Mass-produced Huckebein Variant – Badb Catha
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
The combat situation had been reversed.
The Metal Iris forces were now composed of an additional eight-member Quattro Silhouette squad and four recently airdropped cavalry tanks along with their partner Silhouettes. The heavy attack aircrafts also brought over an additional four regular Silhouettes.
The Thunderstorm heavy attack aircraft squadron proceeded to fire their air-to-surface guided missiles on the Enyo. They had turned to support the ground troops.
In the middle of the battle, they were informed that the armored combat vehicle shock troops and the supply squad had also arrived.
The fierce battle with the Beetle-types continued.
Due to the toughness of their armor, the Silhouettes had switched to close combat weapons. They were stabbing and slashing the enemies with their bayonets and two-handed swords.
A troublesome aspect of the Beetle-types was their flight capability.
They used it to suddenly accelerate and charge at the Metal Iris troops. It was troublesome to deal with because the resulting blow was pretty powerful. Their horns played a large part in such destructive strength.
「Kou, we’ll handle the rest of the enemy troops. You and your team should go and deal with the Enyo as planned!」
Aki shouted through the comms.
「Understood, Aki! Guess it’s about time, Fuyuki-san.」
Unit 5’s backpack deployed its flight wings.
「Got it. Then, shall we? Time for the mass-production version Huckebein model ‘Badb Catha’ to strut its stuff!」
Fuyuki and the others deployed similar-looking wings from their machine’s backpacks.
The KSR-21 Badb Catha. This unit that held the name ‘battle crow’ was a mass-produced machine that had been manufactured following the blueprints Kurt had sent over.
The reborn Huckebein had adopted many new cutting-edge technologies, turning it into a truly high-performance new generation Silhouette. However, that also led to drastically increased production costs.
Therefore, the Badb Catha was a more economical mass-production version that inherited the most notable features of the Huckebein.
The detonation engine was externally attached to avoid the excessive bulk of the Silhouette’s frame. As a result, the machine was one size smaller than the Huckebein.
It was driven through the use of artificial muscles and lightweight nanoceramic armor capable of activating optical camouflage.
Similar to the Huckebein, its feet also sported the distinctive three front toes.
TAKABA had also begun mass-producing similar machines in earnest. Takaba Hyoue had done his best to inherit Kurt’s will. Their version was called the TSR-21 Yatagarasu. It was a thoroughly Japanese name.
The Badb Catha’s most notable features were its speed and agility. Although it was still quite an expensive machine, its total cost was still one-fifth that of the Huckebein’s. It can be said that the Huckebein was a machine designed while completely disregarding profit and loss.
The four machines activated their vectoring thrusters at full capacity to launch themselves in the air.
Kou was at the very front of their formation. The Badb Cathas spread to the sides and followed after Unit 5.
「Kou! Stop! You’re rushing ahead too fast!」
Blue couldn’t help but shout in warning.
Perhaps getting far too eager, Kou unwittingly launched Unit 5 right in front of the Enyo in an instant.
In order to swat Unit 5 away, the Enyo swung one of its forelimbs at a speed uncharacteristic of its gigantic size.
「Huh!?」
Blue and the rest of the pilots instantly turned speechless.
「Hah!」
Letting out a yell filled with fighting spirit, Kou made Unit 5 draw Kogetsu and matched the momentum of the Enyo’s swing.
Kogetsu flashed brightly, and the gigantic forelimb was severed and thrown to the sky. It was completely cut off in one slash.
The severed forelimb that had stuck itself on the ground was proof that what happened was real.
「What the heck is that glowing weapon……?」
Blue couldn’t help but mutter in shock. The sword’s sharpness was unbelievable.
Unit 5 rose up and proceeded to slash at the Enyo’s head.
The Telkhines on the ground unleashed anti-aircraft fire, but Kou made good use of the Enyo’s huge frame to avoid all the attacks.
「Let’s attack as well while Kou’s keeping the enemies busy.」
The Badb Cathas quickly flanked the Enyo by making good use of their speed and agility.
Each of the machines wrapped something around the Enyo’s huge legs.
Fuyuki also proceeded to wrap a wire around one of the Enyo’s legs while watching out for a tail swipe.
「All units fall back! Detonation in 5 seconds. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!」
The wires ignited. The machines detached the wires from their hands, and they exploded all at once.
What they had just used was a type of wire explosive infused with metallic hydrogen.
Due to the explosions, the Enyo’s joints malfunctioned, making its entire body drop to the ground. The tanks and Silhouettes concentrated their fire on the downed Enyo and unleashed a fierce barrage.
Kou had also brought Kogetsu down and switched to shooting at the enemy with his AK2.
The Badb Cathas quickly separated themselves from the Enyo. In addition to their maneuverability, the speed at which their wings were deployed and their acceleration were also considerable.
The Thunderstorm squadron surrounded the Enyo. They proceeded to fire their underslung rocket launchers at the Enyo.
Explosions went off consecutively. The power of each attack might not be that much on their own, but it was a concentrated bombardment from four aircraft. They had certainly caused considerable damage.
The escorting Telkhines couldn’t approach to assist due to the fierce bombardment, and the Silhouette squad proceeded to clean them up.
And then, the Badb Cathas descended from the air like ominous birds.
「You’re slow!」
Making use of its overwhelming mobility, a Badb Catha instantly moved to the flank of a Telkhines. The Telkhines couldn’t even manage to swing its spear before its flank was torn apart.
The other Telkhines started shooting at it in retaliation, but the Badb Catha deployed its gray wings, fired up its thrusters, and quickly took to the air to dodge their attacks.
Although the Telkhines tried to chase after it, the other Badb Cathas came down and proceeded to cut them down one after another.
These flying high-performance Silhouettes were not in the database of the Telkhines, so they couldn’t perform effective countermeasures.
The Quattro Silhouettes had also engaged in close-quarters combat. Aki’s lance pierced a Telkhines’ torso, and Nyanta’s AK2 destroyed a Stag.
The bombardment had ceased.
Wreckages of Beetle-types that had attempted to protect the Enyo were strewn all around. The Enyo itself was still moving.
Kou made Unit 5 return Kogetsu to its sheath and quickly ascended to the air.
And then, it had descended directly onto the part of the Enyo’s gigantic frame that housed its reactor.
Using the momentum of the fall, Unit 5 performed an overwhelmingly quick sword draw. The tip of the flashing blade reached the Enyo’s reactor and cut it down.
The Enyo’s compound eyes shone brightly for a short moment before completely losing their light.
「This is Iris 1. The Enyo has been successfully destroyed.」
Kou contacted the Cimon-class.
Cheers rang out inside the combat command center.
「Proceeding with mopping up the remaining enemy forces.」
Kou had not let his guard down.
After reminding the ones in the Cimon-class to remain alert, he cut off the transmission.
Victory was right around the corner. Everyone who was present was convinced this was the case.
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