I025
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Piloting a Ghoul was very hard. Skirmishers in general were actually pretty hard truthfully, but Ghouls were a step above due to their non-standard nature. Most melee skirmishers had knives or blades, with the knowledge that you'd stick them into the vulnerable spots. Very simple and intuitive. The claws on a Ghoul were meant to rip and tear. The arms made it so that you had to re-do your muscle memory as well due to their length. Really, every part of the mech was non-standard. It was why the mech worked so well when in close range. The slightly off nature of everything made them unpleasant to fight and difficult to predict. Coupled with a design and appearance made to disturb and you got a mech that terrorized its opponents while fighting them.
This wasn't getting into the other factors. The 'eating' functionality was difficult to adapt to as a pilot and unpleasant to witness. The repair process was likewise more than a little unpleasant in many respects. Bolt had committed to a theme and stuck to it to point of what many considered insanity. The mech-line was niche for multiple reasons.
Of course Lilly hadn't cared about all of that. She'd loved the mech through all its iterations and she'd trained the newly named 'Back Scratchers' to the best of her considerable ability and then some with that love. Ghoul had been her first real mech, and she knew all the little tricks. She's made damned sure that every single one of them could pilot the mech with what she considered proper skill before unleashing them.
It has to be said, what an expert considers proper skill and what was actually proper skill were rather different. When the Ghouls were let loose, the general assumption was that they'd destroy a few groups and sow some terror. The mech design was optimal for picking at the edges and waiting for opportune moments. The top notch endurance meant that it could be extremely patient and carefully worm it's way into odd areas to strike from while also maintaining operations with no support.
The Back Scratchers did none of that. They simply feasted upon their victims. The descended upon groups and devoured them wholesale. Some patrols were destroyed before they could even get a word out. They'd be found with their insides ripped out and the pilots so traumatized they couldn't speak. They became notorious within days. By the end of the week of their shakedown, they'd conclusively proven that the formation of their unit was well done.
They were in fact so good that Lilly decided their next foray would be with her helping. The decision was half because she wanted to have fun and half to stretch her legs. Kriff hadn't seen fit to try to dissuade her. Dowry did already have a bit of a reputation. Seeing her on the field with 'sister' mechs would certainly do things. Also morale was important too. Lilly having fun meant she was in a better mood for later.
And she did have fun. The resulting massacre drove away every single independent mech from the mountain. You could go days in any direction before there was even a hint of people. It was so absolutely effective that they ran out of people to fight and had to return earlier than planned. Some of the people had outright surrendered and begged to be thrown at the sandmen before she'd even approached. The tales of 'that insane monster' became ghost stories, and the allied mercenaries actually called up the mountain to ask what the hell was going on.
Kriff actually had to forbid the Back Scratchers from deploying without orders after that. Oh he would still be unleashing them when it was needed, but they actually wanted some of the unwanted guests to stick around the area. Monitoring their movements let him evaluate their organization and plans. If they were several days away he had to rely on other means.
That wasn't to say there were many plans yet. For all the worry about the wave of incoming invaders, the reality was most of them were simply desperate people. Some had simply landed because there was no other option. There was conflict all over the world at the moment. Some people were fighting because they need fuel, others because of food, and some were landing and then leaving as soon as they could.
As a whole, the local Rats were actually quite used to this sort of behavior. The scale was up there, but there were mech graveyards in the planet for a reason. Adding more steel to the pile was just sort of par for the course. If anything they were used to a higher caliber of people. A lot of the bandits / refugees / invaders weren't even checking for natives. They'd land, another person would land, the two groups would fight, and the Rats would rob them both blind. (Let it not be said they were unwelcome hosts.)
Not everything was good for the natives. There were massacres and enslavement and the like happening. It was just again something they had bitter experience with. If anything Olympus and the people on it was a very large net benefit for the planet. They were a focus for all the really greedy groups to look at. A big, glorious target that drew the eye and triggered the lust for rewards.
Bolt and his family got a lot of experience fighting over the coming days and weeks. Some large battles, some small battles. It might have been police work in another planet, one with a functioning government. Here it was dissuading criminals with more metal and machine than sense. Some people even tried to land outside the fog and hike into the place on foot rather than in mechs. The smarter ones used the railway. The dumber ones tried to just get through the mist. Most of them never made it, and those that got to the doors were caged up and practically thrown somewhere else. There was a time and place for mercy. This was not that time.
For a time, it seemed as if this would be the sum total of the problem. Scattered groups and infighting causing the majority of the issues. Then the warlords started to come in. The ambitious organizers and remnants of broken shield nations.
These weren't people that a few raids from Lilly and The Back Scratchers could break alone. They were large groups of a hundred to a thousand mechs, all gathered together around the mountain. It was the first real coordinated push, complete with artillery, flying mechs, and more. Both dangerous, and fully possible of breaking the defenders.
