr. Evelyn Hayes replied, her mech's frame glowing with protective energy fields as she charged forward, deflecting incoming shots. Beside her, Kai Yamamoto let out a fierce war cry, his mech's plasma blades slicing through alien armor as if it were paper.
Together, they carved a path through the chaos, a symphony of destruction played in perfect unison. But as one threat fell, another rose to take its place.
"Damn it, more bogeys incoming!" Ava warned, her tone taut with urgency. The sky darkened, not with the fall of night, but with the shadow of a fresh horde of Zeraxian reinforcements. Hundreds of sleek fighters descended like a plague, their engines screaming threats of obliteration.
"Brace yourselves," Jack muttered, squaring his shoulders within the tight confines of his cockpit. The odds were stacking higher, but Jack's resolve only hardened. He wasn't just fighting for survival now; he was fighting for every last soul on this ravaged planet.
"Focus fire, aim for the carriers!" he instructed, knowing those were the linchpins of the enemy fleet. "If we take them down, the rest will scatter."
"Got it, lead the charge, Jack!" Kai's voice roared through the comm, full of fire and fight.
"Keep those heals coming, Doc!" Jack added, knowing that her support was the only thing keeping them stitched together amidst the onslaught.
"Always do," came the serene reply, a stark contrast to the cacophony of war around them.
The air crackled with energy beams and missile trails as Jack and his team unleashed everything they had. The alien forces were relentless, but so were they. Under Jack's leadership, they were a single entity, moving with purpose and power. This was their stand, their moment.
"Let's show these aliens that Earth isn't going down without a fight!" Jack yelled over the comms, rallying his team as they faced down the overwhelming swarm, each ready to write history or die trying.
Jack's voice, a beacon in the storm, spurred his team forward as Kai Yamamoto's mech, a towering colossus of steel and firepower, stepped with ground-shaking force towards the frontlines. With every pull of his trigger, Kai's relentless barrage sent alien drones tumbling from the sky like broken toys. His scarred face was a mask of focus, each calculated move a testament to years of honing his warrior spirit on countless battlefields.
"Kai's making it rain scrap metal!" Liam "Ghost" O'Reilly said from his own console, fingers dancing over holographic keys with the grace of a concert pianist; a cyber-symphony that weaved into the enemy's systems, seizing control of their automated turrets and turning them against their masters.
"Nice one, Ghost! Keep hacking us a path to victory," Jack cheered, weaving his mech through debris and explosions with the poise of an intergalactic ballet dancer.
"Victory? I'm just here for the high score," Liam shot back, his green-streaked hair glinting under his cockpit lights as he smirked at his handiwork.
Ava Martinez, perched in a sniper's nest high above the melee, her eyes sharp as hawk's, relayed critical intel with calm precision. "Enemy flanking southeast quadrant. Looks like they brought their ugly friends to the party."
"Copy that, Ava. Let's give them a welcome they won't forget," Jack responded, lining up his next targets based on her guidance, trusting in her eagle-eyed vigilance.
Amidst the chaos, Dr. Evelyn Hayes maneuvered her support mech with a surgeon's exactitude, beams of regenerative energy lancing from its arms to mend torn armor and cauterize searing wounds. Her voice, a soothing contrast to the bedlam, offered constant reassurance. "Hold steady, you're going to make it," she broadcasted, her healing abilities the lifeblood pulsing through the veins of their operation.
"Doc, you're an angel in a war machine," Jack praised, feeling the vitalizing hum of her nanite-infused repairs knitting his mech's battered frame back together.
"Flattery will get you extra nanites, Jack. Now keep your head down!" Evelyn retorted, her glasses reflecting the light of cascading explosions, a beacon of hope amidst despair.
The battlefield was a merciless teacher, demanding growth or yielding destruction. Each close call, every narrow escape sculpted Jack's mettle, forcing him to evolve from the office worker he once was into the commander he needed to be.
"Remember what we're fighting for, team! For Earth, for humanity!" Jack's voice rose over the din, his words not just commands but lifelines tossed into the roiling sea of conflict.
"Wouldn't want to fight for Mars, too dusty," Liam joked, even as his hands flew across his controls, orchestrating electronic warfare.
"Focus, Ghost!" Kai barked, though a grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. The soldier had seen many battles, but this ragtag team gave him something new; a flicker of hope in a world gone dark.
"Keep those spirits up, we're pushing them back!" Ava added, her scouting reports punctuated by the crack of her mech's sniper rifle.
"Echo that," Evelyn agreed, her healing waves flowing stronger than ever. "We've got this!"
Through the smoke and fire, Jack glimpsed the future they were carving with each act of defiance. They were more than fighters; they were guardians of the last light in a universe threatening to extinguish it. And with every joke shared, every moment of camaraderie, they wove a stronger bond. One that might just hold the key to turning the tide of this unyielding war.
The skyline of Los Angeles, once a proud silhouette against the Californian sun, was now a jagged line of destruction. The shrieks of twisting metal and the thunderous collapses of concrete giants echoed through the battlefield. Mech suits stomped through streets littered with debris, the remnants of what had been bustling avenues and vibrant neighborhoods. Jack's HUD flashed with warning signals as another building crumbled nearby, a cloud of dust and memories billowing into the war-torn sky.
"Watch your six!" Ava's voice cut through comms, her usual calm tinged with urgency as a half-toppled skyscraper groaned ominously overhead.
