Regarding the Effectiveness of Combining in the Battlefield
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Regarding the Effectiveness of Combining in the Battlefield
The battle between the Dragoon cavalry tanks and Ant Workers had begun in earnest.
The Silhouettes disengaged their combination with the tanks. They quickly separated from the tanks and spread out in the area around them in a defensive formation.
They were a cavalry tank unit whose purpose was to attract the attention of enemy forces while protecting the rest of their allied troops.
They were equipped with plasma armor, giving them higher defenses than conventional tanks.
When combined, they weighed about 55 tons.
The three Mantis-types aimed their railguns on the Silhouettes rather than the tanks and concentrated their fire on them.
One round penetrated the right leg of a mid-sized Silhouette. Its balance was greatly thrown off.
In order to support the damaged machine, its partner tank moved in front of it to block the line of sight of the enemies.
The moment the Ant Workers changed their target to the damaged machine in order to finish it off–
Shells fired by four attack aircraft fell from the sky.
The Ant Workers can fire their 60 mm autocannons in an instant.
However, an instant was all it took for the attack aircraft to turn them into smoking piles of scrap.
After sacrificing the Ant Workers, a Mantis-type managed to rush forward. These autonomous machines equipped with high-dimensional projection armor were very high-performance units.
Due to the protection of their high-dimensional projection, they were also very resistant to autocannon shells. In order to damage them, each weapon round had to have a certain degree of increased penetrating power.
It can even be said that it didn’t matter no matter how many Ant Worker-types were lost as long as the Mantis-types still remained on the battlefield.
「Let’s go, partner!」
「Roger! Combine!」
The damaged Silhouette’s pilot and the Familiar piloting the tank both raised their voices to address one another.
The Mantis-type that was rushing toward them stopped in its tracks.
It stared at the aftermath of the scene that happened before it.
The Silhouette had already disappeared.
Once again, the cavalry tank and the Silhouette were combined into a single multi-turret tank.
In this form, the Silhouette’s damaged leg would not have any negative effect on their combat power.
Machine combination – simply put, it’s the process of a Silhouette and its partner tank combining together seamlessly into a single unit through the use of the Silhouette’s additional armor and the tank’s shield.
Though simple, the special design allowed for the combination to be as smooth as possible. It functioned as a mechanism to supplement the movement of the Silhouette that had lost one leg as well as to provide additional firepower to the tank.
If the Mantis-type was a human, it probably would have screamed in shock and frustration after seeing such a sight. The Mantis-type rapidly retreated.
「Even if I lost a leg, my partner will pick up the slack!」
「Leave navigating the battlefield to me!」
The Silhouette pilot shouted boldly. The Familiar responded accordingly.
The two bellowed battle cries as they chased after the retreating Mantis-type.
The Dragoon tank unleashed a salvo from its 120 mm railgun and 90 mm combat rifle. It was a full display of what a multi-turret tank was capable of.
No matter how tough the Mantis-type’s armor was, it still couldn’t withstand the fierce salvo.
Its armor was gouged open, and finally, shattered to pieces.
The other Dragoons also began opening fire.
The remaining Mantis-types were quickly suppressed.
And under their bombardment, the number of Ant Workers was also steadily whittled down.
The damaged Mantis-type’s abdomen exploded.
It instantly lost two of its legs.
A wire-guided anti-tank missile fired by a heavy attack aircraft, which was 10 kilometers out, scored a direct hit on it.
The wire enabled high-dimensional projection to be applied to the missile. This made its penetrative power exceedingly high.
After the direct hit, the wire self-destructed and burned away instantly.
A large number of the advanced Murder force was defeated in the firefight–
The now-severely damaged Mantis-type managed to send a transmission about the absurd situation to the Enyo before finally deactivating. It was completely destroyed.
The balance was instantly turned to one side after the destruction of a Mantis-type.
Another Mantis-type rushed in at high speed to destroy a Silhouette that just got off its partner tank.