Lilly was first on the line, tasked to break up the largest group. The group of military deserters with full combined arms. She did so alone, with Morning Star. The others were sent to other areas. Lilly was expected to handle a single front with minimal support. The goal was not to win. It was to keep the enemy tied up while the others were defeated with more focused attacks.
Kriff really hadn't wanted to do it, but the mech had been designed to handle a scenario just like this.
This wasn't getting into the other factors. The 'eating' functionality was difficult to adapt to as a pilot and unpleasant to witness. The repair process was likewise more than a little unpleasant in many respects. Bolt had committed to a theme and stuck to it to point of what many considered insanity. The mech-line was niche for multiple reasons.
Of course Lilly hadn't cared about all of that. She'd loved the mech through all its iterations and she'd trained the newly named 'Back Scratchers' to the best of her considerable ability and then some with that love. Ghoul had been her first real mech, and she knew all the little tricks. She's made damned sure that every single one of them could pilot the mech with what she considered proper skill before unleashing them.
It has to be said, what an expert considers proper skill and what was actually proper skill were rather different. When the Ghouls were let loose, the general assumption was that they'd destroy a few groups and sow some terror. The mech design was optimal for picking at the edges and waiting for opportune moments. The top notch endurance meant that it could be extremely patient and carefully worm it's way into odd areas to strike from while also maintaining operations with no support.
The Back Scratchers did none of that. They simply feasted upon their victims. The descended upon groups and devoured them wholesale. Some patrols were destroyed before they could even get a word out. They'd be found with their insides ripped out and the pilots so traumatized they couldn't speak. They became notorious within days. By the end of the week of their shakedown, they'd conclusively proven that the formation of their unit was well done.
They were in fact so good that Lilly decided their next foray would be with her helping. The decision was half because she wanted to have fun and half to stretch her legs. Kriff hadn't seen fit to try to dissuade her. Dowry did already have a bit of a reputation. Seeing her on the field with 'sister' mechs would certainly do things. Also morale was important too. Lilly having fun meant she was in a better mood for later.
And she did have fun. The resulting massacre drove away every single independent mech from the mountain. You could go days in any direction before there was even a hint of people. It was so absolutely effective that they ran out of people to fight and had to return earlier than planned. Some of the people had outright surrendered and begged to be thrown at the sandmen before she'd even approached. The tales of 'that insane monster' became ghost stories, and the allied mercenaries actually called up the mountain to ask what the hell was going on.
Kriff actually had to forbid the Back Scratchers from deploying without orders after that. Oh he would still be unleashing them when it was needed, but they actually wanted some of the unwanted guests to stick around the area. Monitoring their movements let him evaluate their organization and plans. If they were several days away he had to rely on other means.
That wasn't to say there were many plans yet. For all the worry about the wave of incoming invaders, the reality was most of them were simply desperate people. Some had simply landed because there was no other option. There was conflict all over the world at the moment. Some people were fighting because they need fuel, others because of food, and some were landing and then leaving as soon as they could.
As a whole, the local Rats were actually quite used to this sort of behavior. The scale was up there, but there were mech graveyards in the planet for a reason. Adding more steel to the pile was just sort of par for the course. If anything they were used to a higher caliber of people. A lot of the bandits / refugees / invaders weren't even checking for natives. They'd land, another person would land, the two groups would fight, and the Rats would rob them both blind. (Let it not be said they were unwelcome hosts.)
Not everything was good for the natives. There were massacres and enslavement and the like happening. It was just again something they had bitter experience with. If anything Olympus and the people on it was a very large net benefit for the planet. They were a focus for all the really greedy groups to look at. A big, glorious target that drew the eye and triggered the lust for rewards.
Bolt and his family got a lot of experience fighting over the coming days and weeks. Some large battles, some small battles. It might have been police work in another planet, one with a functioning government. Here it was dissuading criminals with more metal and machine than sense. Some people even tried to land outside the fog and hike into the place on foot rather than in mechs. The smarter ones used the railway. The dumber ones tried to just get through the mist. Most of them never made it, and those that got to the doors were caged up and practically thrown somewhere else. There was a time and place for mercy. This was not that time.
For a time, it seemed as if this would be the sum total of the problem. Scattered groups and infighting causing the majority of the issues. Then the warlords started to come in. The ambitious organizers and remnants of broken shield nations.
These weren't people that a few raids from Lilly and The Back Scratchers could break alone. They were large groups of a hundred to a thousand mechs, all gathered together around the mountain. It was the first real coordinated push, complete with artillery, flying mechs, and more. Both dangerous, and fully possible of breaking the defenders.
Lilly was first on the line, tasked to break up the largest group. The group of military deserters with full combined arms. She did so alone, with Morning Star. The others were sent to other areas. Lilly was expected to handle a single front with minimal support. The goal was not to win. It was to keep the enemy tied up while the others were defeated with more focused attacks.
Kriff really hadn't wanted to do it, but the mech had been designed to handle a scenario just like this.