Jack pivoted his mech, the servos whining in protest, just as the structure surrendered to gravity. He fired thrusters, blasting away from the fall zone, feeling the tremor through his cockpit as the building kissed the earth in a final, devastating embrace.
"Too close," he muttered, eyeing the devastation. Vital resources, ammunition depots, medical bays, and tech hubs now lay in ruins, their protective structures no match for the Zeraxian onslaught. They were bleeding supplies with every hour, and hope was an ever-diminishing luxury.
"Rally point, Echo-Five," Jack commanded, his voice steady despite the chaos. "We need a breather."
One by one, the team's mechs lumbered into the relative safety of a parking garage that somehow still stood defiant amidst the apocalypse, its levels scarred but intact. The heavy thuds of their machines echoed off the concrete walls as they formed a protective circle.
"Status check," Jack ordered, flipping switches to power down non-essential systems, conserving energy.
"Systems green, but ammo's running low," Kai reported, his mech bearing the fresh scars of battle.
"Got enough power for two, maybe three more full heals," Evelyn chimed in, her fingers dancing over a holographic interface, redistributing her mech's energy reserves.
"Comms grid is Swiss cheese, but I'm patching holes," Liam added, his avatar winking on Jack's screen as he worked his magic. "And my sense of humor's at 110%, for the record."
"Scouting paths... it's like trying to find a clean route through a toddler's playroom," Ava said, her eyes scanning readouts. "But I'll get us a way out."
"Good," Jack nodded, allowing himself a moment to lean back in his seat. "We're getting hammered out there, but we're not beaten. Not by a long shot."
"Never doubted it for a second, boss," Kai smirked, cracking his knuckles audibly over the comms. "Just give the word, and we'll turn those alien freaks into scrap metal."
"Prep for the next battle," Jack said, his resolve hardening. "Evelyn, prioritize injuries. Liam, ensure we have open lines. Ava, find us the least messy playground. Kai, keep the guns hot."
"Copy that," they responded in unison, a symphony of determination amidst the discordant backdrop of a city under siege.
"Let's use this time wisely," Jack concluded, his eyes tracing the crumbling horizon. "We're the resistance LA needs. We're humanity's last stand. And we will not falter."
Laughter and affirmations filled the comms, a brief respite of camaraderie before they faced the horrors outside once more. But in this short pause, in the heart of a battered city, Jack and his team found something vital, the strength to fight on.
Jack's mech suit whirred and clanked as he adjusted the controls, his brow furrowed in concentration. The cockpit's screens blazed with data streams as Ava's voice crackled through the comms.
"Got something," she announced her tone a mix of mischief and triumph. "Their flank on the east side; it's thinner. They've been diverting units to the main assault."
"Thinner, you say?" Jack mused, a half-grin tugging at his lips. "Sounds like an invitation."
"More like an oversight, we're about to make them regret it," Kai chimed in, the eagerness in his voice as palpable as the vibrations from his mech's Gatling guns spinning up.
"Alright, team," Jack said, his fingers dancing across the holographic interface. "We hit hard and fast. Ghost, I need you to jam their comms when we strike. Keep 'em blind and confused."
"Consider it done," Liam replied, the sound of keystrokes punctuating his commitment.
"And Evelyn, we'll need your nanobots on standby for quick patch-ups. We can't afford to lose momentum."
"Already prepping the bots for deployment," she confirmed, the calm in her words belying the speed of her actions.
"Let's punch a hole right through their ranks," Jack declared, the plan crystallizing in his mind. "Ava, guide us in. Kai, you're on point. Everyone else, fall in behind and be ready for anything."
"Anything is my middle name," Kai said as the mechs began to move, their heavy footfalls synchronizing into a relentless march.
"Actually, it's Tetsuo," Liam corrected, deadpan.
"Details, details," Kai shot back with a laugh.
The team advanced, weaving through the wreckage of the city, the ruins a grim reminder of the stakes. As they neared the weak point in the alien lines, the tension ratcheted up. Jack's hands gripped the controls, each movement precise, his senses heightened by the adrenaline coursing through him.
"Ready for the jamming signal," Liam whispered, the anticipation clear even through the static.
"Three... two... one... Now!" Jack said.
Liam unleashed a burst of electronic warfare, and the alien communications flickered out. In the sudden silence that followed, Jack's mech surged forward, the rest of the team close behind. They tore into the enemy's exposed side with ferocity, laser blasts and missiles streaking through the air, finding their marks on the disoriented Zeraxian forces.
"Ha! Look at them scatter!" Kai roared, his mech's weapons lighting up the battlefield.
"Stay sharp," Jack cautioned. "We still..."
His warning was cut off by an earth-shaking roar. From the dust and debris emerged a towering figure, its armor gleaming ominously in the scant light that pierced the smoke-filled sky. A Zeraxian behemoth, its cannons aimed squarely at Jack's team.
"New contact! Big and ugly at twelve o'clock!" Ava shouted, her usual humor replaced by urgency.
"Brace for impact!" Jack commanded, but even as he did, the behemoth unleashed its guns that sent his mech reeling. Alarms blared, and Jack fought to steady the machine.
"Jack! Status?" Evelyn's voice was tinged with concern.
"Still here," he grunted, recalibrating systems. "But we've got our work cut out for us now."
As the behemoth advanced, Jack's team steeling themselves for the onslaught, their determination unwavering, their spirits unbroken. But the question lingered, hanging in the air like the smoke from the battlefield: How would they overcome this new, formidable foe?