Ch.149149. Latticino

Typically, monster invasions proceed in 5 stages.

First, Stage 1 is preliminary operations.

By deploying Hive Cults or human-disguised monsters,

they throw society into chaos through various operations,

weakening the target as much as possible before direct invasion.

Of course, since human-disguised monsters are highly classified even to the Hive Mind itself,

on most planets, various forms of Hive Cults primarily conduct these preliminary operations.

Political assassinations, riots, rebellions, betrayals, terrorism,

and all manner of evil acts are diligently carried out by Hive Cults to sicken the planet,

until the second stage, planetary entry, begins.

The monster fleet, arriving from far away through space jumps,

aims to destroy the defending fleet and neutralize the planetary defense systems.

To prevent direct damage to the planet, defenses must succeed at this stage.

However, most monsters are the type that won’t attack unless they’re confident of victory.

So once an invasion begins, nine times out of ten, it progresses to Stage 3.

From Stage 3—troop deployment and beachhead establishment—

the shadow of extinction truly begins to loom over the planet.

Through breaches in the planetary air defense network, monsters push in tens of thousands of landing devices, each the size of a skyscraper—comparable to the 63 Building—calculating that even if most are shot down, just one successful landing is sufficient.

These landing devices, falling like rain, disgorge the tightly packed monsters inside upon touchdown,

sending them to attack the surroundings, while the landing device itself takes root in the ground

and transforms into a monster production plant.

These production plants obtain nutrients by breaking down nearby matter or absorbing energy,

and through the simple process of mass-producing monsters with these nutrients, they gradually expand their power.

This marks the beginning of Stage 4: expansion.

Producing monsters, decomposing matter,

the plants slowly spread across wider territories,

waging war against the intelligent beings of the planet,

moving to acquire as much energy as possible.

And when sufficient energy has been gathered, the final stage begins.

Using all the accumulated energy, they either open portals connecting to other monster planets,

or simply vastly increase production facilities to overwhelm all forces on the planet’s surface with an overwhelming quantity of monsters.

Of course, if the planet has unique or special environmental characteristics,

there might be additional procedures like mutating the monsters further,

but this is the standard invasion route.

And this planet system, Latashino, was no exception.

These monsters, having established beachheads on each planet—

corresponding to the third stage of invasion—

were pushing back the Latashino forces trying to exterminate them and overwhelming them one-sidedly.

Normally in space-themed works, mechanical life forms like the Latashino would have an advantage against alien hive organisms, but these monsters are different.

The monsters’ digestive systems can readily process inorganic materials like metals into energy,

they naturally emit bio-EMP waves if they’re large enough,

and there are even counter-type monsters specifically designed to combat machines.

Black, four-legged raptor-type monsters based on life forms from previously conquered civilizations,

capable of psychic abilities that make them visible to the naked eye but undetectable by mechanical means.

Strange beams that are merely dazzling light to organic beings but instantly melt metals and fibers upon contact—anti-machine weapons.

Add to that EMP grenades, monsters that can implant viruses into programs,

and even nanomachine weapons that can instantly dismantle machinery.

The combination of these characteristics—seemingly designed to spell doom for the Latashino—

has ironically made these monsters easier for machines to handle, despite their difficulty with psychic abilities.

After all, with monster technology reaching levels that other civilizations simply cannot replicate (with very few exceptions),

it’s not particularly impossible for them to produce machines superior to the Latashino.

※ ※ ※

Anyway, back to the main point.

Let’s return to the Latashino who are under invasion.

The Latashino army, which strangely prefers armored weapons that walk on legs rather than wheels or anti-gravity hovering devices,

consists mostly of bipedal war machines called Warrior-Suits of various sizes, along with quadrupedal tanks.

As mechanical life forms, these Warrior-Suits are controlled by transferring the soul and mind from their original bodies—

they range from small 3-meter units to massive ones exceeding 30 meters,

and their combat capabilities are top-notch.

Taking the standard 10-meter Warrior-Suit as an example,

it typically carries two shoulder-mounted weapons chosen from tank-caliber firearms, various missile launchers,

or shields, plus about three heavy weapons as secondary armaments.

Despite their size, they’re equipped with various thrusters or jump packs for excellent mobility,

and can deploy hemispherical force fields for defense against anti-tank weapons…

[How long are these damned organics going to keep coming!]

KWAAAAAANG!!!!

[Temari, calm down. Getting worked up won’t change anything.]

Currently, one Latashino kill team was fighting against the monsters invading the planet.

A kill team—equivalent to a company in human military terms—

is a standard formation composed of about 30 Warrior-Suits and numerous combat androids to handle various situations.

Six 4-meter high-mobility Warrior-Suits for reconnaissance,

Four 7-meter sniper Warrior-Suits,

Twelve standard 10-meter Warrior-Suits,

Two heavily armored, high-firepower 18-meter Warrior-Suits.

Plus about 2,000 combat androids controlled by low-level algorithmic AI rather than personified AI like the Latashino themselves,

and six 12-meter Warrior-Suits for fire support, controlling the androids and firing howitzers.

With angular frames and stylish paint jobs giving them a futuristic appearance, this kill team had a very orthodox composition, but…

“Temari, fall back!”

“…Tch.”

Temari, the only veteran 10-meter Warrior-Suit pilot in this kill team, displayed quite a different demeanor from the rest.

Hasty, short-sighted, and quick to anger—

what would commonly be called hot-blooded—he was notably more aggressive than other military Latashino,

a trait that was both a weakness and a strength.

His weakness was that he would never follow orders from anyone he didn’t acknowledge as stronger or respect,

and his excessive aggression often led him to act on his own.

On the other hand, these traits made him a fearless warrior,

and it was undeniable that he was the strongest of his cohort.

These personality traits were reflected in his machine. As a veteran with customization privileges,

he had poured his personal savings into modifying his 10-meter Warrior-Suit.

He had purchased a new plasma shotgun from a human trading vessel and modified it into a gamma energy shotgun—

firing shotgun shells made of gamma energy, the cornerstone of Latashino technology—mounted on his left shoulder.

Unlike other Latashino who typically replaced an arm with a weapon,

his right shoulder carried a power arm modified from an industrial mechanical arm,

designed to grab monsters directly and crush them.

Due to his impatient nature, he had added an extra jump pack on his back and more thrusters to maximize mobility.

Even his color scheme stood out—while others used a white base with clean yellow and green accents,

his was painted in vivid red and blue.

Clearly a conspicuous target, he actually used this to his advantage,

taking on something of an aggro-tank-DPS position,

helping his kill team members through his actions.

Given his temperament, he would have been better suited for an assault-type kill team,

but in the strictly stratified Latashino society, born as a 10-meter standard Warrior-Suit pilot,

he couldn’t be assigned any other role.