The moment that they lifted off from the ground, the Great Enemy had noticed them, and when they got to fifty kilometres away, the optimal firing range for the adaptive energy weapons inside an atmosphere, the Cruiser began firing drop pods at the surface in rapid fashion.
[Hey, don't those look awfully familiar?] Max asked as the teardrop shaped pods hurtled toward the ground.
[I swear those are cargo drop pods. Or more correctly, OUR cargo drop pods. I can see the Kepler military stamp on them.] Nico agreed.
[Well, that's a mystery for another day. Make sure that they haven't corrupted a ship full of humans once the pods open, but let's get these shields down.] Max growled as his weapons system charged.
The ship didn't resemble anything that they had in their arsenal, but that didn't mean that they couldn't have pulled a ship full of humans from some planet and used their gear in the assault. It would be huge news if it were true, as there were no reports of the enemy actually engaging on human held worlds when they left, but by now it was possible that the fleet that had been near the Alliance had engaged the human forces and obtained either the pods or the design to make them.
But in a way, the concerning development was also a good thing. They knew how to fight against a drop insertion, and the gene modified soldiers of the Cathedral Fleet would survive the impact without any issues, as long as the retro thrusters fired before landing.
They might not have moved fast enough to stop the enemy, but at least the drop was in an uninhabited area headed toward the Cutter, where they could engage the newly arrived troops with relative ease.
[Five Mecha Companies are ready and moving out. Prepared to fire on the enemy ship on your order.] Nico confirmed.
[Do it.]
Both Mecha unleashed all of their Thunder Guns and the light Mass Drivers at once, and followed the blast with a burst from the variable frequency Disintegrator while the Void Shields were at their weakest.
The void shield flickered, and a brutal explosion began inside the barrier, before being quickly snuffed out.
"What was that? That's not fair." Nico yelled, forgetting that she kept a live connection to Max at all times.
"I think the ship has a structural integrity field. It stopped the chain reaction, but we're doing damage. Keep it up, and we should be on pace to take it out over the Cutter." Max instructed.
"Altering position for better effects." Nico agreed, while Max targeted the same spot, where the shielding was still weakened by the constant bombardment of hypersonic projectiles.
From the ground, a barrage of light Mass Driver projectiles began to tear apart the drop pods, so Max took a second to check the scanners for signs of human DNA in the wreckage.
All the biomass appeared to be alien in origin, but the drop pods were definitely either stolen or made to exactly the human spec, as the scanners identified the components immediately.
Max looked down and found the ground littered with rubble and warriors, who had recovered from their unexpectedly brutal landing much faster than expected and were moving to engage the Mecha Companies which were targeting their drop pods.
Then, as suddenly as they had started, the drop pods stopped, and orbital interceptors began to pour from the bay doors of the Cruiser.
[This is your chance, Nico. I will blast the shield open at section six, you make sure that at least one of those interceptors goes up in flames.] Max ordered.
If the structural integrity field kept the whole ship from going up, they would have to work around it, and target the interceptors to set off a bomb inside the bays.
Nico laughed as the Disintegrator beam hit in the precise location that all six of their Thunder Gun projectiles had, and for an instant the shield flickered out of existence, allowing her Disintegrator to target the interceptors still inside the deployment bay, creating a massive nuclear explosion inside the vessel that made the structure groan and the engines power down.
The Cruiser was in a nosedive, headed straight for the shields of the Cutter.
But just as Max was about to celebrate his victory, the Androids did exactly as he had instructed them to, and mitigated the impact of the destroyed ship with a portal back to its home layer.
The cruiser smoothly passed out of the atmosphere and back to its home, chased by a series of projectiles from Nico's weapons, and one last Disintegrator beam from Max, targeting the defenceless hull.
[Close the portal.] He ordered as the explosions began to ripple through the Cruiser on the other side of the portal.
They weren't quite fast enough, but the portal closed naturally after only letting a short upward beam of energy through. It still created a massive mushroom cloud, and a shockwave that knocked both infantry and Mecha from their feet, but the damage was very minimal, and the battle only hesitated for a split second.
[Well, that was not the plan. But a kill is a kill.] Nico muttered as the portal closed with the remains of the Cruiser on the other side.
[Look at it this way, we don't have to clean it up later. Now, let's go say hello to the infantry on the ground and see what they can do against our power.]
Max sensed a sudden danger and rolled to the side just as an artillery shell exploded right where he had been hovering.
[Scratch that, they managed to get some artillery to the ground, let's take care of that first.]
As if they were responding to his words, a pair of plasma rounds streaked toward Max's Mecha, only narrowly missing as he dodged and rolled the Mecha around its axis.
[They're getting better at that. They might actually hit you soon.] Nico laughed as she dive-bombed the tank column.
[Says the woman who picks fist fights with battle tanks.]
