The shells from the alien armoured vehicles began to rain down from the sky, mostly hitting the two Titan Class Mecha, but some were flying wide, or falling short of the target.
[Do you think they're here accidentally? No invading army could possibly have weapons systems so bad that they can't even accurately hit a target at a slow roll.] Nico wondered out loud.
[It's possible, but they seem to be on the same side as the Bloody Warriors, so it would seem that they were preparing for war. Perhaps this species is in the training stages?] Max replied as he calculated the strength of their weapons based on the impacts that his Void Shield was absorbing.
He smiled in satisfaction as the computer informed him that even if the whole armoured Battalion managed to hit him at the same time, there was no chance that they would be able to take his shields down. Their maximum damage output was less than the power output of his Mecha's shield generator.
It was fairly pathetic, and this earnestly attacking species was doomed to be obliterated in the very first battle they ever faced, but that was the way of war. If you went in unprepared, you ceased to exist.
But their allies weren't just leaving them to their fate, they had used them as bait to try to draw a response from Max and his unit, who still weren't shooting back.
He could sense the frustration of the enemy Commanders, who wanted to know which unit could trigger those massive explosions so that they could focus their attacks on it. The enemy had realized that the time for scouting out the Mecha's abilities had come and gone, and in a blur of fast moving red armour, they joined the advance.
This time, they left their arachnid walkers a bit behind, keeping them from becoming the primary targets during the first wave, with the hope that they could finish what the infantry started.
[Eighty-four kilometres an hour. These are definitely augmented armour suits, or superhuman warriors.] Nico noted.
[Hold until the enemy makes it to the fifty-metre mark, and then use the fusion flamers.] Max ordered the Corvette Class units on the outer ring.
Then he began to bombard the region with the Thunder Guns, using high explosives, but keeping the nuclear blasts from the Disintegrator for later.
The enemy was in contact with other units, and he didn't want to give them too much information right now, when they still had so many more soldiers to send his way.
Roaring white flames lit up the ground around them as the fusion flamers marked the arrival of the enemy, and the light Mass Drivers on the Corvette Class units shredded through vehicles and armoured suits as the enemy advance faltered under the fury of the Mecha's counterattack.
"Forward, push a breach and get the walkers to the giants." The enemy Commander was shouting.
[You heard the man. Forward, create a breach as you go, so I can kill those walkers.] Nico agreed.
The Androids jumped to their feet and filled the air with Fusion Fire as they advanced with their blades raised. The warriors shouted in satisfaction as the Mecha moved toward close combat, and pushed themselves to their limits to be the first to engage the defenders, blade on blade.
The Mecha parted in front of Nico, and gave her a clear shot toward the arachnid walkers. The rhythmic thump of the Thunder Guns shook the ground around them as a quick burst of shells hit the lead vehicle, whose shielding briefly flared with bright light before collapsing and allowing the next two shells to make direct impacts on the hull, shattering the walker into shrapnel that rained down over the battlefield.
The aliens squealed and took cover as the molten metal bounced off their vehicles and burned through the uniforms of the soldiers who were exposed to the open air.
That was enough to break the last of their resolve, and the aliens turned to flee, only to find that their supposed allies would not allow any such cowardice in battle.
Those who turned to run were cut down by the warriors, and those who did not were roasted by the Fusion Flamers as the Mecha advanced.
[The shields on these walkers are better than the ones on the last batch.] Nico noted as she detonated another with a barrage of fire.
[They are resistant to the Disintegrator as well.] Max agreed, then leapt out of the hole to charge the targets.
The Thunder Guns were too slow for his liking, and the energy blade would do a much quicker job of eliminating the walkers.
[More enemy infantry are coming in from the direction of the most recent portal attempt.] The team leader in the Cutter informed them.
"They're so good to me. Let's get this wave cleaned up so that they don't have to wait their turn to fight us." Nico cheered as she received the good news.
Max spun to his right and knocked aside the sharpened legs of an arachnid walker, before bringing his blade down on its shiny black carapace. The void shield on the walker shattered under the physical impact, unable to effectively dissipate the energy through the layers when the blade was still being forced forward, and the massive mechanical body split apart in a flood of spilled hydraulic fluid and capacitor gel.
The gel was an ancient battery technology, similar to the living energy storage technologies that Max was familiar with, and it powered all the functions of the walkers, which didn't have a power core of their own.
That meant that they weren't intended for long-term operations, but to be a front line offensive unit, expected to take high casualties, and not needed for more than a few days at the start of the battle.
Max made a mental note of that as he blocked the attack of the remaining two walkers near him.
A twitch of his thumb turned the light Mass Drivers on the one to his left as he sliced the forelimbs off the other, sending it flying backwards from the impact.
The damaged walker didn't hesitate to return to battle, and fired a Plasma Cannon round into Max's shields as it advanced again, but turned slightly to the side to attack with the remaining three limbs on its right side, which were shorter than the two forelimbs had been, but still ending in a sharpened alloy spike.
The attempt was futile, as Max's blade was faster, and the pilots were cleaved in two with a flick of his wrist.
[More infantry coming your way. Origin unknown, but from the same general direction as the first incoming group.] The Cutter crew announced.
[Nico, let's split up to save time. I'll take the right, you take the left.] Max ordered, as his kill happy Subcommander adapted her battle plans.
[I'll race you to the finish and meet you back here afterwards.]
Max laughed. [That's the spirit. I just hope that you're not too disappointed when you lose.]
The androids didn't really understand the concept of a friendly rivalry, they viewed it as more of a proof of efficiency test, which they were happy to help their leaders accomplish as they split the team in half to accompany the two humans into battle.
