They were the keys to the second factor that allowed Sheera Lin to massacre almost the entire academy's students.
The second factor was excellent strategy and tactics. Her use of manipulation of terrain and location to her advantage was literally godlike.
Us first graders have our dorm and practice field way down south of the entire academy. And as such, we have our backs against the wall.
However, instead of seeing that as a disadvantage, Sheera Lin took that as a positive thing. She had one less direction to worry about.
So she planted the juiciest part of her little army right there, way down south of the mountain range.
Two thousand five hundred mechas arrayed in neat lines in a valley by the entrance of the mountain range.
A couple kilometers ahead of the main first grade army was an interesting plateau of sorts. A high ground with steep sides that had a relatively flat top that could fit a thousand or so mechas.
Cutting the mountain range longitudinally, the little plateau was like the center part of a "W" with the two sides being the mountains that stretched all the way upwards.
There was a narrow path on the left and right of the mini plateau where mechas could pass, or they could choose to pass by the wooded slopes of the mountain side.
But that way would be very rough going as the trees there were thick and massive.
All in all, the mini plateau was the perfect defensive high ground.
It was there Barrick Rui, Jack Yang and Roland Hu with their three hundred heavy mechas were placed.
They were all carrying massive shields, swords and the strongest rifles available.
In the grand scheme that Sheera had planned out, the three hundred heavy mechas would serve as a bait, a defensive bulwark, and a killing machine.
Their low number would entice the enemy, their heavy armor would prevent the enemy from killing them easily, and their rifles would allow them to destroy the enemy when they give up attacking and decide to pass them by to reach the main army.
But even with such perfect position and situation, they were afterall only three hundred. There was a limit on how much they could actually impact the battle when everything heats up.
They would not be able to stop the enemy if they decide to stream past them in huge numbers.
And that was where the remaining thousand five hundred mechas came into the picture.
Unlike the rest of her mechas, these thousand five hundred were spread out all over the two slopes in pairs.
They all carried rifles and spears with no shields, and they only had one job. When the time comes, kill.
The massive trees that surrounded them made it extremely difficult for the enemy to be able to use their numbers against them, and at the same time gave them a massive amount of cover.
They would have the time and terrain advantage to unleash complete hell on any enemy determined to break the tree line and enter the wooded mountain slopes.
And if they chose to take the narrow path at the foot of the plateau and the mountain slopes, even better.
It was perfect.
As battle plans go, Sheera's was solid.
And even so, shit still managed to happen.
Battle was joined relatively smoothly.
After the three thousand enemy mechas were successfully led away by Victor and Olivia, the remaining first batch of mechas came charging towards the plateau.
Three thousand overconfident, screaming kids came charging towards the plateau in four different groups.
These were the kids assigned to handle the secondary mission of dealing with us.
Brandishing their swords, spears and war hammers, they thundered towards the plateau in a mighty but chaotic air.
"Die you over achieving punks! This will teach you not to be too stellar in your achievements!"
"The nail that sticks out gets hammered! You guys may be five thousand nails, but we are thirty thousand hammers! Die! Die! Die!!"
"Sorry kids. I don't like bullying weaklings, but nobody messes with my resources. If you do, I don't care if you're a cute little baby. You're still going down!"
Shouting their battlecries and their twisted rationales like storybook villains, they broke past the long range boundary.
Pew! Pew! Pew!
The mechas in the woods to the left and right of the plateau opened fire first.
Like a powerful cudgel, their rifle fire slammed into the first elements of the charging three thousand and flung them to the ground.
A split second later, the three hundred heavy mechas opened fire as well.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Close to a thousand rifle fire found their marks, and almost a hundred enemies collapsed in that deadly first volley.
"Shields up. Defend yourselves as you charge!" Shouted a big grey mecha from the middle of the first group.
In a display of good training and even better battle sense, the charging mechas raised their shields as they ran, and managed to block a considerable chunk of the incoming rifle fire!
But as good as they were in blocking, there were too many of them, and Sheera's army was attacking from two directions.
Those from the plateau were able to aim at the ones further away which were raising their shields to defend against the shots coming in from the wooded area, and vice versa!
"Damn! These punks have prepared well! We have walked into a trap! Call for the general retreat, damn it!"
"Stop being a wuss! These are grade ones, they would break as soon as we close the distance! Charge!"
Their cocky overconfidence made some of them continue their charge down the narrow path, while others started to climp the relatively steep slope to get into close combat!
But the rifle fire did not stop, and very quickly, their numbers fell from a three thousand to barely a thousand!
Five minutes had barely passed, and two thousand dead mechas had already graced the battlefield with their bodies!