Chapter 102: CH 94

Thunderstorm 1 prepared to land.

Its thrust-vectoring engine moved into position, and before long it had completed a vertical landing.

「Move Thunderstorm 1 to Elevator No. 6.」

「Roger.」

The combat command center sent a transmission.

Blue was ordered to turn around after maintenance on her machine was performed. In other words, she was to prepare to re-sortie.

The elevator descended and moved to the maintenance hangar.

The maintenance personnel and machines will then conduct a check on the aircraft’s remaining ammo and its armor condition.

The aircraft was hauled by a Silhouette.

「No damage to the aircraft detected. It’ll be fully prepped for re-sortie in 20 minutes.」

「Got it. Am I gonna take someone with me?」

「Yes. A member of Iris 4 will come with you. Be careful when airdropping them.」

Iris 4 was comprised of members who piloted their own personal machines. They didn’t pilot state-of-the-art high-performance machines like the first team the Thunderstorms ferried over to the battlefield.

So she needed to mind her deceleration when airdropping them.

「Understood.」

The aircraft was lifted by a hoist inside the hangar, and a Silhouette was loaded inside it.

At the same time, the mechanics also replenished its ammo.

A huge drum magazine was switched out for a new one. It was ammo for the 60 mm Gatling gun. The entire magazine was replaced.

The rest of the Thunderstorm unit entered the hangar one after another from Elevator No. 6.

「Maintenance team, please equip me with air-to-surface guided missiles. We’ll be dealing with the Enyo next.」

「Roger that, ma’am!」

A racoon-type Familiar who was a member of the maintenance team responded vigorously.

In anticipation of the attack against the Enyo, wire-guided air-to-ground missiles with slow initial velocity but high power were prepared.

The Thunderstorms were equipped with the most destructive air-to-ground missiles they had available.

Presently, the ground troops should have already landed and are now heading to the front.

「Everything’s ready! You can go ahead and turn around!」

「12 minutes huh. You guys sure are fast. –Thunderstorm 1, heading out.」

In order to head to the battlefield again, the Thunderstorm piloted by Blue got on Elevator No. 5 and was brought up to the flight deck.

A Metal Iris assault team headed out to block the Enyo’s path.

It had to be dealt with before it could destroy the Defense Dome.

「We’re about to enter combat range. We can only brace for a one-sided attack before we get them in range as well though. The enemies consist of an Enyo, Mantis-types, and Beetle-types. There are no Ant-types among their forces. Is the production unable to keep up with the demand? Or maybe they don’t want to produce them in the first place.」

「Meaning?」

「It’s said that the captured unmanned factories were primarily converted to Keres production lines. They had taken down Fortress Area D516, so they should have already converted the facilities there as well, but it looks like they didn’t. These forces are probably still the same ones that participated in the attack on D516.」

「That sounds like it’s gonna lead to a lot more trouble later.」

It was certainly encouraging to learn that the number of enemy forces hasn’t increased.

However, the problem was what exactly the Stones were using the captured production lines to make. It could possibly spell a lot of trouble for Kou and the others later on.

「Being too tall can be considered a disadvantage, but being that tough and huge offers more than enough benefits to ignore that flaw.」

The bombardment from the Enyo had begun.

For something as tall as an Enyo, looking down on the battlefield from above gave it a clear and unobstructed view of the surroundings. They were now in its range.

They were still relatively far apart though, so the Enyo’s attacks served more as a check, but if they got hit directly, they’d immediately get destroyed.

「With our numbers, it’s impossible for us to stop the enemy forces. Since we’re in the middle of a wasteland, the speed of the reinforcements heading here is affected by the rough terrain. It will still take some time for the tank corps to arrive.」

「But we can’t just stand here and continue to take a one-sided bombardment.」

「Right. Let’s start counterattacking.」

The Silhouettes and tanks combined once again and deployed into a formation of eight Dragoons.

The high-mobility units piloted by Kou and the others closely followed after them.

They took a roundabout route and waited for the enemy forces to approach.

Finally, the enemies also entered their attack range.

「There are about thirty Beetle-types. There are a lot of Stags among them. There are only a dozen Rhinoceros beetles.」

「I’ve confirmed their abilities using the data Kurt-san sent us. The Stag beetles primarily serve as escort machines. The Rhinoceros beetles are the main attack units and are equipped with high-dimensional projection armor.」

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「That’s a pretty powerful set-up. Let’s deal with them carefully.」

Each side fired on the other.