The one that stood in its way was Kou’s Unit 5. He was piloting the newly upgraded TSW-R1B. The Type B was a high-performance machine with a built-in metallic hydrogen generation reactor. The unit was designed on the premise of being equipped with a pulse detonation engine backpack.
The Silhouette-use katana created by Arges was registered under the category of electric discharge blades.
Unit 5 brandished its katana and closed in on the enemy in an instant. It smoothly dodged the huge sickle swung by the enemy, moved further to the enemy’s right, and unleashed a slash.
It was completely different from Kou and Unit 5’s first time fighting a Mantis-type Keres. It was no longer possible for the enemy to keep up with the current Unit 5.
The Mantis-type lost its right sickle arm, and that led to a big opening in its defense.
Unit 5 repositioned its katana to an overhead stance and proceeded to swing it down in one smooth maneuver. The attack easily tore through the Mantis-type’s head unit and a part of its torso.
「This is the arc blade created by Arges, the Kogetsu. A Mantis-type’s armor is nothing to it.」
Kou muttered under his breath in satisfaction. The name of the tachi-shaped arc blade was『Kogetsu』. Kou had come up with the name.
It was so sharp that it was even able to cut through the armor of a warship powered by an A-Carbuncle.
The Mantis-type took a step back to gain some distance.
Unit 5 anticipated the enemy’s action and quickly stepped in after it. It would not allow the enemy to get away.
In a smooth series of moves, Unit 5 turned the swung-down katana over and unleashed an upward diagonal slash. Further lacerations were dealt to the Mantis-type’s torso.
Unit 5 then proceeded to perform a maneuver that could be mistaken for a ramming attack. It aimed for the former position of the Mantis-type’s lopped-off head and unleashed a full-body thrust.
Its artificial muscles contracted and stretched along with its actuators, letting out grating noises.
The tip of Kogetsu pierced the Mantis-type’s reactor and completely destroyed it.
The sight seemed unbelievable to all those who witnessed the scene, including the allied tanks and Silhouettes.
There were only a few instances of people destroying Mantis-types in close-quarters combat. And moreover, this particular battle ended with the Mantis-type getting completely overwhelmed.
The surrounding people quickly regained their senses soon after and concentrated fire on the remaining Mantis-type, completely destroying it as well.
In just a few minutes, the remaining mixed Ant Soldier and Worker forces were completely annihilated.
「Well, that was a bit disappointing.」
Kou sighed. Even he didn’t expect such an overwhelming result.
「They were nothing but an advanced force after all. The main forces along with the Enyo are still on their way here.」
Fuyuki reminded Kou so he wouldn’t let his guard down.
「Yeah. I know. That’s the real deal huh.」
「Reporting. Only one unit lost one of its legs. It can still continue combat combined with its partner tank.」
A damage report was sent.
「Roger. Have them retreat to get the Silhouette’s leg replaced once the supply unit arrives.」
Fuyuki, who was serving as squad captain, gave his instructions.
「This is the Thunderstorm unit. Anti-aircraft fire from the Enyo confirmed. Proceeding to retreat.」
「Roger that. Be careful.」
The Enyo’s anti-aircraft gun was a large-caliber railgun. No matter how effective the plasma armor of the Thunderstorms was, it would still be dangerous for them to take a direct hit from it.
From here on out, it was the stage for the ground troops.
「The first wave of succeeding troops will be arriving in an hour.」
「Roger. We really need to stop that Enyo in its tracks.」
「There’s only one Enyo. It’s probably one of the Enyos that attacked Fortress Area D516. Having it aim for a Defense Dome housing refugees is strategically sound.」
「It’s not something to be impressed with. It’s like they no longer have any qualms about attacking humans.」
「They might have already decided on a new base policy when it comes to dealing with humans. There are many former Kurt Maschinenbau employees in the Dome after all. Their goal might be to completely eliminate the Development Engineers among them.」
「The survivors from Kurt-san’s place huh……」
「I get that you want to help them, but in order to protect those people, we have to deal with the Enyo first.」
「Yeah.」
After being prompted by Fuyuki, Kou prepared himself to face the Enyo.
It was from here that their newly acquired power was going to be fully tested.
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