The Rhinoceros beetles proved tough, as expected. They didn’t even flinch even when hit by railgun fire.

The accompanying Stags were also quite troublesome. They sported thick armor and large-caliber laser cannons. The laser cannons weren’t as powerful as railguns, of course. But they were destructive enough to pose a threat.

Kou and the other Silhouettes used the Dragoon tanks as cover as they exchanged fire with the enemy.

The Enyo was fast approaching. It was accompanied by many Telkhines.

「It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to hold until reinforcements arrive. There are no machines that can run on rough terrain like this at a speed of 120 km/h or more. I wonder if the aircraft can transport reinforcements to us in time though.」

The maximum speed of tanks on rough terrain in the 21st century was about 50 km/h. Even the more advanced tanks on Planet Asia can only manage about 80 km/h.

「That might not be the case, Fuyuki-san.」

A Stag suddenly collapsed on the ground. There was a gaping hole on its body.

Then, it was hit by successive attacks and turned into a beehive.

「Nyanta, Aki, you guys made it here first huh.」

「Soldiers value high speed nyaa.」

「Please leave this to us.」

The two people inside their respective MCS responded.

Two unusual Silhouettes appeared from the distance.

They were four-legged Silhouettes that the Metal Iris members apart from Kou haven’t seen before. Nyanta’s machine sported an AK2, while Aki’s machine was holding a long lance-type weapon.

QST-01 Epona.

It was a quadrupedal Assault Colossus specialized for combat that was designed for the sake of Aki and Nyanta.

It was a machine that bore the name of the Ancient Greek goddess of cavalry, and it sported beauty worthy of such a namesake.

The Epona rushed ahead while brandishing its lance. Aki was in charge of close combat.

The Epona’s lance easily penetrated the armor of a Rhinoceros-type.

「Gooo!」

Aki cried out, and the lance tip unfolded. A tremendous amount of plasma was emitted from the tip.

It was an armor-piercing burst lance that released superheated plasma through the use of metallic hydrogen. It was a new weapon that Kou built especially for Aki.

Taking advantage of the opening the Epona created, the rest of the Metal Iris forces turned up the offensive.

Nyanta also joined in to provide fire support, and the mass-production variant of the combat type Quattro Silhouette, QST-02 Epos, ran up from behind the allied troops and started opening fire.

「Damn! Silhouettes with four legs! These things exist!?」

One of the Metal Iris exclaimed in shock and excitement. The Quattro Silhouettes were secret weapons that even amazed their allies.

「We hurriedly loaded the units inside the Cimon-class after the pilots finished operational training. There was no time to introduce them to the rest of the members. These are Silhouettes made for Therianthrope use; the Quattro Silhouettes.」

「The Shadow Boss is awesome!」

The rest of the members were thoroughly impressed by Kou.

「The ability of these quadrupedal units to sprint on rough terrain certainly can’t be matched by tracked vehicles. They literally are cavalry that arrived in a pinch.」

Fuyuki seemed particularly impressed by the mobility of the new machines. The stability of quadrupedal machines when in motion certainly can’t be matched by bipedal ones. Hence, they could afford to run on rough terrain without any trouble.

「Kou-kun, what about that lance weapon?」

「Ah, I’ll tell you all about it later!」

Kou urged Fuyuki, who had a faint impression that he’d seen the plasma lance weapon before, to concentrate on the current battle.

「This machine is the best! Thank you nyaa, Kou!」

Nyanta ran around the battlefield and cleaned up the Stags with her AK2.

「Amazing. They have such speed and agility even without using backpacks. Is that really possible?」

The overwhelming mobility of the new machines stunned the rest of the Metal Iris members.

The Stag beetle-types were quickly routed.

The Rhinoceros beetles recognized the Quattro Silhouettes as strong enemies. One quickly stood before Aki.

Even if the machine had taken a direct hit from the enemy’s railgun, Aki’s Epona didn’t even flinch.

「This burst lance was made specifically to pierce through heavy-armored units like this Rhinoceros. –Here I go!」

Aki rushed ahead and served as the vanguard.

The people behind her hurriedly followed in order to support her.

「We’ve taken the initiative. Let’s go.」

With Kou’s command, the Metal Iris troops intensified their offensive.

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